Tomb Raider # 5: Eyes in the Heavens Review

Between the announcement of the new Tomb Raider game, Rise of the Tomb Raider, coming out in 2015 and the whispers of a possible reboot of the Tomb Raider Movies, what better time to release a comic series where the storyline picks up right where the most recent game leaves off.

Gail Simone, the writer, does a fantastic job of seamlessly placing flashbacks throughout the series to ensure that readers who have not played the game aren’t lost. Follow Lara as she returns to the island of Yamatai in the Devil’s Triangles to save her dearest friend Sam who has been kidnapped because four artifact were removed from Yamatai on their last visit. After four issues filled with gun fights, confusion, incoherently mumbled prophecies and lots of exposition the reader finally gets the true adventure expected of the infamous Tomb Raider and everything begins to connect and fall into place.

“Four Guardians, Four Calamities, Four Pieces to build his horse. The Circle has to be broken” The ill-fated statement made by Jonah in the first issue is starting to make sense. The leader of Sam’s captors, Matsu-Sama,  explains that he is not Solarii, but a group that worships the Solarii and seeks to resurrect Matthias the sole disciple to Himiko, the sun queen of the Solarii. The four guardians are  Matsu-Sama, his two daughters who are beautifully illustrated as statuesque Makara Lara finds in the second issue, and a mystery guardian yet to be revealed. As Matsu explains how they need Lara’s blood to bring Matthias back, Lara, while scaling a mountain on the outskirts of Yamatai, realizes that the ‘four calamities’ are linked to the four element. First there was the flood in the desert where it hadn’t rained in a hundred years. The second was when the fire on the ship and the last an avalanche the almost kills Lara.  Luckily after an ominous warning from Alex, her doomed comrade, “Beware the Fourth Guardian,” a stranger with a familiar face pulls Lara from the water. The man who saved Lara from her first encounter with Matsu-Sama… Serendipity or treachery?

Well looks like readers will have to wait for the next issue to figure out that last Guardian and the final calamity.  

Final Score: 7.5/10