Tomb Raider (Top Cow 1999 series) # 5

 By Mark Rodriguez

So the year is coming to a close so that must mean it's time to do the annual Tomb Raider review. I'm not sure how it keeps happening this way, I was sure I bought that Witchblade crossover this year. The last story ended with the hunt for the Medusa Mask where Lara's own butler, Compton, betrayed her. Now that the quest is over and the dangerous mask is lost once again, what new adventure awaits the thrill-seeking Tomb Raider? 

 

The issue opens with Lara Croft and Chase Carver driving down the rough terrain on a jeep. Chase complains about the violently bumpy ride, and Lara says she doesn't want to be late for her meeting with Vanessa. Just then a pteranodon flies up in front of them and Lara has to shift gears. She loses control of the jeep and both adventurers leap out of the vehicle as it goes off a cliff. 

 

Lara lands near the cliff and is able to stop her momentum but Chase falls over the edge. Lara calls out to him and sees him holding onto the ledge. Chase is amused that Lara showed actual concern in her voice. Lara says she'll offer him a hand if he apologizes for 'that night in Monaco'. Chase is surprised she's still blaming him for that and says it was the champagne.

Lara wants no excuses and tells him to apologize considering he lost $325,000 of her money at the blackjack table. Chase apologizes and Lara pulls him up. He says he will pay her back, but Lara keeps beating her to the big pay days. He asks if he can pay her back in a more physical way. Lara ignores that comment and turns her attention towards the flying dinosaur they just saw.

An hour and three miles later, they see no signs of the pteranodon and Chase wonders if it was real. Lara says whenever they make it to Vanessa's archeological dig, she might have an answer. She adds that Vanessa is the best student Harvard ever saw so when she says she has something important, it's legit. Just then a helicopter lands in front of them and Lara says that it's Vanessa.

Vanessa steps out and asks Lara if they walked all the way from Albuquerque. They're happy to see each other again and it sounds like they were former roommates. Lara introduces Vanessa to Chase, who has already heard a lot about him. Chase hopes it's not as bad as it sounds. She says after all she's heard she's surprised he's still breathing.

 

 

As they get in the chopper and fly off, Vanessa asks if Lara and Chase are back together again. Lara says 'no way'. Vanessa says when Lara said she was bringing a friend, she thought she meant Compton. Lara says Compton is gone... and she'll explain later. Lara says they saw something impossible on the way to see her. Vanessa says she has an idea what she means and says she hasn't seen anything yet.

Later on, Vanessa takes Lara and Chase to the rest of her class as she explains how she takes them to archeological digs as part of her job. Chase and one of the students check each other out and Lara elbows him. Vanessa says everything was normal until a simple dig became a trip through time.

Vanessa shows some of her men checking out a triceratops skeleton. Chase says it's impressive to find an intact skeleton but it hardly counts as time travel. Lara says that based on the pterandon they saw earlier, this is the tip of the iceberg. Vanessa says they both know something unusual is going on. She shows them the triceratops rib cage and asks them how old the bones look to them. Lara says they look a couple of hundred years old instead of thirty million. Vanessa agrees and says carbon dating verifies that. Vanessa shows them the reason she needs them as there is a hidden entrance near the triceratops skeleton. Chase pushes the rock slab that is covering it aside.

Vanessa says old bones are more of her deal but solving journeying into mystery is more of Lara's thing. Lara pulls out a gun as she ventures forward, saying it always pays to be prepared. 

 

Vanessa is surprised that Lara can handle a gun and Chase says she can shoot the stinger off a hornet at fifty yards. The trio climb down a ladder and see some cave carvings implying that dinosaurs and humans once coexisted. Lara says this changes everything they knew about history. Chase says that happened when they ran into the pteranodon earlier.

Lara comments that them mentioning the pteranodon not shocking Vanessa means she saw it too. Vanessa says she didn't but she heard sounds at night that didn't come from any modern-day animal. Vanessa says they could be on the verge of making the ultimate discovery. Chase is thinking about how much money this could make them, and Lara smacks him again.

The trio find another entrance which shows the tunnel runs deeper than they thought. Chase says he feels the farther they go, the nastier things will get. Lara says they'll go where the answers lead them. Chase says he can sense trouble is coming their way. We see a boot step into frame, just inches away from the hidden entrance.

 

The trio walk down the passage way as the walls are adorned by more carvings of men fighting dinosaurs. Just then mist fills the area, which Chase remarks is thicker than any fog he's ever seen in London. Lara says she can't see two feet in front of them as the mist is getting worse. She tells everyone to hold hands so they don't get lost. It sounds like someone grabs onto Chase and he calls for help.

Lara lost sight of everyone and calls out to anyone. Vanessa holds onto her and Lara asks if she's seen Chase. Vanessa drops to her knees feeling a strong sense of cold. Lara says the fog is lifting. She suggests they look around and then head back to find a blanket for Vanessa. Lara and Vanessa see what is pretty much the land that time forgot as dinosaurs roam free in the horizon. Lara says she has seen demons and monsters but has never seen anything like this.

Lara remembers they have to find Chase before something happens to him and then hears something large headed their way. Lara's eyes widen as she sees a Tyrannosaurus Rex staring right back at them!! 

 

My thoughts- 

So we start off a new story with a new adventure as we bring dinosaurs into the mix. Lara facing off against dinosaurs is as known as her welding the twin pistols, so I figured we'd be seeing them sooner or later in the comics.  

I never heard of pterandons before, I thought they saw a pterodactyl. Also the auto-correct doesn't seem to like the word pterandon but it has no problem with pterodactyl and tyrannosaurus. 

Chase is still hanging around Lara and trying to get into her pants. Their banter is always fun as they clash constantly but keep helping each other out. They both know when to cut it out when things get serious, and then go right back to their banter.

We're introduced to Vanessa Fenway, who seems to be a former roommate of Lara's. I'm guessing Lara told her that was into archeology as well, but kept her thrill-seeking adventures a secret. Otherwise why would be ask Lara for help but be surprised she can use a gun. Vanessa bringing up Compton reminds us that before his sudden heel turn, he's been the butler for the Crofts for years. I wonder if his name will keep coming up from time to time. 

The comic was mostly set up for things to come as we now know that dinosaurs exist, but there also seem to be some shady people lurking around. 

The letters column have mixed opinions of Compton's heel turn as well as his death since this leaves Lara without a butler or anyone to bounce off of. At the time Carver did feel like a one-shot character for that story, and people were asking for him to come back.

While I'm not 100% up on classic Tomb Raider lore, one of the readers asked why they changed the game's story of Lara's parents disowning her for her tomb raiding adventures to flat-out killing them off. The letters column had no answer. This guy was also lucky enough to meet Lara Weller, who was the official Lara Croft model for Tomb Raider The Last Revelation. She autographed some of the comics for him. That's awesome.

 

The comic advertised a lot of crossover fun. There's a two-part story called Dark Crossings and Dark Cloud Rising which introduce new characters to the Top Cow Universe and features Lara Croft, Witchblade and The Darkness. Then there's another crossover between Witchblade and Darkminds, the latter being part of the ill-fated Dreamwave comics which had very short runs based on the 2003 TMNT cartoon and MegaMan before they went under. It's kind of odd reading the three-page interview with all the excitement behind the project knowing what awaited Dreamwave comics.

There's also an add for the (at the time) new 4-issue mini-series,  Blood Legacy, of which Wendy collected all four books. The Magdalena was also new at the time as it advertised issue 1.

The winner for retro ad was for anime on VHS and DVD released by Pioneer Animation. Some titles that stood out to me included Ranma 1/2, Fushigi Yugi, Night Warriors (Darkstalkers) and the Sailor Moon S movie. After some name changes here and there, Pioneer is no longer around and the anime they were dubbing went to other companies.

I got this comic thanks to the longboxes at Third Eye Comics. I'll try to review the next issue before the year is up.