Spore

Writer: Mariko Tamaki
Pencils: Phillip Sevy
Colours: Michael Atiyeh
Cover Art: Agustin Alessio
Release: Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, July 2016
Original Price: US $3.99 | UK £2.65
Issue # in Set: 1 - 6

Lara Croft heads to an archaeological conference in Minnesota but later meets with Joslin Reyes. She is later approached by Mr Bellamy who mentions that he and a Professor Demur are interested in her works of immortality. He mentions that the professor wanted to meet, however Lara declines. After an 'accident’ at her hotel, she decides to meet with him after all and they go in search for the Mushroom of Immortality.

Allies:

Jonah Maiava
First seen again in issue #1 of 'Spore', he joined Lara at the 22nd Annual Archaeology Conference in Minnesota. In issue #2, he joined her and Professor Demur on the flight to Yunnan, in China, on the search for the Mushroom of Immortality. In issue #3, he helped Lara fight off the Knights of the Spore, and in issue #4, he saved Lara when she was submerged under the river in the jungle. In issue #5, Jonah had been kidnapped whilst Lara was inside the cave. In issue #6, Lara saved him and the pair discovered that Robert Demur had died whilst trying to distil the spore.

Professor Robert Demur
A professor at the University of Minnesota. He attended the 22nd Annual Archaeology Conference to talk about the latest advances in paleoethnobotany. He also claimed to be married to a fellow student, Frances. He later met with Lara Croft and Jonah Maiava to discuss the mushroom of immortality. He had records of his fieldwork in China his office had been broken in to; they were chased by the Knights of the Spore but they had managed to get away from them. Luckily, the Professor kept hard copies of his research at his home.

​After taking a plane to the southern Yunnan province, China, he was kidnapped by the Knights of the Spore and forced to find the mushroom or be killed. Shortly after, he was rescued by Lara but Jonah was kidnapped in the process. The Knights demanded the spore in exchange for Jonah's life but Robert panicked and fled to a hotel. Lara grabbed Jonah and the pair tracked him down, only to discover that he had died trying to distill the mushroom, which had killed him almost instantly. Jonah later found out that Robert wasn't married to Frances and that he was also dying of liver cancer.

Artefacts:

Mushroom of Immortality
There are references to the mushroom in the book of Han, roughly 82CE. The Fangshi, the magicians of the court, claimed they knew secret locations where the mushroom grew, but there was no evidence of its existence. In 2016, Professor Robert Demur had told Lara Croft that a colleague of his had emailed him with a piece of text that he was translating: a Fangshi recipe, where it referred to a mushroom that bled. He added that when he was doing fieldwork in China in 1996, he had seen a mushroom like it but he wasn't able to take samples as it cracked open in his hands and bled. It was when Lara travelled to southern Yunnan in China with Robert and Jonah that she was able to find the mushroom herself. She collected a sample to take with her but it was never handed over to the Knighthood of the Spore; instead Robert ran off with it. He had tried to distil it but it had killed him almost instantly.

Baddies:

Knights of the Spore
Belonging to the Knighthood of the Spore. In appearance, they are a deathly grey colour, bald and well-built. They were always one step ahead of Lara Croft, Jonah Maiava and Professor Robert Demur while on the search for the Mushroom of Immortality, following them through the parts of the US state of Minnesota and to the southern Yunnan province in China. They kidnapped the professor, who led them to the caves, threatening him with his life if he didn't find the mushrooms. They had also managed to kidnap Jonah to try and force Lara and the Professor to hand over the spore. Lara managed to save her friend after Demur went missing, and the knights were surrounded by the police. However Lara was followed when she later went rock climbing. After a fight, the leader of the knighthood was shot dead by Jonah.

Enemies:

84R
​A member of the Knighthood of the Spore, who in China, was sent after Lara Croft to kill her. Instead, Lara was able to kill him first.

55K
​A member of the Knighthood of the Spore, who in China, was sent after Lara Croft to kill her. Instead, Lara was able to kill him first.

Location:

USA - Minnesota – University of Minnesota
                        - Mall USA

China – Southern Yunnan​

Other Characters:

Dana
Dana was introduced to Lara Croft by Joslin Reyes who brought her along to train with them. Dana is going blind but is still a capable fighter, due to using echolocation.

Joslin Reyes
An ex-cop of the NYPD and turned mechanic, Reyes once accompanied Lara Croft aboad the expedition ship, the Endurance, to Yamatai. In 2016, she offered Lara to join her in Minnesota to train, and whilst there she introduced her to her friend Dana.

Todd Bellamy
The assistant to Professor Robert Demur, he was helping him with his search for the Mushroom of Immortality. He was killed by a grey-skinned thug. When he was killed, he was two years away from his doctorate.

Ted
​Lara Croft and Professor Robert Demur took Ted's motorbike as they fled from the Knights of the Spore. When outside the laboratory, Lara agreed to pay the cost of the bike to Ted.

Frances
A fellow student to Professor Robert Demur of the University of Minnesota. She was a bit of a treasure hunter, and at some point, she and Robert had travelled to the southern Yunnan province in China to find the Mushroom of Immortality. They had found it but when Robert held it, it bled and oozed a black liquid. After returning home, she became ill.

Tom
A local of the southern Yunnan province, he can speak English. In 2016, after Professor Robert Demur was kidnapped by the Knights of the Spore, Tom agreed to take Lara Croft and Jonah Maiava to the caves that the professor was leading them to. When they reached the cave, the knights were already there, so he showed them to a hole in the ground that led into the caves. He then left them as he had promised his boss that he would return.

Professor Green
​Mentioned in issue #5 of Spore. In 1996, he was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where he taught Robert Demur and Frances.

Weapons:

Climbing Axe​

Pistol

Variant Covers:

Issue #1 Dark Horse 30 Years Cover Variant

Issue #1 ComicsPro Variant by Annie Wu