Top Cow Tomb Raider Dead Center

Dead Center

Writer: Dan Jurgens
Pencils: Andy Park
Inks: Jonathan Sibal
Colours: Jonathan D. Smith, John Starr (#10)
Lettering: Dreamer Design’s Robin Spehar and Dennis Heisler
Release: September, October, December 2000, January 2001
Original Price: US $2.50 | CAN $4.00 | UK £1.65
Issue # in Set: 7, 8, 9 ,10

Issue 7 sees Lara immediately thrown into action as a member of the Midnight Squire -a powerful cult- dies in her yacht as she sleeps peacefully. When she wakes, she notices an orb on her bed, the Eye of Shaharettin but the peace does not last long! To top it all off, Lara’s new employee arrives for an interview for the job position ‘cook/secretary/assistant and everything else’ and sees that the job is not quite what she was expecting.

Allies:

Chase Carver
Chase appeared again in issue 9 to save Lara, Madeline Hovan and John Rivers from the Midnight Squires' thugs. He then took them to Louisiana to see a friend of his, Samual Quill, an ex-Squire, and they survived an attack but left with the Eye of Shaherettin.

Madeline Hovan
Her nationality is American. In September 2000, she visited Lara Croft on her yacht to apply for the vacant position of "cook/ secretary/ assistant/ and everything else", but was shocked to see a dead body by Lara's bed. Lara told her that if she was going to work for her, she had to deal with some unusual circumstances. Ms Hovan told Lara that considering the situation, her salary went up by 50%, and Lara agreed. However by the end of the night, and because of Madeline's help with dealing with some bad guys, Lara increased her salary by 100%. They took a plane from Mexico to Washington DC, to see to John Rivers about finding some information on the Midnight Squires. She flew a helicopter to collect Lara, Chase Carver and John from Louisiana.

John Rivers
John was once a systems instructor at Oxford, until he swapped it to work in intelligence, charting security systems. He is a systems analyst. Lara Croft was taught computer sciences by him. He travelled with Lara and Chase Carver to Louisiana, USA, and survived an attack to Samuel Quill's complex by the Midnight Squires.

Artefacts:

Eye of Shaherettin
Also spelt as Eye of Shaharettin. A green orb with small, red gems encrusted in a star shape around a large red gem. It offers various powers, such as immortality and the ability to see the future. Lara Croft first saw it when a member of the Midnight Squires left it on her bed whilst she slept. When she was woken up by Madeline Hovan, she saw a dead man on the floor and the orb. Soon after, a group of armed men stormed her yacht, wanting to retrieve the Eye of Shaharettin. Whilst visiting a friend, John Rivers, the Eye showed her what was going to happen moments later. Then, in Louisiana, Samuel Quill managed to get his hands on it, even defeating the head of the Squires, Mr Roetek, and he kept it. Lara tried to take it from him but had to consider her life, however she knew that someone one day soon will have to take the Eye from him.

Baddies:

Mr Roetek
(? - 2000)
The leader of the cult 'Midnight Squires', and died trying to acquire the Eye of Shaherettin. He wanted to kill Lara Croft for previously preventing him from getting the artefact but Samuel Quill, an ex-Squire, intervened and killed him with his own rifle in Louisiana, USA.

Enemies:

Midnight Squires
They were believed to be a legend, a consortium that does more to run the world than any politician. It was said that they were formed the day the Declaration of Independence was written, and consisted of wealthy Americans who refused to sign the declaration. They preferred to work behind the scenes, extending their influence throughout Britain and America. They have a headquarters in Manhattan, and until 2000, were run by Mr Roetek. Artefacts and pieces in their possession include Excalibur, the cross that Christ was crucified on, Hitler's body and the real murder weapon of JFK.

In September 2000, a member of the Midnight Squire's found Lara Croft's yacht and left her the Eye of Shaharettin before he was killed. When Lara Croft was woken up by Madeline Hovan, she recognised the cult by the symbol in his t-shirt. The cult was in the process of finding and retrieving the artefact, and had followed it to Lara's location, to her yacht. They failed to capture the Eye. They guessed Lara's next move by following her to a friend, John Rivers, and then to Louisiana, where they were defeated in Samuel Quill's subterranean complex.

Crocodiles
Seen in the swamps of the Bayou in Louisanna. It is rumoured that Samuel Quill controls them to protect his subterranean hideout.

Location:

Mexico

USA - California, LA
USA - New York, Manhattan
USA - Washington DC
USA - Louisiana, Bayou

Other Characters:

Officer Connie Wasserman
She is one of the two officers watching Lara Croft and Chase Carver at the shooting range in LA. She is a friend of Lara's.

Joan
Not seen. She is perhaps a secretary or assistant as she asked John Rivers if he wanted coffee, when he entered the work premises of a security systems company.

Samuel Quill
Samuel was once a Midnight Squire but he faked his own death to escape the cult. It was originally believed as Mr Roetek, leader of the Midnight Squires, had recovered his badly burnt body but he was later told that the body was unidentifiable. He had owned a subterranean fortress up until 2000, where he housed many women, who bore his children, in preparation for future dangers. He had met Chase Carver in 1995 in South Africa, and then two days before his 'death' in Brazil.

In 2000, when Lara Croft, Chase and John Rivers were caught in a whirlpool in Louisiana, USA, he rescued them but took the Eye of Shaherettin. He used it to see future events, such as whom the next six presidents will be, the exact second a thermonuclear exchange will ignite the Mideast, and the precise moment terrorists will unleash a biochemical attack that will decimate one tenth of America's population. When the Midnight Squires followed Lara, he led them to a monorail to evacuate the fortress. He managed to take the Eye from Lara and escape before the complex exploded.