Top Cow Tomb Raider Grim Reaper

Grim Reaper

Writer: Dan Jurgens
Pencils: Andy Park (#13 & #14), Francis Manapul (#15)
Inks: Jonathan Sibal
Colours: Jonathan D. Smith
Lettering: Dreamer’s Design’s Robin Spehar and Dennis Heisler, J. D. Bruce (#15)
Release: May, June, August 2001
Original Price: US $2.50 | CAN $3.93 | UK £1.65
Issue # in Set: 13, 14, 15

Lara begins issue #13 in Tokyo where she is stealing a Jade statue from a private collector. Things get difficult and Miss Hoven (her assistant) tells her to find another partner, Chase Carver to aid her in finding Christopher Columbus’ treasures. However, she starts to reminisce on the pain that Chase caused her. Will she forgive him or will it be too late?

Issue #15 , just days after the death of Chase Carver, Lara Croft is on her way to a bank in Boston, Massachusetts to open Chase’s safety deposit box. However, when the cab driver tells her about an event at Copps Hill burial ground and an ancient book being dug up sooner than expected, Lara is concerned. She and Madeline Hovan arrive to the scene as quickly as possible. The professor at the burial ground refuses to listen to Lara’s warning, and she is left to deal with the consequences.

Allies:

Chase Carver
(? - 2001)
Chase helped Lara to find treasure hidden in Honduras by Christopher Columbus in May 2001. However, it was his last adventure as he had inhaled a deadly gas, which ate at his flesh and organs, ultimately killing him. Lara buried him on a hill, with a simple headstone with his name engraved, and his usual calling card, the knight chess piece.

Madeline Hovan
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%.

In issue 13, she was with Lara in Tokyo when she recovered a jade statue from Yakuza. It was her who advised Lara to get a real partner to work with, and suggested Chase.

Artefacts:

Christopher Columbus’ Treasure
It is treasure that Columbus had hidden during the Spanish Conquest. He had planned to come back and pick it up rather than give it to the throne, but never returned. In 2001, Lara and Chase headed to Honduras to find and retrieve it. It was contained in a wooden box, hidden at the bottom of a pool inside an ancient building. Chase swam down and collected it, but when he died, Lara dealt with the treasure.

Jade Statue
Lara reclaimed this artefact from the collection of a Yakuza member, Mr Chu.

Lucifer Text
It is a book that was buried in Copps Hill Burial Ground in Boston, Massachusetts. It was uncovered by Professor Walter Chemiski and his team of archaeologists in 2001. When opened, it awakened the undead, and Lara read out a passage to make them rest again. When the professor returned to the grave to rebury it, the book was stolen from his hand by Kerri Masterson, Chase Carver's sister. She took it to Honduras where she planned to resurrect Chase. Lara talked her out of it. It is unknown where the book is now, but presumably it was reburied in Boston. The book is infused with magic, and can raise the dead, although its power only works on those who died at the hands of evil.

Enemies:

Rotting Conquistador
He was a Spanish conquistador who was alive when Christopher Columbus headed to Honduras to find treasure. He was still 'alive' in 2001 when he attacked Lara Croft and Chase Carver. His flesh was intact when he approached them but it began to rot quickly. His mind was still stuck in the 1500s as he called them 'pirates', telling them that they won't have what rightfully belongs to Spain. Chase distracted it as Lara shot it. He wore armour and a helmet, and carried a sword, whose hilt was inscribed with the name 'Nina', one of Columbus' ships.

Skeletons
Typical enemies found in certain tombs. They were reawakened when Lara and Chase went to find the treasure of Christopher Columbus.

Zombies
These people were once victims, people who were killed by the hands of evil. In 2001 at Copps Hill Burial Ground in Boston, Massachusetts, Professor Walter Chemiski discovered the Lucifer Text; he ignored Lara's warning of reading from the book, and by doing so, he raised the dead within the cemetery.

Location:

Japan - Tokyo

Honduras

USA – Massachusetts, Boston - Copps Hill Burial Ground
USA – Massachusetts, Boston - Bayside Savings and Loan

Africa - Kenya

Other Characters:

Mr Chu
He is a member of the Yakuza, and owns a private collection of "exquisite treasure", with one piece being a jade statue that he didn't acquire through legitimate means. In 2001, Lara Croft stole the jade statue from him.

Celeste
Chase met with Celeste in Monaco, when he left Lara Croft waiting to go on a dive. He possibly met her inside the casino when he was playing blackjack with Lara's money. He owed her money, and headed to the dive early to find the treasure and pay her back.

Professor Walter Chemiski
He is a professor of archaeology at Boston University. In 2001, in a publicised event called the 'Copps Hill Event', at the Copps Hill Burial Ground, the professor and his team found the Lucifer Text, a book whose text would raise the dead, those who were killed by evil hands. Despite the warning of Lara Croft, he read from it and resurrected the dead in the nearby cemetery. Lara was able to correct his mistake by reading a passage from the book and commanding them to rest again. She told him that some things aren't meant to be dug up and he promised to bury it again. However the book was snatched out of his hand by Kerri Masterson, Chase Carver's sister.

Hanson
He is part of Professor Walter Chemiski's archaeological team, involved with uncovering the Lucifer Text in Boston at the Copps Hill Burial Ground.

Kerri Masterson
Chase's younger sister. When their father left them and their mother died, Chase and Kerri were separated as they went to different foster homes. In his letter in his safety deposit box in Boston, Chase wrote that he had yet to try and find her as he didn't think that she would want to know a "wretch" like him. Her occupation was a police officer. In 2001, adoption records revealed that Kerri discovered Chase's identity a week before he died, and tried to contact him while he was out of the country. When she learnt of his death, she went to Boston to take the Lucifer Text, and then flew to Honduras. Her plan was to restore her brother's life so that she could tell him she loves him and to get to know him. However Lara told her not to raise his body as it wouldn't be her brother but a "mockery" of him. When Kerri listened to her, she asked Lara to tell her what he was like.

Trey
(? - 2001)
He was a contestant on a game show called 'The Last', but was killed in Kenya when he and the other three contestants, were pulled underground by large tentacles. It is said that he worked at a place called 'Bub's Subs'.