The Trap - The Path of the Tiger

Writer: John Ney Rieber
Pencils: Randy Green
Inks: Jonathan Sibal
Colours: Jonathan D. Smith
Lettering: Dreamer Design’s Robin Spehar and Dennis Heisler
Cover Art: Randy Green, Jonathan Sibal, Jonathan D. Smith
Release: May, June, August 2002
Original Price: US $2.50 | CAN $4.00 | UK £1.65 (Issue 21, 22) ~ US $2.99 | CAN $4.60 (Issue 23)
Issue # in Set: 21, 22, 23

Lara goes on the search for the Black Mandala in Tibet, but this search entraps her in Samsara. How will Lara leave and will she discover the fate of an old friend?

Allies:

Tsang Do Khyi​
He is a thousand year old monk. When Lara Croft became trapped in a supernatural trap after touching the Black Mandala, Tsang Do Khyi, an ancient Tibetan monk, helped her by taking her to Samsara. He helped to enlighten her so that she could return to her body. He was a suggested cannibal as he talked about eating people. However when Lara said that he was, he denied it.

Artefacts:

Black Mandala
It was found in a temple in the Taktsang Ravine, in Tibet. It is a small stone with engravings on the front and it glows. When Lara touched it, a blue ball of light surrounded her and placed her inside a supernatural trap. Once Lara had reached enlightenment, she gave the Black Mandala to Lydia Blake.

Enemies:

Tibetan Guardians
There are five of them in a temple in Tibet, in the Taktsang Ravine, each guarding a door. In appearance they are tall statues, each one symbolic: ignorance; hatred; pride; craving and envy. They later appeared again, this time moving, as Lara was about to grab the true Black Mandala. Lara managed to shoot ignorance in the face until it fell, but the others she tricked into swiping each other, and then kicked the final one into a deep, fiery pit.

Adams
(? - 2002)
​He was one of Lord Vymes' henchmen, and was later killed by Vymes when his field agents failed to keep up with Lara Croft in the Taktsang Ravine.

Location:

Tibet – Taktsang Ravine
​

United Kingdom - ​England – Croft Manor

Other Characters:

Grishkin
​​Grishkin was a large white tiger, and the pet of Lara Croft. She described her as a mutant, proposing that she was bred to take on war elephants. Grishkin helped to round up the henchmen of Lord Vymes when they attempted to ambush Lara in her own home.

Lydia Blake (Gomchenna)
​Lydia had left her initials on a rock ground, presumably when, like Lara, she touched the Black Mandala in a temple in the Taktsang Ravine. Lara knew of Lydia as she had written several books that she had read. Lydia is a dakini, and the person who had robbed Lord Vymes and Lara of the mandalas - as well as other eastern artefacts - later telling Lara that she needed the power of the four mandalas to free her sisters from the Samsara pearls. Lydia appeared in issue 22 as an elderly woman called Gomchenna. As this guise, she travelled to the same temple that Lara was at to protect her, but first had to fight a yidam called Vajravarahi, who protected Lara as well. When Lara completed the path of the tiger, the yidam crumbled, and Lara gave Lydia the Black Mandala. 

Tetsen
​​Tetsen joined Gomchenna (Lydia Blake) as they climbed a mountain to a temple in the Taktsang Ravine. He carried the wings of Gomchenna, who was a dakini.

Vajravarahi
​She is a stone yidam in the Taktsang Ravine in Tibet, animated to life to guard whoever takes the path of the tiger until the seeker finds enlightenment or death. Lara Croft had seen her in the temple when she lit a candle as an offering. Since then, Vajravarahi protected Lara, and fought with a dakini called Gomchenna. She appeared again in the comics with Gomchenna (Lydia Blake), Tetsen and others as they climbed to a temple on top of a mountain. Lydia demanded that the yidam allow her to pass to help Lara but a battle broke out, finishing only when Lara had become enlightened. The yidam crumbled in front of them.

Master
In Samsara, Tsang Do Khyi looks up to him for answers, but in appearance, the master looks like he has been long dead.

Weapons:

Pistols

Variant Covers:

Issue #21 Randy Green Variant

Issue #21 Clarence Lansang Variant

Issue #21 Pittsburgh 2002 Convention Exclusive Variant

Issue #21 Gold Foil Signed Variant (Ltd 100)