Tomb Raider: Saga Of The Medusa Mask Written by Dan Jurgens Pencils by Andy Park Inks by Jonathan Sibal Colours by Jonathan D. Smith Published by Titan Books Out Now, £8.99 Buy from Amazon

Having bumped mammaries with Witchblade, it was inevitable that the mighty machine that is the Tomb Raider license would spawn a comic of its very own. To be honest, it's a surprise that it didn't happen sooner…

Obviously, a comic featuring Lara Croft is going to show a degree of T&A artwork; it's a part of the license. What is a surprise, especially after the artwork in the Witchblade cross-overs, is the restraint shown by Mr. Park and the art team. Although she still works without the benefit of a sports bra safety net, Ms. Croft has been drawn without recourse to the soft porn school of art (the one where characters are drawn naked, then coloured to be wearing 'clothes'). The colours are bright without being too garish, and don't swamp the definitely above average pencil and ink work.

Regardless of Ms. Crofts obvious charms, the book is going to stand or fall on the strength of the writing as much as on the art. Actually, that's a big fib, and we all know it. However, there needed to be an intro to the 'writing' bit of the review, and that's what you got…

The story drops the reader straight into the action, Bond style, with the end of a mission which has seen Lara return a stolen necklace to the Israel museum services. How nice of her. From there, bereft of a main title theme, we are propelled into a search for the titular Medusa Mask. Along the way, we have action under the water, in Athens, and finally in Nepal. There are betrayals, revelations and an ex-boyfriend, plus some crap Ninja-style assassins on a day out from Tank Girl duty.

Despite Lara's English heritage, the dialogue is very US oriented. You can tell when a character is English, because they start talking like the chimney sweep from Mary Poppins. The story itself isn't spectacular enough, really, to be a Tomb Raider adventure. The artefact isn't the centre of the story, and the details of Lara's troubled history are rushed through for the sake of a quick plot twist.

This is the first collection from the hugely successful comic, premiered in the US. Hopefully, now the slightly clumsy introductions are over, it will settle down and get better.

6.5/10 for a series showing some promise.

Review by Iain Lowson