David Wohl

Literary fiction seems to be my genre of choice, but every once in a while my typically mild curiosity in comics morphs into a full blown interest. When this has happened previously I've checked out Sandman, The Watchmen and other high profile, extremely popular comics. A few months ago I started to pick up some digital comics here and there and I came across a few free issues of Witchblade (published by Top Cow). I tried to find an ongoing series that I could catch up on relatively quickly show more and follow more recent issues without taking years to expose myself to the series (like I would have to with a lot of the original Marvel or DC series). Witchblade's current issue is 154. I figured that if I read the two released compendium volumes, I'd already be 2/3 of the way through the series. Following this logic, I bought a used copy of Volume 1, not quite sure what to expect.

Yes, Detective Sara Pezzini's ridiculously attractive figure caught my eye initially, but the story arc in Witchblade: Origins, describing how Pezzini came to wield the Witchblade, was pretty engaging. Other story arcs in this 50-issue compendium were equally compelling as Sara struggles to control the Witchblade and learns of its ancient, mystical powers. The primary artists seemed to change every few issues, and while I found myself wanting more consistency while plowing through the issues, in retrospect this revolving art direction probably benefitted the series over time. I felt for Sara as she mourned her dead father and battled the demons of her past as well as those of the present.

I was impressed with the first 50 issues of Witchblade and really enjoyed the characters, the satisfying violence, the not-too-creepy sexuality, and the mystique and intrigue behind the ancient weapon and its wielder over the course of history. The Top Cow universe's Jackie Estacado, Ian Nottingham, Ken Irons and others were fun to follow, too, and I'll probably read The Darkness (which is, conveniently, published in a compendium series, as well).

I'll stick with literary fiction, but I think this volume has convinced me that comic books have a lot of entertainment value to them as well...the good ones, at least. show less

David Whol, Christina Z., and Michael Turner’s Witchblade Origins, Volume 1: Genesis collects Witchblade> no. 1-8. The stories introduce Sarah Pezzini, a detective in New York City who encounters the mystical artifact known as the Witchblade on a case. In the process, both she and her partner Michael Yee were wounded, though Sarah survived with the help of the Witchblade. Now she uses it to pursue the guilty who managed to game the legal system to avoid justice while seeking to learn about show more the artifact. Along the way, she runs into Kenneth Irons, a mysterious businessman who seeks the Witchblade for his own. The stories easily fit in to Top Cow Productions’ fantasy genres, specifically using urban fantasy and urban gothic themes.

At times, the comic captures the worst excesses of the ’90s, with characters posing and using sound-bite dialogue rather than more natural depictions of people interacting. Silvestri, Whol and Z. try to create a sense of melodrama, but much of it becomes buried in the style-over-substance execution. All that being said, it’s fun for those who grew up with the comics industry of the ’90s and enjoyed this type of storytelling in their adolescence. Oddly enough, one must pick up the Origins TPBs to get the earliest Witchblade comics as the standard volume 1 collects issues 80-85. show less

David Wohl, Christina Z., Michael Turner, Randy Green, and Jason Pearson’s Witchblade Origins, Volume 3 collects Witchblade no. 18-25 and The Darkness nos. 9-10. Most notably, these stories feature Top Cow Productions’ first crossover storyline between titles with The Darkness, the inverse of the Witchblade, appearing in his own title. The story continues to follow the developing gang war between the Mafia and the Yakuza, with the Darkness working as the Mafia’s enforcer and Tora No show more Shi representing the Yakuza. A third group of police led by Joe Siry and working outside the confines of the law plans to take on both groups. Meanwhile Sarah Pezzini and the Witchblade find themselves in the middle while Sonatine plays Ian Nottingham for his own game to control both the Witchblade and the Darkness. The second half of this collection focuses on a religious cult led by a charismatic figure and his connection to Pezzini and her partner through a series of murders, all while Sarah and Nottingham work to resolve their issues with the Witchblade.

This was the final volume of Witchblade Origins even though a further 55 issues separated it from Witchblade Volume 1: Witch Hunt, which began with issue number 80. Witchblade perfectly captures the essence of late-90s comic books, from the character poses to the focus on antiheroes, the plotting, pages featuring extensive pin-ups of the characters rather than more natural movement and blocking for their interactions. It’s also quite enjoyable for those who like the over-the-top stories of the late-90s and early-2000s and is great to revisit for nostalgia, especially if the reader was in middle or high school during the time of these comics publication. show less

Enjoyable enough, although the women have improbable...proportions.