Can the Artifacts match the might of the ancient ones, or are we doomed?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Image:

Thirteen Artifacts destroyed the Universe. Darkness bearer Jackie Estacado remade the Universe. Rapture bearer and defrocked priest Tom Judge has recruited Witchblade bearer Sara Pezzini to muscle Jackie into setting everything back to how it was. Will their triumph return the natural order of things, or will it make matters much, much worse?

In a lot of ways the rebirth of the Top Cow Universe has been building toward this specific arc.  And when the moment comes and the troops are rallied the creative team literally wastes no time getting this conflict going.

From start to finish our heroes battle it out with the fate of everything hanging in the balance as series scribe, Ron Marz, continues to chart his epic tale. Following the end of the initial event and the transformation the narrative went through there have been plenty of interesting things that have slowly but surely been birthed along the way and let me just say it was delightful to see them finally interact in a giant battle with a more than competent script.  Overall what fans can enjoy from this release is a tale that’s aware of itself as it plays with consistent execution, smart dialogue and a knowledgeable literary hand as it builds toward a satisfying cliffhanger.

Stjepan Sejic absolutely nails the art as each line yields panels and pages that ooze with realism during some very unrealistic times.  What we have in essence is a battle with some solid build up, and whether he’s illustrating a conversation between powerful people or the literal fisticuffs that ensue the talent is up to the task at hand. If I was to levy a complaint it would have to be that some of the facial expressions seemed a tad bit off but at this point with the overall visceral work on display it would be really hard to make that stick.

Artifacts #25 is an exceptional release that will surely please eager fans.  Highly recommended.

4.5/5