I f*cking love WITCHBLADE!

By Harrison Rawdin on Saturday, February 8th, 2014

Welcome to the inarguable edition of COMIC RANTS. Here our intrepid REVIEW TEAM gets the opportunity to complain / praise whatever topic they see fit. It’s open mic night at the UTF offices and anything goes. So sit back, pour yourself a nice tall glass of the amber stuff and enjoy!

AND… HERE WE GO!

This is the type of adventure series that invites fanboys and fangirls into a world where a young woman became a decorated police detective with a hidden burden. A saga where she has the responsibility to not only solve murders but also, thanks to Add Newher extracurricular activities, balance the light and dark forces of the universe. It’s tough to be Sara Pezzini, but it’s entertaining to read about her life!

Granted she’s left the NYPD, moved on to being a Private Investigator and is now a small-town Sheriff but man this is one woman to be admired. Sure the average guy is going to be drawn in by her other assets but there is something insanely awesome about someone with a kick-ass attitude that’s willing to do what needs to be done in order to protect the world on a regular basis.

WHY?

When I was twelve years old I came across a corny but entertaining made-for-TV romp. I had no idea if it was good, but it didn’t take long for me to become enamored. During the commercials they had interviews with cast and crew, I forget who mentioned it, but I found out then that it was based on a monthly book.

As soon as I heard that everything changed.

I found a local comic shop then convinced my mom to take me after school (where I blew my allowance). Picked up the latest issue and a TPB containing the first eight. I read it all in one sitting. It didn’t matter that it was #46 and I had no idea what was going on.

IT’S NOT PERFECT (NEITHER IS SHE)

What’s been a staple right from the get go is that you have this force and bearer that are constantly learning to deal with each other. It’s a push and pull that creates an awesome dynamic but more often than not they end up on the same side.

Whether confronted by another supernatural force or fending off the advances of mafioso there’s a lot to dig into here, but trust me when I say this is a gateway to something bigger.

Behold the TOP COW UNIVERSE (current line-up: APHRODITE IX, ARTIFACTS, CYBER FORCE and WITCHBLADE)! Trust me you’ll like it here.

(thankfully you can usually buy the whole thing monthly for 12.96 plus tax)!

THERE ARE PROBLEMS IN PARADISE…

I HATE the fact that SARA PEZZINI has given up her responsibilities before!

see #18, 103 and #170!

I HATE that depending on who steps in to write we lose the supporting cast!

see #1 to 39, then try #40 to 53 to properly see this whiplash effect!

Side note: I miss having Joe Siry around.

I HATE that KENNETH IRONS is still dead (but I respect it)!

See #75 for more details.

I HATE that she hasn’t had a great sidekick in awhile!

No one replaces JAKE McCARTHY.

…but PATRICK GLEASON came close.

I HATE how depending on the author the WITCHBLADE has a personality change!

David Wohl grew it to the point that it spoke normally (and articulately), Ron Marz gave it a gender, Paul Jenkins treated it like an overbearing burden and Tim Seeley more or less brought it back to where Christina Z. held it (a benign but somewhat chaotic state).

I HATE that IAN NOTTINGHAM was miss-handled during my favorite era, only to be tossed aside completely post-ARTIFACTS #13

The man caught bullets in his hands, he deserves better than where he’s at. Though I am happy that he re-emerged for ARTIFACTS #34.

YOU SHOULD START WITH #173!

It’s time guys, I’ve gushed and complained but trust me when I say the worst of this franchise is still good enough to warrant your attention. In 172 and a 1/2 issues we’ve seen a woman plagued by forces beyond her control. Billionaires obsessed with objects of power, murdering demons, pregnancy, birth, end of the universe, rebirth of the universe, a hinted at final battle with THE DARKNESS and even a few moral choices that took their toll. Despite all that she still treks on, and you know what, there’s no one else I’d rather have fending off otherworldly threats than the one and only SARA PEZZINI.

IGNORE THE FACT that there are plenty of images of her over sexualized, it’s a staple of the industry that sells books. But even so I’d be hard pressed to point out another female protagonist that’s successfully kept my attention for well over a decade.

Trust me when I tell you: take your $2.99 plus tax and checkout this book!

It’s great and I promise you won’t regret it.

MY POINT IS…

It had me during the drive home, back when I was a young precocious passenger attempting to angle the comic so my mom wouldn’t see any risque illustrations. I did that ritual for about a year before I had my Bar Mitzvah and the sins became mine. I’ll never forget how each issue made me go bonkers, I loved them and to this day this series is still the chief one I look forward to month in and month out.