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Witchblade #140 – Advance Review

Emotion abounded in the last issue and this story gives readers some good old fashioned carnage with some great humor and nicely done art.  The series in general  has a lot to offer and I think this issue helped capitalize on its potential.  The pacing issues people have complained about in previous issues of Witchblade are non-existent here as Sara and Patrick are quickly catapulted into a case with interesting new characters to help and hinder their case. After the emotional trip Sara has had after dealing with her sister’s death she is finally back on duty.  She couldn’t have picked a better time.  After a doorman is slaughtered by an unidentifiable creature that startles even Sara. Her and her partner start their search and find two very strange children that could hold the answer to what the beast is. Witchblade # 140The story written by Ron Marz and Saurav Mohapatra is not revolutionary.  The concept is simple, with the stereotypical kids you’ve see in a lot of creepy horror movies.  They are written quite well though and do instill some fear in the reader – enough at least to make me hope my children don’t turn out to be like them! The best part of the story is the dialogue between Sara and her partner/boyfriend Patrick. Marz and Mohapatra expertly go from a serious conversation about their relationship between the two to something that will have you chuckling to yourself.  Stjepan Sejic’s art has a lot of promise – the expressions, especially on Sara’s face, look very realistic. Simple shadows cast by the characters and the lighting in the hotel are perfect.  The reflection of a demon form drawn in a character’s eye early in the issue is also an awesome display of art.  The style of the panels are also very unique.  One page (one of the best) has the panels cut up into diamonds with blood spattered around them.  The gritty atmosphere is perfect and refreshingly different from the boring panels that just sit side-by-side.  The colors go along well with the art, like the hair colors and glossy lips the characters have.  The first couple pages have a wonderful red gleam to them that fits perfectly with the mood – a blood red color for a bloody end.  This issue is written pretty well and the art has its moments, but it pales in comparison with the Artifacts series.  It is still a great issue that you will probably need if you’re going to pick up the next issue of Witchblade. It can even be considered a possible jumping on point for new reader’s since it does not rely on information in past issues to forward the story.  If you’re looking for another storyline that intersects with Artifacts, however, you won’t find it here. Which is understandable since the last issue went hand-in-hand with Artifacts.      Story: 7.5 Characters: 9.0 Art: 8.5 Colors: 8.0 Overall: 8.3 If you’re interested in picking up issue #139 of WItchbalde, you can check out my review of it here.
Rating
8.3

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About / Bio
An all-around nerdette, I’m a comic book connoisseur, horror aficionado, video game addict, anime enthusiast and an aspiring novelist/comic book writer. I am the head of the comic book department and the editor-in-chief of Entertainment Fuse. I also write and edit articles for Comic Frontline. I am also an intern at Action Lab Entertainment, a comic book publisher at which I edit comic book scripts, help work on images in solicitations and help with other comic book related project. My own personal website is comicmaven.com.

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