Pretty. That sums this issue up well: pretty. Witchblade and other numerous Top Cow titles are noted for their beauty, but when you are not having your breath stolen by some of the amazing artwork in this issue, you will notice not only some awkward art but also an average story.Gretchen Fullmer, reporter for the "Starlight Alternative" newspaper, interviews two homeless men with two spectacular stories to tell her about a beautiful woman fighting a monster in the sewers. After the interviews and giving away a few free hotdogs, Gretch meets Sara at a coffee shop to question her and gets the real story.The homeless men at the beginning of the issue were a nice distraction from the fact that not only were they unnecessary, but just took up page space so the story could be stretched out into another issue or two. Both of them were funny comic relief that did not need to be there. When we finally get to Sara, she still has the presence that makes us love her: A tough, no nonsense cop with the will of Sara Connor and the way of Superman. The story from Ron Marz does not have much substance, but does give us a few laughs from our friendly homeless men and Sara's partner/boyfriend Patrick Gleason.The artwork is where problems abound, but most are covered up. At first glance, Witchblade has the phenomenal artwork that Stjepan Sejic is known for but it also has some of his quirks, sometimes aided or brought on by the colors. Every fighting scene is masterfully done and the highlight of Sejic's artwork, with beautiful illustrations of Sara fighting a dragon, Sara as a superhero and Sara just being Sara, always results in beautiful compilations. Even the backgrounds are given great detail, with a lush rendition of Central Park that makes me almost smell the trees. The colors also added a lot, too, especially when Sara and Gleason are in the sewers. The lighting is portrayed perfectly with shadows illustrated well. The problems are just about everything else. When we're not focusing on Sara or monsters, the other characters come out bland, especially Philipps who looks like he was washed in wax with a way too glassy appearance that made the ending not only less climactic but hard to look at.The issue was satisfactory, with some breathtaking art mostly ruined by the lackluster finish. The story is not deep, with little to offer the reader other than many unnecessary pages that could have easily been replaced with more of a story and less comic relief to distract the reader from the lack of substance the story has. Sara is still written well, with beauty and brawn to match, and is a fun character to read especially when she is interacting with Gleason, but there was not a lot of that in this issue either, which it really could have used.Overall Score – 6.9/10*Satisfactory - A title that's not for everyone; has a few stand out moments. Maybe if you have a few extra bucks it's worth picking up.*For more reviews of the powerful artifact-bearer of the Witchblade, check out our numerous reviews of the Witchblade series below.
Witchblade
#136
Witchblade
#137Witchblade #139Witchblade
#140Witchblade
#141Witchblade
#142 and #143Witchblade
#144
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.
The homeless men at the beginning of the issue were a nice distraction from the fact that not only were they unnecessary, but just took up page space so the story could be stretched out into another issue or two. Both of them were funny comic relief that did not need to be there. When we finally get to Sara, she still has the presence that makes us love her: A tough, no nonsense cop with the will of Sara Connor and the way of Superman. The story from Ron Marz does not have much substance, but does give us a few laughs from our friendly homeless men and Sara's partner/boyfriend Patrick Gleason.
The artwork is where problems abound, but most are covered up. At first glance, Witchblade has the phenomenal artwork that Stjepan Sejic is known for but it also has some of his quirks, sometimes aided or brought on by the colors. Every fighting scene is masterfully done and the highlight of Sejic's artwork, with beautiful illustrations of Sara fighting a dragon, Sara as a superhero and Sara just being Sara, always results in beautiful compilations. Even the backgrounds are given great detail, with a lush rendition of Central Park that makes me almost smell the trees. The colors also added a lot, too, especially when Sara and Gleason are in the sewers. The lighting is portrayed perfectly with shadows illustrated well. The problems are just about everything else. When we're not focusing on Sara or monsters, the other characters come out bland, especially Philipps who looks like he was washed in wax with a way too glassy appearance that made the ending not only less climactic but hard to look at.
The issue was satisfactory, with some breathtaking art mostly ruined by the lackluster finish. The story is not deep, with little to offer the reader other than many unnecessary pages that could have easily been replaced with more of a story and less comic relief to distract the reader from the lack of substance the story has. Sara is still written well, with beauty and brawn to match, and is a fun character to read especially when she is interacting with Gleason, but there was not a lot of that in this issue either, which it really could have used.
Overall Score – 6.9/10
*Satisfactory - A title that's not for everyone; has a few stand out moments. Maybe if you have a few extra bucks it's worth picking up.*
For more reviews of the powerful artifact-bearer of the Witchblade, check out our numerous reviews of the Witchblade series below.
Witchblade
#136
Witchblade
#137
Witchblade #139
Witchblade
#140
Witchblade
#141
Witchblade
#142 and #143
Witchblade
#144
