This double-sized 15th anniversary issue of
Witchblade not only has a lot of substance but sustenance too. Witchblade #144 is the perfect issue to
get any newbie caught up with all the Witchblade lore, although with two stories, it might not
be what hardcore fans are really looking for.The first story from Witchblade #144, “cleverly” titled
“Origin Secret.” Why not a normal
title like “Secret Origin?” We’ll
talk about that when we get to the second story. “Origin Secret” focuses on an internal affairs agent
investigating the death of Sara Pezzini’s former partner Jake McCarthy. In the process Jake’s journal is found
detailing Sara’s history as the bearer of the Witchblade.The rest of the comic is a flashback to Sara’s past, quickly
going over the most important moments from the last 15 years of the Witchblade
that every newbie should know before starting to read Witchblade. Ron Marz makes this story the perfect
jumping on point for new readers, but not as much for the hardcore fans that
have been following the series.
Most fans know the basics, and while this may be a helpful recap it
could easily be skipped if you know the story and want to save five bucks for
the next issue of Witchblade that actually has an impact on the current
Witchblade stories. While the target is mostly newbie-based the art can please
both crowds. Stjepan Sejic is not
himself a newbie to drawing Witchblade.
He created some of the most original monsters in Witchblade
#141. There are no monsters in
this issue but Sejic manages to distract readers from that with beautiful
images of Sara that look like they belong on the cover of Vogue. Sejic’s drawings almost look like
high-quality graphics from a video game and are every bit as enjoyable. Just pay no attention to anyone else
other than Sara, especially with the beginning of this issue starting out with
oddly proportioned people we don’t really care much about wearing expressions
that don’t always match their current emotion. When looking at this story for newbies and others looking to
see a beautiful heroine with a creative back-story laid out nicely for you,
this issue fulfills all your dreams and is one of the better origin story
oriented comic books. It doesn’t
just present facts, it has a small sub plot linking them together and giving us
a reason why we are reliving Sara’s past. The second story let’s us relive her boyfriend’s. It’s a much shorter story simply titled
“Secret Origin,” a reverse of the original title. The story gives a short telling of Patrick Gleason’s
background story. It is not written by Ron Marz but Filip
Sablik. Sablik surprisingly
manages to do something the Upstate
Arc could not. The Upstate arc
gave us a story revolving around Gleason without Sara to show how “great” he
was. That issue had an interesting
character, but it wasn’t Gleason.
This story makes him more likable in a rather short amount of time. It also subtly mentions some key points
from Gleason’s past that Sablik couldn’t fit into the entire short story, like
Gleason’s brother being killed during 9-11, one of the most important past plot
points effecting Gleason’s character.
The art doesn’t have as much of a positive impact.Immediately the art style gives away the fact that this
story is drawn by someone not as gifted as Sejic. John Tyler Christopher has no pretty women to draw in this
story and fails to give any other characters memorable emotions or look like
Sejic could in the previous story.
Even without following as great an artist as Sejic, Christopher’s art is
already mediocre at best. Despite the moments of mediocre art and lack of material
forwarding the story, Witchblade #144 successfully presents an origin story not
boring or cliché unlike the stories’ title. The second story also gives a lot to the reader interested
in the male presence in the Witchblade. But it is clearly apparent throughout the issue that there is much more narration than dialogue and it is more for newcomers to keep the Witchblade series going to it's 16th anniversary. Overall Score - 7.3/10
*Good - Perfect for
newcomers to the Witchblade series* And congratulations to Top Cow's Witchblade for lasting 15 years!
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 rest of the comic is a flashback to Sara’s past, quickly
going over the most important moments from the last 15 years of the Witchblade
that every newbie should know before starting to read Witchblade. Ron Marz makes this story the perfect
jumping on point for new readers, but not as much for the hardcore fans that
have been following the series.
Most fans know the basics, and while this may be a helpful recap it
could easily be skipped if you know the story and want to save five bucks for
the next issue of Witchblade that actually has an impact on the current
Witchblade stories.
While the target is mostly newbie-based the art can please
both crowds. Stjepan Sejic is not
himself a newbie to drawing Witchblade.
He created some of the most original monsters in Witchblade
#141. There are no monsters in
this issue but Sejic manages to distract readers from that with beautiful
images of Sara that look like they belong on the cover of Vogue. Sejic’s drawings almost look like
high-quality graphics from a video game and are every bit as enjoyable. Just pay no attention to anyone else
other than Sara, especially with the beginning of this issue starting out with
oddly proportioned people we don’t really care much about wearing expressions
that don’t always match their current emotion.
When looking at this story for newbies and others looking to
see a beautiful heroine with a creative back-story laid out nicely for you,
this issue fulfills all your dreams and is one of the better origin story
oriented comic books. It doesn’t
just present facts, it has a small sub plot linking them together and giving us
a reason why we are reliving Sara’s past.
The second story let’s us relive her boyfriend’s. It’s a much shorter story simply titled
“Secret Origin,” a reverse of the original title. The story gives a short telling of Patrick Gleason’s
background story. It is not written by Ron Marz but Filip
Sablik. Sablik surprisingly
manages to do something the Upstate
Arc could not. The Upstate arc
gave us a story revolving around Gleason without Sara to show how “great” he
was. That issue had an interesting
character, but it wasn’t Gleason.
This story makes him more likable in a rather short amount of time. It also subtly mentions some key points
from Gleason’s past that Sablik couldn’t fit into the entire short story, like
Gleason’s brother being killed during 9-11, one of the most important past plot
points effecting Gleason’s character.
The art doesn’t have as much of a positive impact.
Immediately the art style gives away the fact that this
story is drawn by someone not as gifted as Sejic. John Tyler Christopher has no pretty women to draw in this
story and fails to give any other characters memorable emotions or look like
Sejic could in the previous story.
Even without following as great an artist as Sejic, Christopher’s art is
already mediocre at best.
Despite the moments of mediocre art and lack of material
forwarding the story, Witchblade #144 successfully presents an origin story not
boring or cliché unlike the stories’ title. The second story also gives a lot to the reader interested
in the male presence in the Witchblade. But it is clearly apparent throughout the issue that there is much more narration than dialogue and it is more for newcomers to keep the Witchblade series going to it's 16th anniversary.
Overall Score - 7.3/10
*Good - Perfect for
newcomers to the Witchblade series*
And congratulations to Top Cow's Witchblade for lasting 15 years! 
