In this review of Witchblade #1, Sara Pezzini is back on a case. A case that could gain her vengeance for the death of her father or her own death or her rebirth into something very very old.
Witchblade #1
Writer: Marguerite Bennett
Artist: Giuseppe Cafaro
Color Artist: Arif Prianto
Main Cover: Marc Silvestri
Variant Covers: Giuseppe Cafaro, Dani Strips, J.Scott Campbell, Bill Sienkiewicz
Release Date: July 17, 2024
This review contains spoilers
Witchblade #1 starts 9 hours ago in Berlin, Germany. Kenneth Irons is at a dig and he orders the sacrifice to be sent in. The sacrifice is a young woman being held at gunpoint, she is ordered to dig and she soon finds the quarry. An ancient golden piece of jewelry that quickly attaches to her transforming her into something very feral. She lashes out and escapes in a stolen car. Her destination is the Brandenburg Airport. The woman is now surrounded by police and they open fire on her, killing her.
A female officer checks the woman for vital signs and the jewelry is attached to her. The officer now under the spell finds a woman boarding a flight to New York. She touches the passenger’s shoulder and the device transfers to the new woman and boards the plane. Inside the cargo hold of the plane, the woman goes into a meditative state under the control of the Witchblade.
In New York, Sara muses about her life and the eventual killing of her father. She rose through the police ranks to become a detective and she is here tonight to meet some traffickers. In the East River she meets with Winter, the trafficker. Winter pulls a gun on her and hands it to her. Before Sara can inspect the quality of the goods, Winter has a job for her. He wants her to kill a smuggler who allowed his prior cargo to spoil in the hot truck.
Back at John F. Kennedy airport Irons is in pursuit of the possessed woman, he wants the Witchblade. The woman runs into a car dying and another woman checks on the passenger and the Witchblade transfers to her and then others all in a gambit to escape Irons.
The new host in a bike arrives at Sara and the Witchblde kills Winter and attaches to Sara’s wrist. The woman on the bike is killed and now Sara is in danger of being shot by Winter’s men. Sara miraculously transforms into the Witchblade and kills all the men. After the fight an exhausted Sara reemerges and she is back to her senses. She finds the trafficking victims and frees them. Backup arrives and tends to Sara’s and the victims wounds. Sara Pezzini just wants to go home but she is being watched. Nottingham, who is employed by Irons, knows that Sara has the Witchblade. To be continued.
Analysis
Witchblade #1 begins with an origin story of the Witchblade. In that sense this is a reboot or a new start for the comic title that first debuted in the nineties. Sara Pezzini is back and this is the story of her acquiring the magical Witchblade artifact.
What is interesting in this story is that the Witchblade seemed to be drawn to Sara. Any one of the previous hosts which in its travel from Germany to New York is at least 4 people. None of these people were transformed into the Witchblade warrior. They were all put into a trance with the one objective to attach itself to Sara Pezzini. Once Sara gets the Witchblade, she then completely transforms but when she is returned she apparently has no knowledge of what happened to her.
This is a worthy opening story that grabs the reader’s attention and puts them on a high octane trip to the end of this issue. There is non-stop action and the usual undercover cop intrigue but it has the added element of the magical talisman and the ancient warrior returning who, appropriately for this reader, is a woman. We have the added intrigue of Irons, an obvious villain who wants the power of the Witchblade for himself but he knows that it can only be wielded by a female and what’s more it has to be the chosen female that Sara apparently represents.
The art in this story is absolutely gorgeous. It is a joy to look at the panels, the details are terrific and awe inspiring. The Smuggler really looks like he was worked over prior to Sara’s arrival and the design of the revolver he hands Sara is excellent. It is not a standard clip firearm that is usually drawn but a weapon with individual bullets loaded into a cylinder, an interesting and logical choice.
Why give a cop a loaded weapon with multiple bullets when you can just hand her a weapon with one bullet? If she uses it on the smuggler, great and if she does not she is definitely dead, a minute detail that shows the intelligence of this writer and artist in crafting this story.
The design of the Witchblade in human form matches the usual design. Wight the gold and the red spheres over it it looks like the armor itself is alive and it provides both coverage and sex appeal at the same time. Probably not practical in real life but it looks so good on the comic page.
Final Thoughts
Witchblade #1 is a great jumping on point for anyone who is interested in the story of the Witchblade. I am really hoping that this is the start of a very exciting and thought provoking run of an ancient artifact that has the power to bless the choolsen woman with terrific and terrifying powers.
Image Comics provided The Comic Book Spot with an advance copy of this comic for review purposes. Find more of our reviews here. If you would like to buy a copy of this title, and help support the Comic Book Spot at the same time, consider purchasing this book at Amazon or Things From Another World.
