WITCHBLADE #50

By: Arnold T. Blumberg
Date: Thursday, August 02, 2001

With a live action television adaptation of WITCHBLADE on TNT and a number of other movie deals in the works, Top Cow has become one of the premiere entertainment houses in the comic book industry. They must be doing something right in their original comic titles if their characters are so primed for success in other forms, and what better time to look back at the source than here at this landmark release the 50th issue of their flagship series (more or less) WITCHBLADE.

As many of you already know, police officer Sara Pezzini has a hand up on the underworld. When danger threatens and her service revolver isn't enough to take out the trash, it's time to call in a little mystical back-up in the form of an ancient weapon known as the "Witchblade." Wielding its magical energies, she becomes an avenger of light, a champion of justice, and one bad-ass babe in a wild techno-organic bikini. In this anniversary issue, however, even the Witchblade may not be enough to save her from death. You see, there's this tiny matter of a prophecy that has foretold her demise, and judgment day has arrived.

An evil demon with some impressive biceps has appeared in the sewers under New York City to bring about the beginning of the end of days, and Sara must team up with Ian, who now holds the "male" equivalent of the Witchblade a weapon known in old myths as Excalibur to defeat the creature and avert the destruction of humanity. In doing so, they are destined to die, and Sara wisely inquires about hazard pay. She'll need it or at least, her next of kin will.

Scripted by fan fave Paul Jenkins, this epic installment of WITCHBLADE crackles with action and gives the reader a sense that the roller coaster is slowly reaching the apex of the ride...just before the bottom drops out and everyone shrieks in a mixture of delight and terror. The end is coming, all right, and it will soon engulf the Top Cow Universe, but will Sara survive? Well, she does have that TV show, you know.

Even non-fans can jump in on this title and find some solid artwork, reliable writing and a good old-fashioned spiritually-tinged adventure. The story doesn't rely on too much heavy continuity (and what it does dredge up is satisfactorily explained for the newbies), and the characters are well drawn both artistically and verbally.

This issue also contains previews for the big event titles UNIVERSE and INFERNO: HELLBOUND. We've seen this kind of saga before, but it looks like Top Cow has a handle on how to do it well. With UNIVERSE kicking off in August and INFERNO in November, it should be a very hot autumn this year.

WITCHBLADE

Grade: B+

Issue: No. 50

Author(s): Paul Jenkins, Brian Ching, D-Tron, Victor Llamas, Billy Tan, Jason Gorder

Publisher: Top Cow/Image Comics

Price: $4.95