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Artifacts #3
Artifacts, Volume 3
Volume 3 The alliance formed by Sara Pezzini, bearer of the Witchblade, and Jackie Estacado, host of The Darkness, has been battered to the edge of defeat. Meanwhile, the antagonist"s machinations have gone exactly as planned, and his bearers move to bring about Armageddon to remake the world. Full description
160 pages, Paperback
First published February 8, 2012
2 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Ron Marz
1,643 books122 followersMarz is well known for his work on Silver Surfer and Green Lantern, as well as the Marvel vs DC crossover and Batman/Aliens. He also worked on the CrossGen Comics series Scion, Mystic, Sojourn, and The Path. At Dark Horse Comics he created Samurai: Heaven and Earth and various Star Wars comics. He has also done work for Devil’s Due Publishing’s Aftermath line, namely Blade of Kumori. In 1995, he had a brief run on XO-Manowar, for Valiant Comics.
Marz’s more recent works includes a number of Top Cow books including Witchblade and a Cyberforce relaunch. For DC Comics, he has written Ion, a 12 part comic book miniseries that followed the Kyle Rayner character after the One Year Later event, and Tales of the Sinistro Corps Presents: Parallax and Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Ion, two one-shot tie-ins to the Green Lantern crossover, The Sinestro Corps War.
His current creator owned projects include “Dragon Prince” (Top Cow) and “Samurai : Heaven and Earth” (Dark Horse).
Photo by Luigi Novi.
Marz’s more recent works includes a number of Top Cow books including Witchblade and a Cyberforce relaunch. For DC Comics, he has written Ion, a 12 part comic book miniseries that followed the Kyle Rayner character after the One Year Later event, and Tales of the Sinistro Corps Presents: Parallax and Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Ion, two one-shot tie-ins to the Green Lantern crossover, The Sinestro Corps War.
His current creator owned projects include “Dragon Prince” (Top Cow) and “Samurai : Heaven and Earth” (Dark Horse).
Photo by Luigi Novi.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 4, 2019
Still not great, still kind of mildly entertaining. This felt a bit like that big Brand New Day thing in Spider-Man, a cosmic reset switch that basically negates all that comes before and makes it all seem kind of meaningless.
One aspect of the story I liked (and disliked) was that the mystic Asian guy finally gets an explanation. I like it because it's surprising (he's the evil bad guy and wants to destroy the universe), but I disliked it because I am not sure that it really makes sense.
I mean... in the earlier comics, Mystic Miyagi had lots of inside details about the universe and about the Witchblade, and that part makes sense given his origins as a basically timeless individual from another universe. But he also seemed to know about the future. He was always hiding things from Sara and he was generally kind of a good guy, and he could be manipulated into giving out details. But is his goal was to bring the artifacts together, well, he didn't seem to be trying to do that at all for most of the series, nor is it clear why he doesn't die, nor why he has the powers he does or even what the extent of his powers are (at one point he apparently blows up, but is fine later). Nor is it even really clear how resetting the universe works, or how Mystic Miyagi failed to save his universe, or even how killing Sara's daughter would help bring the universe back.
After an entire series in which Sara tries to save her daughter, at the end she decides to kill her own baby to bring back the universe... but would just killing the baby do that? Is that really all there is to it? And why did the universe reset suddenly when apparently Sara FAILED to kill her own daughter?
Plus the stupid sex scene between Sara and Jackie. What the flying fart.
But whatever, things explode, super beings punch each other, lights flash, heroes do heroic things. It's slam-bang stupid entertainment.
One aspect of the story I liked (and disliked) was that the mystic Asian guy finally gets an explanation. I like it because it's surprising (he's the evil bad guy and wants to destroy the universe), but I disliked it because I am not sure that it really makes sense.
I mean... in the earlier comics, Mystic Miyagi had lots of inside details about the universe and about the Witchblade, and that part makes sense given his origins as a basically timeless individual from another universe. But he also seemed to know about the future. He was always hiding things from Sara and he was generally kind of a good guy, and he could be manipulated into giving out details. But is his goal was to bring the artifacts together, well, he didn't seem to be trying to do that at all for most of the series, nor is it clear why he doesn't die, nor why he has the powers he does or even what the extent of his powers are (at one point he apparently blows up, but is fine later). Nor is it even really clear how resetting the universe works, or how Mystic Miyagi failed to save his universe, or even how killing Sara's daughter would help bring the universe back.
After an entire series in which Sara tries to save her daughter, at the end she decides to kill her own baby to bring back the universe... but would just killing the baby do that? Is that really all there is to it? And why did the universe reset suddenly when apparently Sara FAILED to kill her own daughter?
Plus the stupid sex scene between Sara and Jackie. What the flying fart.
But whatever, things explode, super beings punch each other, lights flash, heroes do heroic things. It's slam-bang stupid entertainment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2012
I have read books of over 1000 pages, but try as I might I could not keep track of the 13 artifacts. Wonderful artwork, great action and fun stuff after the tale. Please read the first two "Artifacts" first.
August 3, 2012
A new artist helped pick the book up, but the cliffhanger ending really makes me hope that there's more to come.
March 25, 2017
I'm going to briefly review this whole miniseries, which is volumes 1-3.
I really liked volume 1--it pulls together lots of different plotlines, has some ballsy moments early on, and really seems promising.
Volume 2 is a complete waste of time. I'm assuming there was some obligation to include other Top Cow characters in this big event, but they're all boring and don't contribute anything to the plot. I don't think anything really happens in this volume. You could almost skip it completely.
Volume 3 wraps everything up. It's moderately satisfying, although there are some out-of-character moments floating throughout. As a soft reboot, it works fine, although a lot hinges on how they handle the following volumes, I think.
I really liked volume 1--it pulls together lots of different plotlines, has some ballsy moments early on, and really seems promising.
Volume 2 is a complete waste of time. I'm assuming there was some obligation to include other Top Cow characters in this big event, but they're all boring and don't contribute anything to the plot. I don't think anything really happens in this volume. You could almost skip it completely.
Volume 3 wraps everything up. It's moderately satisfying, although there are some out-of-character moments floating throughout. As a soft reboot, it works fine, although a lot hinges on how they handle the following volumes, I think.
August 26, 2020
I said I wasn't going to finish this but then I realized I already had the comics so decided to read them. The characters are cool, the plot was pretty standard. I think I probably would have loved this if I had read a bunch of comics before this with all the characters in them, but instead I got a ton of new characters thrown at me at once, so I was often confused.
December 21, 2022
Please see my review for the first volume of this series.
April 1, 2012
First a disclaimer. I have a weak spot for crossovers, and while there are exceptions that is what drew me to this Top Cow/Image title. Instead of hiding the entire review I'm going to add some spoiler space
Spoilers
All right the whole cosmic reset button? I guess I was expecting too much from writer Ron Marz on this one. Yes, the changes appear to be for good. I say appear because Jackie does remember the old universe. Things are different in the new universe. Some of the 13 artifacts have remained with their previous owners, and some appear to have moved onto to new people. Some roles have changed. Sara leaves NYPD to move to Chicago to become a PI. The Necromancer appears to no longer have the heart stone (I did like what Joshua Oretga did with the series before its cancellation), and the Rapture has moved on.
But, my biggest complaint is that in some way I feel a little cheated. Top Cow/Image has taken what was supposed to be an event comic, and have since turned it into an ongoing series. That for me, and perhaps I'm being a bit small cheapens any impact this story was supposed to have.
Spoilers
All right the whole cosmic reset button? I guess I was expecting too much from writer Ron Marz on this one. Yes, the changes appear to be for good. I say appear because Jackie does remember the old universe. Things are different in the new universe. Some of the 13 artifacts have remained with their previous owners, and some appear to have moved onto to new people. Some roles have changed. Sara leaves NYPD to move to Chicago to become a PI. The Necromancer appears to no longer have the heart stone (I did like what Joshua Oretga did with the series before its cancellation), and the Rapture has moved on.
But, my biggest complaint is that in some way I feel a little cheated. Top Cow/Image has taken what was supposed to be an event comic, and have since turned it into an ongoing series. That for me, and perhaps I'm being a bit small cheapens any impact this story was supposed to have.
March 13, 2012
Overall, an interesting premise and a great lead-in for Top Cow's apparently universal reboot. The final issue leaves you hanging, waiting to see what effects Jackie's decision will have on Witchblade, The Darkness and the other titles involved in this crossover.
But, ultimately, I think Top Cow expanded too far and tried to bring too many things into Artifacts. Many of the bearers existed solely to make an appearance, and many characters readers have come to know and love ultimately have very little page time. The inclusion of the Cyberforce and Hunter-Killer characters exist solely for the sake of action sequences. Others, such as Ian Nottingham and Abby Van Alstiene are woefully under-used.
And, after a while, the double-meanings of Hope just a little irksome.
But, ultimately, Artifacts accomplishes its goal of rsolving current arcs for long-time readers and paving the way for new directions. I abandoned Witchblade somewhere around issue 80, but this reboot may be just the kick I needed to pick up the title again.
But, ultimately, I think Top Cow expanded too far and tried to bring too many things into Artifacts. Many of the bearers existed solely to make an appearance, and many characters readers have come to know and love ultimately have very little page time. The inclusion of the Cyberforce and Hunter-Killer characters exist solely for the sake of action sequences. Others, such as Ian Nottingham and Abby Van Alstiene are woefully under-used.
And, after a while, the double-meanings of Hope just a little irksome.
But, ultimately, Artifacts accomplishes its goal of rsolving current arcs for long-time readers and paving the way for new directions. I abandoned Witchblade somewhere around issue 80, but this reboot may be just the kick I needed to pick up the title again.
November 15, 2015
This is the third volume in the big crossover event for the Top Cow universe. I got all three parts as part of a Top Cow Bundle through Humble Bundle, so by this point, I pretty much knew what to expect: idealized female forms, weird mysticism, confusing fight scenes, lots of events which are convenient to the plot, but don't really make a lot of sense. And I fully expected some big deus ex machina to bring it all to a conclusion. Not to spoil anything, but I'll just say that it didn't let me down. I did like the extra bonus comic at the end, though. That was honestly the best part of the whole series.
March 12, 2012
I cannot praise this series enough. Issues 12 & 13 are so wonderfully written--Ron Marz is a prolific writer. I was on the edge of my seat leading to the finale of the story arc. Highly recommend.
December 21, 2013
This has almost come to an end. what a relief.....
July 29, 2014
Wowza! What even happened here? Still wasn't a huge fan of the art but the story blew me away!
April 6, 2017
This volume closes the story that rewrites some things about the Top Cow universe and it's a roller coaster ride right up until the last page.
The Survivor gets his name from the fact that he is the last man from a once-thriving world that was destroyed by the Artifacts being lost. He intends to reverse that process and return home.
The Survivor gets his name from the fact that he is the last man from a once-thriving world that was destroyed by the Artifacts being lost. He intends to reverse that process and return home.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews