Witchblade Rebirth Volume 1

Witchblade Rebirth #1

by Tim Seeley, Various Artists (Artist)

In the wake of Top Cow's Rebirth, Sara Pezzini has relocated from New York to Chicago and struggles to adapt to being a private detective. Pezzini quickly discovers that a change of scenery and occupation hasn't changed one thing... the Witchblade is still a magnet for the supernatural Quickly drawn into a conflict between two mystical gangs, she must once again balance her responsibility as bearer of the Witchblade with her personal life.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Horror, Graphic Novels Comics, Action

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 22, 2012

About the author

Tim Seeley is a comic book artist and writer known for his work on books such as G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, The Dark Elf Trilogy, Batman Eternal and Grayson. He is also the co-creator of the Image Comics titles Hack/Slash[1] and Revival, as well as the Dark Horse titles, ExSanguine and Sundowners. He lives in Chicago.

Reviews

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Witchblade is soon coming to a close. I have a lot of fond memories of this series for many reasons, but I probably should have kept them as that, instead of trying to pick it up again now. Following the events of Artifacts, Top Cow's universe has undergone a big shake up and many of its cast members are starting their lives over. Sara Pezzini, wield of the mystical Witchblade, is among them. Now a Chicago private detective, she struggles with her new role and the annoying beat cop who always wants to bust her chops. An investigation leads to Pez being accused of murder, but of course, there's more to the story. By that, I mean a group of people seeking immortality through an alien symbiote, and a coven of witches who want all the power. Interesting things are happening in this story, but not interesting enough to impress me. It's a whole lot of ghastly bad guy of the week after phenomenal cosmic powers, with little depth to their purpose, and lots of extra skin. Pez is still her badass self, and it's great to see her in better control of the Witchblade, but like I said, I'll just stick with my nostalgia instead of joining Sara Pezzini on her rebirth.

www.Bibliosanctum.com

[Paul Porry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I´ve enjoyed Witchblade since it begam in 95, and it remains as fresh today. A bad ass character who is a positive female role model, this is a func comic.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell in love with this title when it first appeared in its Dutch translation, together with The Darkness and Spawn. The art was quite spectacular and it’s stories exciting. However at one point I proved to be a minority and the title got discontinued and that left me with some questions about the faith of Sara Pezzini.
This book together with a timeline in the back showed me I have a long way to catch up.
Anyhow Pezzini is no longer a cop in New York but a private investigator in the city of Chicago. Still the wearer of the Witchblade she discovers that even in Chicago the Witchblade finds her the evil it wants to fight.

The art is good and the story decent, looking forward to the next installments of the new Pezzini adventures.

[Guillermo Galvan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Girls with porn-star bodies, occult powers, and pea brains.

The sad part is that the art is good, along with the neo-noir/pulp background. But the corny lines are enough to make Schwarzenegger sound Shakespearean. For example, after a bad girl tortures her prisoner she says:

"Something about the blood. It seems more intimate than sex. Maybe I've read 'Twilight' too many times."

Witchblade is stuck in a weird limbo between YA and adult. The result is a cheesy soft-core comic that could have been something great in line with Heavy Metal Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 1 and Girl, but lacks the guts to go all the way. Still, I didn't mind the boobs.

[Nicholas Driscoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean, this was kind of entertaining. This reminds me of a sort of sexier Buffy the Vampire Slayer, if Buffy were an ex-cop who possesses an anti-monster murder weapon that, when activated, shreds her clothes in sexy ways.

It’s kind of fun watching full metal Buffy dash about Chicago and kick the snot out of monsters and witches (except when her Witchblade conveniently stops working so that the plot can continue). This comic is in many ways aggressively anti politically correct, since our heroine always wears the sexiest clothes, the tightest pants, and many of her enemies are even sexier. Like the witches who, I kid you not, strip down to give a sexy dance in order to change a man into a monster.

It’s so dumb.

Still, the story is kind of entertaining. I’m not bored like I was with Aphrodite IX, though Witchblade is pretty unstoppable too. Just in case you are enjoying the book, though, each issue ends with a two page short story (all text) about ghosts and supernatural events about characters that I don’t know anything about and I was too lazy to try to put everything together.

Basically blah. Too bad my comic bundle came with like seven volumes of this stuff.

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

More wonderful stories about the police officer with the most ancient and powerful weapon known to womankind.

[Matt Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

New arc by Tim Seeley and Diego Bernard great stuff.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sara is in a new city and stirring up trouble. I liked this volume but as an intro to the witchblade universe I probably could have chosen a better starting point. They do an alright job re-introducing characters but some are not as clear as if you had read earlier volumes.
That being said, the story line is solid, and the artwork is amazing with some beautiful full page spreads that would be great as stand alone pieces of art.
I will be reading more from this universe.

[Roberto Diaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main story is an okay jumping-on-point for new readers. The backup transcripts at the end of each issue can be confusing if you are not really invested in the narrative. It has its moments, and since I think Tim Feely has done good in his more recent scripts, this is getting a pass justo to see were it goes in the long run. Very good art by Bernard.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sara Pezzinni moves to Chicago as transitions from a police detective to a private eye. She gets attacked by Lady Gaga in a living meat suit and some witches wearing leather chaps and bikinis so Top Cow still hasn't transitioned out of the women in lingerie comics as of 2012 when this came out. The best you can say about this is that it's okay.

[Alana · Rating 2 out of 5]

So much for hoping this would be a good jumping-on point. I mean, maybe it is for some people, but the story was unnecessarily convoluted and didn't endear me to the world at all. That's not even getting into the characters. I wasn't even sure who some of them were even by the climax.

[Brandy Cross · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is eloquent and beautiful, at times almost enough to make up for the tropey plot elements and gimmicks, the art is silly most of the time and occasionally beautiful. Overall, worth the read for the work put into the dialogue and excerpts

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good art. Normal Witchblade story - basically all the same. Probably only for the diehard fans.

[Sal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay, but Seely's written better stuff.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read any Witchblade since the 90s. This Rebirth Vol 1 was on sale at my local comic shop, so I thumbed through it and thought I'd give it a try. I was already very familiar with The Darkness series, and the "Rebirth" happening in that series, so it was a bonus that it all tied in a bit between the series. Anyway, this was in fact a great place to start for me. The premise doesn't really require that you come to the book with any background, although it surely helps. This is not a perfect release. First, the women are generally drawn in a typical over-the-top-vixen kinda way, and it gets old, particularly when a gang of biker chicks is involved later in the book. Second, I felt many of the female faces, including Sara's, looked very similar. Not a huge deal, but still. Eh. And third, some of the characters were pretty stiff, one-dimensional plot devices. Sara, however, was well written. I felt that I knew her pretty well after the 5 issues collected here. The art is quite solid throughout, and the story is not bad. The move from NYC to Chicago allows the writer, Seeley, to explore some of Sara's insecurities and weaknesses. By the end, I was actually looking forward to continued reading of this series. A pleasant surprise for me. If you like earlier Witchblade stuff I think you'll enjoy this as a fresh start. If you are new to the series, this is a good place to jump on board.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve always had a love/indifference relationship with Witchblade. I will adore it for a few arcs, then I will lose all interest in it. I was really hoping that the new Top Cow Universe would rekindle that love for the series, but the first “Reborn” arc was underwhelming. Do’t get me wrong, it’s a neat concept: taking Sara out of New York and having her deal with corrupted, bastardized versions of her own power and that of the Darkness, but this arc just never drew me in. There are places where the time and location jumps are extremely jumpy and ill-explained, and the art is too cartoonish to match the writing. I couldn’t really get immersed in the story because of the huge disconnect between the subject matter and the bright, animated style.

I’ll give Witchblade one or two more arcs to rekindle my interest. If it fails to, I’ll probably just stick with The Darkness and Artifacts.

Side note: Jackie Estacado created this universe in his image and rewrote Hope's story, erasing her as Sara's child and instead making her Jenny and Jackie's child. And, though Jackie has the power to scatter the Angelus host and apparently make a lot of folks forget him and what he can do, Sara still has him on speed-dial. Leaving Sara in his life isn't going to have catastrophic ramifications on Jackie's world later. Nope. Not at all.

[Αταλάντη Ευριπίδου · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to read Witchblade some time ago but stopped when Danielle came on board. But after learning that TopCow was rebooting the Artifacts series, I thought I'd give it a try once more. The story was good and looks quite promising as a larger arc and the artwork was fine. I wasn't too thrilled with the writing and dialogues, though. Overall, it's a good start for someone who hasn't read anything from the previous series.

[Curtis Hempler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great new start for Witchblade... I look forward to seeing whaere Seely takes the story from here. Unfortunately, Neither the writing nor art quite measure up to the standard set by Marz and Sejic, but I enjoyed tge story, and I love the new Chicago setting, and the fact that Pezinni is now not a cop, but a lowly PI.

[P. · Rating 1 out of 5]

mostly made sense, even to someone like me who knew nothing about Witchblade. My attention was held but constantly distracted trying to figure out how tall Sara was supposed to me. Her body doesn't seem to keep its proportions in relation to her environment. And then there's the coven of witches with no nipples.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sara in a new City and starts again, great drawing and story!

[Sarah Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

So going to have to buy them all.

Review to come....

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

The gratuitous sexyness is back with an artist change. Sadly the story is mediocre. Really, though, who cares? It looks splendid.

After quitting the force Sara moves to Chicago and becomes a private investigator. She is on a case that turns south when her target winds up dead under suspicious circumstances.

She continues the investigation into what turns out to be a war between two groups. One of them is made up of old people that have used a fountain of youth that adds nasty side effects: an organic, meaty, boney armor that is anything but pretty and the need to feed on life essence, like what happened to Sara's dead guy. The other group is made up of very hot witches that have been granted power by magical soil around Chicago. They want the fountain for themselves. Sara's Witchblade acts as the balance, ending the first battle, but some of the fighters remain alive and they bear a grudge.