What do you think?
Rate this book
Artifacts #4
Artifacts, Volume 4
LONGTIME WITCHBLADE TEAM RON MARZ & STJEPAN SEJIC RESHAPE THE TOP COW UNIVERSE!In this introductory-priced volume, the longtime WITCHBLADE team of RON MARZ and STJEPAN SEJIC unveil the new shape of the Top Cow Universe. Former priest and current FBI profiler, Tom Judge, can't shake the feeling that something is horribly and inherently wrong with the world. He blames it on past trauma, but a new investigation of gangland violence linked to mobster Jackie Estacado will reveal he may very well be right... and setting things right may destroy everything. Featuring a complete cover gallery alongside a host of bonus content and extras, this collection is a must for anyone curious about Top Cow's REBIRTH!Collects ARTIFACTS #14-#18
144 pages, Paperback
First published July 18, 2012
77 people want to read
About the author
Ron Marz
1,644 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 12, 2018
Loved the artwork and how realistic it looks. I started reading the darkness and have really enjoyed this crossover. While the story in the deluxe was a little scattered and choppy, the smaller volumes are well paced and while easy to read it's even easier to get caught up in the artwork.
August 3, 2012
The story mercifully continues, and the new artist is really making this book pop.
February 5, 2019
Great art, dumb story. And it continues. How could Jackie know how to create the universe using Hope? Didn’t Hope have to die to be used to create the universe? Why is the Angelus so much weaker than the Darkness all the time?
Why doesn’t anything make sense?
Oh well, beautiful art. It’s got that anyway.
Why doesn’t anything make sense?
Oh well, beautiful art. It’s got that anyway.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 24, 2025
great series
Just remarkable and amazing. I have been a long time fan. This just keeps me wanting more. I could not put it down. I just kept reading. The artwork is some of the best I have seen.
Just remarkable and amazing. I have been a long time fan. This just keeps me wanting more. I could not put it down. I just kept reading. The artwork is some of the best I have seen.
August 30, 2012
I’ve been reading Top Cow almost since its inception, and Witchblade and The Darkness almost since their first issues. I’ve followed The Cow through Aphrodite IX and then Aphrodite IV, through so many Magdalenas I lost count, and through Tom Judge and the ill-fated first mega-crossover event, Universe. So when they announced their mega Artifacts crossover, I was nervous. Would this be another one of those huge events that got halfway finished then fell off the earth, never to be heard from again? Was it going to be another cheesy S&M horror-fest like one of their Darkness/Witchblade crossovers? Or would Top Cow finally get it right and it would be awesome?
As it turns out, it was the last one. The first Artifacts arc left me riveted, but after we reached the end game and the universe reset—quite literally—I was wary again. I’d followed these characters for so long that I didn’t know if I wanted to see them rebooted. What can I say...I fear change.
The second major Artifacts arc, contained in this volume, is a beautiful beginning to the new Top Cow. All of the familiar faces have changed—some more than others—and it is interesting to see everyone in their new roles. Some old faces, such as necromancer Abby Van Alstine, are gone, replaced by completely new characters. Others, such as former Angelus Danielle Baptiste have filled gaps left by other prominent characters whose lives have moved on in new directions. Some characters retained their original artifacts. Some did not. And there are still quite a few well-known characters who have yet to make appearances.
Marz does a brilliant job of unveiling the new universe with a storyline that weaves the new and the old, and leaves the fate of quite a few fan favorites unresolved for future issues. Sejic’s art is the perfect companion to the story, and I am so glad that this creative team made the move to what is now arguably Top Cow’s most important series. They complement one another extremely well, and Sejic’s renderings bring life and gravity to Marz’s storytelling. I am extremely curious to see what will become of the three central characters of this arc—familiar faces Jackie Estacado, tom Judge and Tilly Grimes—and how others such as Dani and Finch will fit into their new roles. Rachel is intriguing as well, and it will be interested to see how a rejoined Heart Stone will impact the universe.
I’m very much looking forward to the next installment...and to find out what Artifacts has in store for Aphrodite, Patience and, especially, Sara.
As it turns out, it was the last one. The first Artifacts arc left me riveted, but after we reached the end game and the universe reset—quite literally—I was wary again. I’d followed these characters for so long that I didn’t know if I wanted to see them rebooted. What can I say...I fear change.
The second major Artifacts arc, contained in this volume, is a beautiful beginning to the new Top Cow. All of the familiar faces have changed—some more than others—and it is interesting to see everyone in their new roles. Some old faces, such as necromancer Abby Van Alstine, are gone, replaced by completely new characters. Others, such as former Angelus Danielle Baptiste have filled gaps left by other prominent characters whose lives have moved on in new directions. Some characters retained their original artifacts. Some did not. And there are still quite a few well-known characters who have yet to make appearances.
Marz does a brilliant job of unveiling the new universe with a storyline that weaves the new and the old, and leaves the fate of quite a few fan favorites unresolved for future issues. Sejic’s art is the perfect companion to the story, and I am so glad that this creative team made the move to what is now arguably Top Cow’s most important series. They complement one another extremely well, and Sejic’s renderings bring life and gravity to Marz’s storytelling. I am extremely curious to see what will become of the three central characters of this arc—familiar faces Jackie Estacado, tom Judge and Tilly Grimes—and how others such as Dani and Finch will fit into their new roles. Rachel is intriguing as well, and it will be interested to see how a rejoined Heart Stone will impact the universe.
I’m very much looking forward to the next installment...and to find out what Artifacts has in store for Aphrodite, Patience and, especially, Sara.
December 1, 2015
This continues off from the previous big crossover event, but isn't a giant crossover event, instead following up with more individual stories which take place afterwards. I have to say, I did not like the first three artifacts volumes at all. I really only read this one because I'd gotten them all as part of a bundle and I have a strange compulsion to read all the comics I've bought even if I don't like them. I don't feel that way about text books, but for some reason I do about comics. So anyway, this is the same author as the previous volume, but different artist. Because the writer was the same, I figured that I would probably wind up feeling the same way about it as the previous volumes, but honestly, I really liked this volume.
The art was a big improvement. I thought some of it was really lovely and lush in a sort of more realistic-looking manner. I also appreciated that the different female characters, although still consistently drawn to be attractive didn't feel like they all had the exact same body and face like the way the artist from the first three volumes drew them. So the art change definitely helped. But the writing is also much improved. The biggest problem in the first three volumes was trying to shoehorn too much into them. Too many characters, too many events, too many huge, stupid battles. That's pretty much all gone from this. The cast of characters is much smaller, and they have time to have emotions and relationships including ones which don't immediately serve the plot. It makes the whole thing feel much more real and much more adult. There are still battles, but I can generally follow what's going on in them. There are still elements of the mythology of the world which seem silly to me, but on the whole, I quite enjoyed this volume.
The art was a big improvement. I thought some of it was really lovely and lush in a sort of more realistic-looking manner. I also appreciated that the different female characters, although still consistently drawn to be attractive didn't feel like they all had the exact same body and face like the way the artist from the first three volumes drew them. So the art change definitely helped. But the writing is also much improved. The biggest problem in the first three volumes was trying to shoehorn too much into them. Too many characters, too many events, too many huge, stupid battles. That's pretty much all gone from this. The cast of characters is much smaller, and they have time to have emotions and relationships including ones which don't immediately serve the plot. It makes the whole thing feel much more real and much more adult. There are still battles, but I can generally follow what's going on in them. There are still elements of the mythology of the world which seem silly to me, but on the whole, I quite enjoyed this volume.
November 21, 2012
I had doubts on if this series would continue well. They were unfounded. The series remains interesting, well written, and gorgeous to behold.
June 18, 2013
Sejic's art is amazing. Totally worth it for any comic book lover. I don't usually get hooked on contemporary comics, but Top Cow really has something here.
July 31, 2014
Wow! I have no idea where this is going. But damn I love this dynamic duo! Ron Marz & Stjepan Sejic are meant to work together. Everything they create together always turns out to be a masterpiece!
April 8, 2017
More details are revealed about how this universe came to be and some characters intend to restore its balance by undoing the changes it suffered.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews