Name: Witchblade Compendium Volume 2 (v. 2)
Rating: 3.9 (4 reviews)

3,431 reviews93 followers

January 18, 2017

I wish the artists would settle on a bust size for Sara. She's overly endowed sometimes. And she ends up hilarously naked with no reason but to show off some skin. Then again, this is one reason why I'm reading the book. The artwork is gorgeous and totally worth wading through the filler issues just to get to the arcs that show off what the Witchblade can do and that work on making Sara into a believable character, not just a pinup. The story arcs all have some supernatural element, though some of them start off as regular police investigations. Sara is primarily a cop, but as a colleague noted, weird stuff happens whenever she is on the scene. Most of the weird stuff is deadly, so the Witchblade comes in handy. By the end of this collection, more info is revealed about the Witchblade's history.

The beast in the sewers reveals the pivotal moments in Sara and Ian's lives. For Ian it was the killing of an innocent. For Sara it was her father being shot. What she didn't know was that Ian Nottingham pulled the trigger on her father. They both need to accept these events as they were instrumental in shaping the paths in their lives.

A gang war has broken out between the mob and Yakuza. The resulting bodies are let in a dreadful state, mowed down by bullets or cut up into pieces. Sonatine heals his original body now inhabited by Wender's mind, so Wenders has to learn how to play the part. Ian goes back into Irons' employ and ends up battling a resurrected Tora No Shi and getting fatally wounded. He allows the Excalibur's destructive nature to take over. Sonatine's plans seem to come to fruition when Ian enters hissecret hideout followed by Sara. He already aquired the Darkness from the late Jackie Estacado and he intends to bond it to himself.

Sara teams up with Lara Croft to investigate the Weave. It's centered on the One Who Sleeps and manifests in balls of energy that can take control of people's minds. Lara finds the One Who Sleeps, he passes a tremendous power into her and gives her the goal to free him so he can change history. Some people from 3000 years in the future escape into this time so they can complicate things. Their role isn't too obvious yet, but the Witchblade gets passed around in this story more than in any other up till now. It's worth reading primarily for the graphical details, even if nobody really dies.

My word, Magdalena is hot! She saves Sara from another hottie while the latter is investigating a couple of mysterious murders. The occult forces involved in the murder can kill a man by destroying his bones, but leaving the skin intact, and can manipulate matter. Sara and Magdalena are attacked by the pavement at one point. The Solites are the users of this magic and are responsible for the murders.

Another strange murder case, this time with bodies that are cut up into pieces by something sharp, like a laser, but without cauterization. Sara's underwear sticks out in a few panels, so that's new too. The Boogieman is real in this one-off. Then it's a guy that uses a cleaver on his victims. And he's a cannibal because why waste the meat, right?

More horror! Sara runs into a young girl on the road. She is looking for her brother. Sara finds that he died of old age at 100, so that makes the girl's story that she is his sister a bit suspicious. Her family is hiding a dark secret in the back yard. By sacrificing people to an old tree, they extend their lives. While this is going on, a secret irganization funded by Irons is keeping a close eye on Nottingham and Sara. They are monitoring their level of bonding with their symbiotes. In the end Sara opens up to the Witchblade, but the repercussions aren't explained yet.

A crime of passion leaves a husband with a dozen knives in his body. He seems to have been thrown from the house onto a car 50 feet from the house he lived in. His wife has a single knife in her head, so she got off easy. While investigating suspects Sara gets attacked by Shine, a guy with some sort of deadly cyber power and later a group of super-powered individuals, all resulting in some impressive visuals. The level 42 facility reveals itself to her, but her visit ends with her being attacked. She makes it out alive, but the facity sends a veritable army after her. She hooks up with Ian and together they summon a winged construct that obliderates the armed men. The destruction is too much for Sara and she tries to stop Ian, but is too weak. With his new power, Ian confronts Irons the zillionth time and takes away his immortality, right before Sara steps in and whoops Ian's behind. Again. Joe Siry is given the final few pages when he decides to kill Irons. At a good time too, with Irons lack of immortality.

A night of passion end in a gruesome murder. The woman responsible is compulsive about balancing out every good deed she does. She often chooses murder as the balance and has the brains to get away from anything, even a confrontation with Sara. She quickly understands that the Witchblade wants her for her solid convictions and destructive nature. She convinces herself that she wants to have it.

Tom Judge is found crucified to the wall with his own ribs, with his chest and abdomen disected and surrounded by strange symbols written in his blood. Ms. Grimes, who helped him in the Tom Judge miniseries, is the main suspect. She claims Lachryma, the embodiment of despair and the opposite of Tom's hope, is responsible for Tom's death and she is coming for Sara next. The artwork is almost funny with the characters standing with their legs too far apart. Thankfully, the artist was used only for this 2-issue arc.

Patrick Gleason is a detective looking into an event that left Sara in hospital. When Sara wakes up they begin retracing her steps to find out what happened. An old asian guy knows a great deal about artifacts, including the Witchblade and a secret order of priests working from the shadows. Sara is in the way of their 500-year-old plan to bring about a new world. Jake is gravely wounded when one of the priests tries to deal with her. The summoning of the new god is successful, but Sara plans to kill it in an epic battle. As a side note, this may the first time that the comic is funny. It happens during some down time that Sara needs so much to recover from the craziness. It's very enjoyable to see her human side.

Sara gets moved to another precinct. She goes through the files left by the guy she replaces and meets with New York's supernatural side. In another story she investigates a close friend's missing granddaughter. She tries to use the Witchblade in a new way. We also get to see some of her expectations in life. It's nice to see her as human, not just a wielder of a magical weapon. The last page has an emotional moment that really got to me.

The Russian mob got hit in one of their safe houses. The FBI also steps in on the investigation. It's funny to see just how hated they are by the local cops and detectives. The perpetrator seems to be a jacked guy living in the sewers. Everything gets turned around when we find that the aggressor was in fact a victim of mind control and the FBI agents are superhumans.

In an issue that has a different artist for every couple of pages, Sara is shown the history of the Witchblade all the way back to its creation. With this new insight she accepts it and its purpose as a balance between light and dark.

With all the new information Sara spends a while soul searching. Everyone she meets points out something missing from her life. This issue is pretty damn sexy, starting off with swimsuits. Then Sara is reading a book in pants that say 'kiss it' on the ass. Splendid!

The old chinese guy that gave Sara info on the Witchblade has a powerful artifact stolen from his store. Of course, Sara has to fight it.

The missing child from a few issues back is revisited. Sara gets to interrogate the killer.

Ian Nottingham steps back in the scene and asking Sara for help with a Yakuza leader that wants him dead. His personality is off, though, he's too Errol Flynn. He deceives Sara again and ends up arrested, as if that's going to hold him for long.

Right when Sara got involved with her current partner, Patrick Gleason, her old partner, Jake, wakes up from his coma, but his soul is replaced by a powerful being. When it reveals itself, it pushes Sara from the top of the Empire State Building and we get to see the Witchblade fly in a marvelous 2-page split. A spectacular battle ensues with the Witchblade ending up on top, but leaving the door wide open for her relationship with Gleason and what happens to the Witchblade.

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Witchblade (1995-2015) #51-100

Witchblade Compendium Volume 2

Ron Marz

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Ron Marz

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