In this third absolute collection of the bestselling original series WITCHBLADE, NYC Detective Sara Pezzini is back from her foray into the Underworld. As she emerges with FULL power over the Witchblade and makes her final attempt to banish the creatures back to the underworld from whence they came, she is also given a clue as to the true nature of the Witchblade.
Collects WITCHBLADE #37-57, DESTINY'S CHILD #1-3, and WITCHBLADE/LADY DEATH #1
(Zero spoiler review) 3.25/5 Consider my rock bottom expectations mildly subverted. At least once you got through the opening Christina Z issues anyway. Witchblade is the textbook definition of a guilty pleasure. Born in a bygone era when the lone impetus of a book could be an attractive protagonist, with pretty much everything else that makes up the book being a hodge podge of whatever seemed good at the time. Ahhh, the 90's. Perhaps its the more competent and polished approach that kicked in during this collection in the 2000's which did away with some of the absurdity of the initial run, to bring in a more grounded, well rounded Sarah Pezini. Either way, I was well and truly on board, much preferring the more serious detective take on the stories, with a bit of the occult thrown in for good measure. There's still plenty of eye candy on offer as well, as you would hope and expect. Back when the comic industry was more than happy to butter whatever side of the break their purchasing audience wanted. Having lost interest in the first two, I only picked this up as it was on sale, and I'm glad I did. Hopefully these themes continue into the next volume. The two mini series collected here are bloody awful, though. You can safely skip those. 3.25/5
The stories here really pick up steam under David Whol writing and Fracis Manapul’s pencils. The dialog is rather juvenile and at times painfully dated, but David’s story-crafting improves this compendium when he takes over again in the end. A fun read, a compelling idea revealed with the character Ian Nottingham, but mostly a soap opera melodrama with a really cool fantasy paint-coat.
Despite being from the early 2000’s, the stories here contained have a strong 90’s feel with all of the pros and cons it implies (you decide which is which, opinions may vary). Dialogues straight from b action movies, tin-paper characterizations, action, violence, and some plot points going nowhere and others going on for too long; still, there is something fascinating in the undergoing story of the Witchblade and the other artifacts, and we even have some genuinely well written moments. Probably the just rate would be a 2.5, but let’s make it a full 3 because of nostalgia. I have always preferred The Darkness anyway