Witchblade (2024) Vol. 1

by Marguerite Bennett, Giuseppe Cafaro (artist), Arif Prianto (artist)

“Hard-boiled supernatural noir hypercharged for the 21st century.“ - KIERON GILLEN (DIE, PHONOGRAM)

The first volume of a new WITCHBLADE series combines a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the ’90s Image Revolution, which shaped generations of top creators.New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings.Electrified with power, strength, healing, pleasure, and rage, every temptation lures her from her mission to find her father's killer. Sara thinks she possesses the Witchblade, but does it possess her?
This volume will also include a three-page scene, only available with this collection, heralding the return of one of Top Cow's Flagship characters to the new continuity in 2025, Jackie Estacado, also known as The Darkness!

Collects issues #1-6 plus the WITCHBLADE #1/2 origin story from 2021.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Fiction, Urban Fantasy

Kindle Edition

Published January 29, 2025

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok.



A reboot of one of the few Top Cow comics I recognize. I've read (I think) one other Witchblade comic? <--only because I vaguely remember watching (and enjoying) a campy Witchblade tv series a million years ago.
All that to say that I don't really know how this stacks up to previous incarnations, nor do I understand much of the lore. So I don't know what's new, what's recycled, and what's an easter egg for longtime fans.



Basically, Sara is a good cop pretending to be a crooked cop, who then has to become a triple agent trying to uncover the paranormal criminals that are attached to her Witchblade artifact.
The story has its moments, but somehow still ended up feeling like a B-list movie plot to me. I did really enjoy the art, though.



And while I may end up continuing with this, I think I might be better off searching out the source material.
Or not.
I'm not really a Top Cow aficionado and would appreciate any suggestions.

Recommendedish.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two honest admisions, 1. I liked the original Witchblade comic series, 2. I am not quite sure why we needed a reboot.

So we got a reboot of Sara Pezinni and her adventures as person carrying the mythical Witchblade. To begin with the art it is absolutely satisfying albeit less than the art from the original series, which was close to stellar and sold the story.
The story has most of the original characters and some are somewhat altered which is fine.
If you missed the original series they are available through Top cow. This New series is allright and delivers a fantastic female heroïne worthy of reading.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aside from vague knowledge of the video game and the Complete Darkness/Witchblade collections that are on my shelf (I'll get to them eventually, Mom, jeez), my knowledge of the Top Cow universe is limited to say the least.

That said, this new reboot of Witchblade felt accessible to someone like me, which of course should be the point. There may be some references to future things that went over my head, but the story of Sara Pezzini and her new superpower/parasite is compelling, and darker than I expected. There's clearly a lot more going on than meets the eye, which is part of the fun, but this felt like a good start for sure, and I'm very interested to see what happens next with Sara and incoming Darkness wielder Jackie Estacado.

I wasn't entirely sold on the art to start with - things are a little sketchy and loose, but they tighten up as the book continues, so by the time the six issues were over I think we were right where a series like this should be.

Solid start. Maybe I'll shift those Complete Darkness/Witchblade books further up my list.

[Molly™☺ · Rating 2 out of 5]

A reboot that is supposed to be a perfect jumping on point for new readers, whilst also being exciting and fresh for veterans of the series. Unfortunately, it seems to fail at both. Speaking as the former, aside from the premise, nothing really stands out. From the pacing that moves too fast to properly follow or care about, to the lackluster characters and their unclear dynamics, there is so much here that doesn't quite work. Sara is an okay protagonist that has a lot of heavy baggage, yet she is somewhat hard to be interested in or root for due to how Bennett has interpreted her. Less focus on the strange inner monologue and forced romantic relationship could have allowed for more time on fleshing out the world, but alas, we are stuck with subpar writing pretty much throughout. Instead of an engaging action fantasy, you're left with confusion and a desire for something more substantial, but hey, I might go and read the original now to see if that is more my cup of tea.

actual rating 2.5 stars

[Dennis Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Help I can’t stop reading feminist reboots of classic bad-girl comics!

Wait… actually… I’ve decided I don’t need help; this is the opposite of a problem.

[Beckiezra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, interesting enough start that I’d like to check out the second volume or maybe revisit the anime I watched 20 years ago even if the characters won’t be the same. The art was decent, the subject matter has potential though I could do without the $&@! swearing and such, though it’s better than it keeping the words in there I guess.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was different. I have read some Witchblade books before, but this seems a different iteration. I rather enjoyed it.

[Michael Minson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy comics. Growing up I was a huge fan of the Top Cow Universe (Witchblade, The Darkness, The Magdalena, Spirt of the Tao) and they never really left me. It’s some of the few comics I still have from my childhood and they really need new bags and some boards. Probably a new long box too at some point.

When I heard Image was rebooting the Top Cow Artifacts universe I was ecstatic. I was really looking forward to reliving the adventures of Sara Pezzini and Jackie Estacado even if I wasn’t sure how they’d eventually fit some of the other series in due to licensing issues (looking at you Tomb Raider).

I’ve been getting and reading the singles monthly, but this collected edition has a few extra pages and the Witchblade 1/2 issue which I never got my hands on. Easy pickup honestly.

That being said, the extra pages and the 1/2 story are not worth picking this up if you’ve been reading the singles. However, this is a great way to be able to re-read those issues if you’re like me and try to keep the singles in bags and boards after the first read. Maintain the integrity just incase they shoot up in price.

Bad news, Witchblade is from Image, and short of a cultural phenomenon like The Walking Dead, only comics from the big two ever really gain value.

Witchblade has always been a very “sexy” kind of comic. Big boobs, half naked women, very much male gaze oriented women bursting out of the page. Thank you Michael Turner. It was his art style. And obviously a 14 year old boy who likes comics couldn’t resist.

The new Witchblade is sexy is a very different way, largely thanks to the writing of Marguerite Bennett. Sara is far more in control of her emotional range and Giuseppe Cafaro does a great job of not over sexualizing each page the way the original series was, the covers by guest artists not withstanding. But honestly this is part of the identity of Witchblade.

The new series is very forward focused while retaining that identity and I’ve been loving it since issue 1 and will continue to pickup the singles and the trades as they come out.

This is a worthy successor to the original and the just recently also started to put out a new The Darkness series so I’m looking forward to some more Artifacts surfacing, even if they are just a couple limited series along the way.

[Sarospice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't mind the Witchblade character. It's not very original but it has it's mythology which can be interesting watching the characters figure out, when they aren't being stereotypes. Sara works too hard at being a good cop playing a dirty cop, and now she's got this Witchblade trying to control her too. If only she wasn't so horny all the time. it's true. When a woman's nipples get hard they just can't think of anything else.... yawn.

[Erica Naone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witchblade was the comic that started it all for me, back when I was young. I was blown away by the art and couldn’t resist buying the original issue #1. So I knew I had to try this reboot.

The writing is interesting and, I decided, good. I say I decided because at times I found it unsubtle and on the nose. I cringed when Sara Pezzini talked about what she could do if she just wasn’t so damn horny. But let’s be honest - Witchblade was never about subtlety and I wound up appreciating our writer’s frank discussion of bodies. There is deep feminism this time around, more than I remember from the first time, and a real exploration of whether we can actually control our own bodies - as women, as people, as beings with any sort of power.

The art on the other hand… the original witchblade’s art is probably an impossible act to follow. I remember spreads that made me breathless. This artist does some interesting things but I just don’t think it’s as beautiful and it was hard for me to let go. I don’t love the way this artist handles Sara’s expressions and body language. I do think this artist leans more into the body horror, which is interesting.

So this reboot was always a tricky task and I think this is a good start. I will definitely read more.

[FrontalNerdaty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whilst many comic icons from the 90s can experience rejuvenation in a modern setting the story of Witchblade sort of falls a bit short. This first volume works as a soft reboot of the Witchblade series but, as with many reboots, assumes the reader will know more about then original series than they might. The opening issue is engaging but the following issues sort of go from slow/ dry to action packed too quickly. We don’t know Sara that well by the last issue collected but we’re expected to.
I am going to stick with it as I hope this is just a rough ‘we need to make this new user friendly’ sort of deal.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as single issues.

[Peter Van Der Raaij · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good retelling of the witchblade; like a big screen event. However, I prefer the art and story of the original. 2.5/5

[GrimDucky ☠️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid start.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have zero previous knowledge, was vaguely confused by what was going on. I’d read the next volume.

[M.i. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pacing on this is excellent. It packs quite a punch.

[Koen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sincerely: Meh! I couldn't care less about the next volume. This first chapter didn't sell it for me: too awkward, too all over the place, very uninteresting .. Nope, I'm just going to pass this by.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A vigilante pretending to be a clean cop pretending to be a dirty cop pretending to be a criminal.

The power to rise to the evil before her.

Sickle Key

Good art. Complicated story.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure why Top Cow suddenly decided to reboot Witchblade and rehash everything that more or less came before back in the 90s. This is just not very good. I typically like Bennett's writing but this is dense and very little happens in these 6 issues. The original actually did a better job of telling this story (even though I often thought it was boring as well.) After 6 issues, I feel like we are more or less where we started, Sara just now has the Witchblade. I had problems with the art and lettering as well. There are a ton of two page spreads and the panel structure or lack thereof doesn't make it easy to figure out what order to read the text boxes plopped all over the page.

[Peyton F · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 We round up around here


I was reading this at the same time as the original Witchblade collection (I am unlikely to finish the original witchblade book collection as the one I got is like 25 issues in one graphic novel, and it’s an E-book that I got from the library), and it’s an interesting experiment in rebooting a character whose lore kind of got a lot more detail added to it after those initial writers left. Sarah Pezzini is a character who, in these six issues, wears a few hats. She’s a cop that oftentimes works undercover to bust trafficking rings. She’s the newest wielder of the witchblade, a magical gauntlet that only women can wear and we don’t quite know the abilities of it, and she’s also trying to use both of her positions to be a hero for her community. Her friends and the people that round out her group include Michael, her partner on the force, Nicole, Michael’s Partner (?) and confidant, and Ian Nottingham, a man that is so clearly going to betray her that it’s not even funny

I think that the writing and this exercise certainly yields a fun time, but I am not sure if it’s because I sometimes struggle with digital comics and remembering major details when I’m not reading a book in print, but oftentimes the interconnectivity between issues in this collection started to get confusing. One issue, she’s down to work with Ian, and starting issue 5, she has chosen to refuse using her Witchblade, and I wonder if I’ve missed something. I had to go back, and even still, I feel like I missed a part of the narrative.

I think that this is great as an introduction to this character. Something I struggled with while reading that original collection (maybe I should finish it the more I’m writing here) is the way Sarah is drawn and how she’s all bent around. It really distracted from the writing. Meanwhile, here, she still slays in the updated Witchblade costume, but she’s not overdone each page. I’m glad that it’s the writer for the DC Bombshells book, which does a similar thing. I loved the art and I really appreciate Bennett’s approach to the character

If I had to pick from the 10 issues of Witchblade I’ve read so far and the 6 that are collected in this volume, I think I’d go with this. It understands pacing way more, and though it has its own problems, it’s also really carving a path in the new “Reboot” era we are entering in comics. I really wanna read the next volume and maybe even go out and start picking up the latest issues.

[Ozan · Rating 2 out of 5]

So much faminist anger. lol , but reading this, i understand why there are angry feminists because they believe men make women miserable and ruin their lives while men themselves are having it so good.

Look girl, only you can make your life miserable yourself, but they are just not smart enough to realise this and the other fact is men are miserable as well. No one is having it good. And lets be honest these women are fat. lol And the reason for this is ofcourse MEN !!! Men are forcing them to eat !!! They shove those donuts into these poor girls' mouths with their strong arms and force feed them againt their will !!! while all men have so healthy diets themselves on the other hand !!!! Those MEN !!! They are always having it so good while only the poor women are miserable because of THEM !!!!

It is unfair !!! I am so angry to MEN RIGHT NOW !!! lol

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is this 1995 all over again?

Rebooted Witchblade universe is still...something. The same pieces fit into a very similar puzzle. While we don't have Silvestri and Turner steering the ship and making murder sexy, we've got Marguerite Bennett writing a EVEN MORE empowered Sara Pezzini (good cop acting like a dirty cop acting like vigilante)

Mentions are made of The Darkness coming back (progenitor of the Witchblade in the old continuity)

---
Bonus: Allusions to the Witchblade making the wielder HORNY?! Ugh. Ok, we get it. Power is hot.

[Taylor Dowell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The costume is less stripperific which is nice and there's an interesting running of female body autonomy that I wasn't expecting. It has my attention