Witchblade, Volume 3: Gods & Monsters

Witchblade by Ron Marz #3

by Ron Marz, Adriana Melo, Mike Choi

Top Cow’s rebranding of the Witchblade trade paperback line continues in this volume, the culmination of the initial storyline by Ron Marz (First Born, Samurai: Heaven & Earth) and Wizard Top Ten artist Mike Choi (X-Men, X-23: Target X). Also featured in this volume are Stephen Sadowski (JSA, Superpowers) and Adriana Melo (Ms. Marvel) as well as the the star-studded, landmark Witchblade #100. Plus a brand new painted cover by Stjepan Sejic (First Born, Witchblade)! Collects Witchblade #93-100 and Witchblade: Bearers of the Blade Special.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, Crime, Horror, Comic Book

244 pages, Paperback

First published March 25, 2008

About the author

Marz 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.

Reviews

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well damn, this series finally stepping up and now I know why Marz's Witchblade series got such love.

So this one ties up a few of the older stories. Especially the one I wanted a tie up to, about the little girl being raped and killed. We also deal with a ancient artifact coming to life and getting a bit more lore of the witchblade. A old friend comes to visit our favorite detective and some nasty stuff happens with a main character.

Good: This volume was fast paced, very well written, super fun, and surprising twist by the end. I thought the fights were getting better here, more brutal. I dug the ending so much and really hope this series keeps building from here.

Bad: I thought the artifact part was a bit boring at points with the background.

Overall Witchblade is easily turning into a very fun series with characters I really really like. A 4 out of 5.

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The quality picks back up in this volume. There are new and interesting changes to characters and the plot. One or two of which seem very big. This is a very healthy sized paperback too. Having only read the first two volumes, this one has got me excited to see what comes next again. That is one of the best parts of anything serialized too! The only thing that could improve this volume is a couple more lines from the parrot :)

[Nicholas Driscoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pezzini falls in love with her partner and they hide it. I appreciate that their romance isn’t just straight sex or something, though.

Turns out that the evil god summoned by the evil Catholics is also still a thing, creating a nice twist with the reawakened and demon possessed former partner who was also in love with Pezzini.

For some reason in the back there are lots and lots and lots of details about the various bearers of the Witchblade through the centuries, including some spoilers for upcoming issues.

All in all, still mildly amusing junk food comics.

[Andries van Wyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found vol3 more enjoyable than vol2 both in story and art. It was great to learn more about the background of the Witchblade.
I love Sara and her partner Patric, but I have a suspicion that this is going to be a short lived chapter in the story.
I am not a fan of the art style of chapter two.
Through out these 3 volumes that I have read I do find that for me, there seems to be panes “missing” where I ofter struggle to follow the events on the page.

[Stephen Ede-Borrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE Marz's run on 'Witchblade' - Pezzini is a real person with a personality not just a cypher with some sort of superpower.
In some ways this is the sort of graphic novel which can be approached by someone who isn't a Batman/Superman fan but you would have to be able to accept the 'magic' that underlies the world.
Loved it and illustrated by with some of the best artists in the business, most defiantly one of those which I will read again.

[Craig Lotter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Marz soap opera as he carefully clears some of the older pieces and threads off the board, gives us some more lore, and further develops the tale of Sara Pezzini. Loads of action and character development, and definitely a step up in the storytelling department of the Witchblade series. Choi's art continues to be serviceable if a little cheesecakey at times, but it isn't terrible and moves the action along nicely.

[Vaughn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great collection which focused on revisiting and tying up stories from the first two volumes and giving some development for the characters. Sara, Patrick, the Curator and the lore of the Witchblade itself all got some decent attention.

Sara Pezzini is a great character and I'm looking forward to continuing this series, especially with the crazy cliffhanger at the end of this volume.

[Shane1step · Rating 4 out of 5]

Плюсы: продолжение мистических дел, продолжение немистических дел, развитие отношений.
Минусы: опять якудзы (на пару номеров) и ебучий Ян, который тут ну совсем уж козлина. А ещё Джейк, блин!

Читается всё так же легко-задорно, как предыдущие тома Марза/Чои. Хорошо.

[Zec · Rating 3 out of 5]

Storylines and questions from the earlier 2 volumes are expanded upon quite well. Though still more of a guilty pleasure, the plotting is really good - flows well and at pace.

[John Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally reaching the potential the series always had, the writer deserves credit for lifting this series up from the dregs in which it began.

[Albert Yates · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the series goes on, the stories get better and better.

They've introduced a few characters that I scratched my head at since a reader from the beginning would know who they were. But it didn't take too long to clear the air before they left again to be replaced with another evil spirit or demon.

[Roman Colombo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is so damn good, and nothing like I expected it to be. I'm not sure what I expected, actually. Sara is a great character. I'm nervous at the developments at the end, where the series goes next. I just hope she's still a part of it.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series continues to be good if not great. It's clearly headed towards great things, and manages to be moody and interesting. But it is unfortunately still regularly hampered by its past.