Witchblade Vol. 2

Witchblade by Ron Marz #2

by Ron Marz, Stjepan Šejić (Cover Art), Mike Choi (Artist)

Collects WITCHBLADE #86-92!

The new era of WITCHBLADE continues with "Awakenings"" as industry powerhouse Ron Marz (FIRST BORN, SAMURAI: HEAVEN & EARTH) and Wizard Top Ten artist Mike Choi (X-MEN, X-23: TARGET X) reveal the true origin of the Witchblade for the first time!

This is the second collection in a complete rebranding of the Witchblade trade paperback line in 2008 which collects the Ron Marz era of WITCHBLADE and featuring brand new painted covers by Stjepan Sejic (FIRST BORN, WITCHBLADE).

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Urban Fantasy, Comics Manga

194 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 2, 2006

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 3 out of 5]

All right I can start to see why Ron Marz run is so loved. It's starting to get better and better here.

So this volume is a little more broken up. We take a couple of different cases. This lets Sara really grow in different ways. She has to take a case where she's finding a missing child. She also has her own story of going back in time to revisit all the Witchblade owners. Then we also got a few issues of her tracking down a killer but of course the people helping aren't who they seem.

Good: I really loved the solo issue of Sara and her partner searching for missing kid. Great dialog, strong emotional payoff, and all around well done. I also really enjoyed the ending to the tracking down the murderer since it didn't end the way you expect.

Bad: Didn't love the background issue of all the different witchblade issues. They kind of all were too similar and just different clothing.

Overall better than the last but not on the "Great" level yet. It's getting there though! A 3.5 out of 5.

[Fantasy Literature · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to go ahead and immediately write a follow-up review to my first column on Ron Marz's WITCHBLADE because I think he really hits his stride in this second collection. Basically, just like I think you need to stick with SANDMAN for the first two to three volumes before you give up on it, I think reading the first two volumes of Marz's run is essential to even begin to know whether his take on the series might be of interest to you.*

In my first review of WITCHBLADE, issues #80-85, I argued from a feminist perspective that I believed Marz was attempting to take a comic that looks like a men's pin-up magazine and use his writing subversively to contradict that misog... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...

[Amanda Perry-Larkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this one way better than the previous one! You got to see the background of the people who wielded the witchblade before which I think was fantastic

[Ninjer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hodnotím první dvě knihy

Tohle je snad ten nejmainstreamovější mainstream.

Čte se to snadno a je to hlavně na koukání. Holky jsou tam sexy a často toho na sobě moc nemají (i když nikdy nevidíme "vše") a je tam pořád nějaká akce. Všechny postavy jsou jak z béčkových filmů. Nikdo z nich mi vyloženě nevadil, ale o tom, že bych si nějakou mohl i oblíbit vůbec nemůže být řeč.

K smíchu je úvod u první knihy, kde autor naznačuje něco ve smyslu, jak se přes psaní superhrdinů dostal k "opravdovým" komiksům. Hah. Dostal se maximálně tak od nějakých superhrdinských komiksů pro 8letý ke komiksům pro 12letý.

Kdybych to praktikoval, nazval bych Witchblade záchodovým čtením. Komiks spíš na odpočinkovou čumendu.

6/10

[Craig Lotter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thick glossy paper - lovely. Book whose binding fails every time you turn a page - atrocious. But ignoring the horrendous build quality of the book, Volume 2: Awakenings, which continues collecting Marz's Witchblade run, is great. Leaning heavily into the police procedural and darker themes while mixing in a touch of the supernatural makes for a great read as Sara Pezzini continues to be fleshed out into a more relatable character, while in the process a few of the layers of mystery surrounding the Witchblade have their corners lifted so that we can peer in. A couple of artists add their signature to the book, but for the most part it is fine-lined action first Choi and quirky detail everywhere Bachalo that bring this book to life.

[Nicholas Driscoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story with hulk Captain America was better than the pulpy silliness in the last book. At least it had more emotional resonance. It was harder to buy into the history of the Witchblade issue. Suddenly because her colleague made her promise to look into the origin of the Witchblade, she becomes fully willing to just give it up? And mystic Asian dude buys her bluff? The glimpses into the previous Witchblade welders was interesting but unsatisfying. At least for me.

I wonder, if the various weapons can mate and create new weapons, why not do that more often? XD

Entertaining schlock.

[Vaughn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is a collection of several smaller stories. Detective Sara Pezzini has now been transferred to another precinct and is now focused purely on the more mystical or supernatural cases. This is the same precinct as Patrick Gleason, who accompanies her in her work.
The first half of this volume contains a monster-of-the-week type story for each issue, with the second half containing a 3 part story. The final story has Sara learning about the past users of the Witchblade. She also learns about how the Witchblade was created, which was very cool.

[Ari · Rating 2 out of 5]

The wanton orientalism and rampant male gazes continue, but this time with a looser story than the first volume presented. The first two installments here are especially disappointing, but the third one was pretty good.
Choi's art suffers less from same-face syndrome here, but it's still bogged down by egregious fanservice. Bachalo's even worse, with practically infantilizing renditions of Sara.

[wbforeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Witchblade Ron Mars run continues to be really good. I really enjoyed the early cases in this book are one issue cases is really refreshing to see. Not a long arc and see different type of cases that Sarah has to deal with the case finding the missing kid had a very strong emotional residence, and the final panel was beautifully well done

Overall solid

[John Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some nice table-setting monster-of-the-week stories, and finally explanations for the characters and world that it’s frankly astonishing hadn’t been addressed before and was my biggest gripe with the franchise.

[Shane1step · Rating 5 out of 5]

Во, пошли детективные дела на один выпуск, стрёмные закрученные дела на пару выпусков и лорный выпуск, в котором... повторяется всё то, что и так было известно про Клинок — никаких откровений, ха-ха-ха. Но сделано всё очень здорово, класс!

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this even more than the first. I liked the stories and the artwork even more. I'm super curious about what happens next.

[Zec · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final page of the issue where Sara is trying to find the missing girl? Fantastic.

[Abhinav · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can read the full review over at my blog:

http://sonsofcorax.wordpress.com/2014...

Witchblade is one of Top Cow’s biggest IPs, by far. Unless I am mistaken, it is one of the publisher’s only two titles to have made it past the landmark 100th issue, and the only one to have made it past the landmark 175th issue as well. And one writer who has shaped this incredible run, more than others I’d reckon, is Ron Marz, who enjoyed a seventy-plus issue tenure before he got back on the title with issue #170 last year. Of all the Witchblade stories I’ve read to date, Ron Marz’s scripts have been the most consistent and engaging and my current read-through of his run has been a very rewarding experience.

Witchblade Volume 2 continues everything that Ron Marz setup in Witchblade Volume 1, taking the Witchblade’s bearer Sara Pezzini into new environs and with new supporting cast members. Unlike the previous volume, this one contains many one-shots that slowly build-up a larger story continuing the plot threads that Ron introduced at the start of his run. If anything, I enjoyed this volume even more than the first, though it should be said that sometimes the stories can be a bit too much by-the-numbers. Like Phil Hester says in the introduction to this volume, Ron defies expectations and notions of genre limitations.

The first story in this volume, called “Blood Sword“, deals with an ancient Japanese weapon with a long and storied history that is kept in a museum in New York. Sara is a lone ranger on this case, and it really brings out the best in her since she isn’t dependent on any other characters she can bounce off of. She does work with Detective Frank Boyle of one of New York’s downtown precincts on the case, but his contribution is limited. As a one-shot this works great, largely because the mystery itself is developed nicely and there is a great payoff in the end that links Sara once more back to her mysterious ally who owns a relics shop and who has knowledge of her artifact to a degree that she doesn’t.

The second story is “Heart of The City” and this one sees Sara moving out from her own precinct to the top precinct in the city since her penchant for clearing weird cases is much more in demand and this also sees her working in the same office as Patrick Gleason. As part of the new digs and new outlook, she gets a new case as well and this is where the weird really comes through for Sara and she goes up against a villain who is most unusual. Sara’s interactions with Gleason are pretty spot-on and there are even hints that there might be something more here since they are both clearly attracted to the other. But thankfully, Ron keeps it all restrained and focuses on the task at hand. The villain in this issue was lots of fun to read about, but the payoff here wasn’t so good, though in hindsight I think this was another case of Ron setting something up for the longer run and I want to see that happen.

The next story, “Partners” sees Sara investigating the disappearance of the daughter of her friend Molly, who works at her old precinct as a janitor. Working with Gleason again, this is a personal case for Sara and we really see the emotional impact of it come through the pages. The absolute best moment in this issue is in the final page, when Sara has to give Molly the bad news. Just the wordless emotions of that entire scene blew me away. Sure, getting up to that point, Ron wrote a great investigative story, but the final moments are what steal the show.

Then we have the three-parter “Fugitive“, in which one of Sara’s cases draws the attention of the government and also offers some more insight into how the government looks at… special people. This is, I think, the best story in the entire volume because this one gets to breathe with some proper pacing and the increased length also allows Ron to really focus on Sara’s developing professional and personal relationship with Patrick. That is something I was quite looking forward to in this volume and Fugitive finally delivered on that. There are lots of different twists in the story and it ends in a way that I didn’t expect when it started, or even when the first part ended on a cliffhanger as it did.

This story also showed that Patrick really isn’t all that comfortable with the Witchblade, though he has no problem with Sara herself. The Witchblade is a mysterious and dangerous power as far as he is concerned, to the extent that he doesn’t accept healing from the Witchblade until Sara promises him that she is going to make an effort to learn more about it. To find out whether or not it is something that can be… trusted. That’s what I loved about their relationship, that Ron made the effort to progress the overall story and also delve into their personal beliefs. That’s what’s most important in any given story, especially something like the Witchblade.

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...

1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.

2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.

3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.

4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.

5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.

[Robert 'Rev. Bob' · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a very late latecomer to the Witchblade story, via the Humble Bundle that offered a lot of the Top Cow line in an economy-sized package. (Okay, so I did see the TV show on DVD. I was singularly unimpressed by the Big Reset Button, but I don't hold that against the comics.) My point is that I went into these first couple of collections expecting... well, expecting them to be the first collections. Call me strange, but when I see something called "Witchblade, Volume 1," I don't expect it to start with issue #80.

Anyway, this trade and the previous one have proven to be an okay jumping-on point. They still assume the reader has some basic knowledge that I'd like to get - for instance, a working knowledge of what the Blade is (or at least what it does) and how Sara got hold of it - but if you can get past that, you're pretty much in the position of Sara's new partner. What the hell, where the hell, how on earth, okay, whatever.

The end of this collection gave a couple of answers... kind of. If you've been reading other stuff, so the Big Bombshell creation scene makes some kind of sense. I mean, I'm vaguely aware that The Darkness is some kind of a thing, but that's all I know about it. I would gladly have forsaken one of the alternate cover pages for a page of "okay, if you're lost, here's what that was all about" background.

Still, all in all, I look at this as Found Content because I bought the bundle for other reasons. From that perspective, I can't really complain.

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m really enjoying these comics, both the art and the story itself. It’s been a little while since I’ve read the first volume, but once I started reading AWAKENINGS I was able to fall right back into the story. I love the idea that this BAMF woman has control of this . . . THING that allows her to fight the bad guys and put them all in their place.

Plus all of the history that comes with the Witchblade itself. I loved how they stepped back through history and showed the diversity of women throughout time taking control of this tool and using it to its greatest potential.I think the story still leaves a lot of questions in regard to the origins of the Witchblade but it gives you something, and it’s more than enough to take you through the rest of the books.

And I love the art. I truly do. I love how Sara isn’t hyper-sexualized, she wears normal clothes, titties aren’t always half falling out of her shirt or anything. The alternate covers of the book do fall the way of your more typical comic book heroine but within the panels she looks more like Detective Benson from Law & Order: SVU than Barb Wire. That made me very happy.

I can’t wait to pick up the next book. I know my local used book store, Bookman’s, has a bunch of copies I plan on snagging. I’m eating this right up.

4.5

[Adam Luptak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ron Marz's Witchblade is fun to read. Some of the stories suffer from strange pacing - often there's a long build-up to a very swift and abrupt climax. I particularly like the storytelling device in this volume of changing art styles (and artists) during flashbacks. The final story, which reveals the origin of the Witchblade, gets back into the "cheesecake" art style for which the series was infamous for in earlier stories (and still indulges in for their covers), coming dangerously close go "eye roll" territory, but getting to see the Witchblade through many different eras and locales makes up for it.

[Sean · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this free through a promotion and still think I might have over spent. First, the overall collection is a strange hodge podge of stories that aren't intelligent enough to considered an anthology. It just seems like issues were thrown together to see what stuck. Here, nothing did. Second, the art. While there was some really good there was also about fifteen different pencilers. It was all strangely laid out except where it involved different eras. There it worked nicely. Lastly, the character of Sara Pezzini isn't good. Its been like fifteen years and she isn't more than a pinup. Its hard for me to believe this book is still being published. Sorry, but that's how I see it. Skip it.

[Albert Yates · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, this book starts out at Witchblade #86, I knew there was more to the series than what was in the first volume.

It's official. I'm hooked on this series, while the art isn't exactly what I would have liked, portraying a female hero with giant breasts and skimpy clothing is something the comic industry needs to grow out of. The story has gotten really good, the second issue in this volume broke my heart completely. My little girl will be getting extra cuddles tonight.

4.5/5 but rounded up.

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story arc is a little too by the numbers. I suppose that applies somewhat to the first one, but the problem with this time around is that almost everything is self-contained. That in and of itself is not a bad thing, but the storyline (which I won't spoil) is pretty predictable and not quite as exciting as the first. I will give high marks to the smart talking parrot. He was very fun to read and probably the best part of this volume.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5. I like the variety of stories here, and think Marz does a good job of providing a variety. The art is pretty hit-or-miss (but I don't like the Top Cow style, anyway.) Marz also reveals what the Witchblade actually is. The reveal isn't particularly satisfying, but I do applaud his hilarious attempt to explain why the Witchblade always dresses her like that. It's ridiculous, but I enjoyed it.

[CT · Rating 1 out of 5]

The cheesecake art is still ridiculous. This volume gives up consistency and logic entirely. My personal favorite part was "I conducted missions so secret, no one knew what government I worked for!!" while the panel shows a flashback of the character wearing a stars-and-stripes bandana. Also, Gleason's chin seems to drastically change size and shape from one issue to the next.

[Gav451 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still solid and fun but there were moments in reading this that it felt like it lost its way and I disconnected with the story. This was more a series of individual tales which were all readable and fun but because they were one offs they lost some of the impact.

The art is still great, the story still good but I was not as engaged as I was in the first volume.

[Roman Colombo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really starting to like this character. She's pretty intriguing, even if she didn't have a magical weapon. And with good art and a strong writer, it's a really enjoyable series. Good thing I have 14 more volumes!

[Sassbot5000 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this but found the first book better. This had a good story but the buildup towards the big event wasn't as well done as the first volume.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best art of all has to be the one on the cover. The artist fully did all the drawings in some of the future volumes and it is simply beautiful, frame it up art.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still a superhero book. Marz is trying to push the envelope by the end of the volume, but if the book's going to become something more notable, it hasn't yet.