Witchblade #140
Publisher: Top Cow
Writer(s): Ron Marz & Saurav Mohapatra
Artist: Stjepan Sejic
Cover: Stjepan Sejic
“Paper Monsters pt 1”: Taking a break from all of the madness going on in Artifacts, this issue of Witchblade launches a new two-part story arc with a flavor all its own. It’s a dark little tale complete with a murder committed under very mysterious circumstances and creepy little kids. Since this particular murder case falls under “strange” and “unusual,” Sara and Gleason are called in to get to the bottom of things. They question several tenants in the building, however, when they come across a certain family they discover a pretty big piece of the puzzle which just may kill them if they’re not careful.
This was a slower paced issue containing great character moments, and that’s one thing I love about this title. There doesn’t need to be some huge throw down on every other page, and when written well a dialog heavy issue is just as exciting. Marz and Mohapatra prove that without a doubt here by giving you a great detective story steeped in fantasy. As the story progresses they don’t try to insult the intelligence of the reader either. Instead, Marz and Mohapatra put almost everything out there concerning the story and still dare you not to enjoy it! Plus, if you don’t realize what’s going on from Sejic’s awesome cover and the story arc’s title, then you may need to read something a little lighter than Witchblade until you’re up to speed.
Stjepan Sejic handles the artwork in this issue like Bruce Lee handles martial arts! And this is coming from a guy who wasn’t too fond of his style when I first saw it a while back. From the work inside the panels to the incorporation of the panels themselves, he continues to tell a great visual story issue after issue. The elevator sequence is probably one of my favorite examples of this, plus I’ve begun to notice that at times when Sara is embarrassed or worried, he draws her playing with her hair. It’s little nuances like this when done consistently that really help flesh out a character’s development.
There was even a reference to Marz’s series Dragon Prince that was worked into the story that made for a pretty cool Easter Egg! Now, the “why” of everything has still yet to be explained, and I’m looking forward to seeing this arc play out. Mohapatra and Marz do great work together and thought it’s been a while, it’s good to see that they still can craft a great story for the fans. If you dig monsters and creepy little kids, or if you just want to read a damn good comic, then I’d suggest picking up Witchblade!
Till next time!
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Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net
Great review man. I’ve got a question. If I was going to start reading this series, where should I begin? 😀
Very good question sir and you should begin with the Witchblade Vol 1: Witch Hunt tpb written by Marz w/ art by Mike Choi it’s only $5.00 and go from there at your leisure. I’ve seen better prices for the other trades either on the Top Cow site or CCL.
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@Speech- Thanks man, I’m going to broaden my spectrum of reading material in the near future and between what you tell me, and Stejpan Sejic’s artwork, I’m sold on Top Cow! 😀
Top Cow has a pretty good stable of newer artists and my favorites include Afua Richardson, Nelson Blake II, Sejic, Rocafort, and Broussard to name a few 🙂
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