Witchblade #109
Written by Ron Marz
Art by Stjepan Sejic
Letters by Troy Peteri
Top Cow Productions
Cover price: $3.99; On-sale: April 23, 2008

When Witchblade issue 116 sold out over at Diamond, I had to read issue 117 find out what the big deal was. The book definitely has a lot going for it in terms of potential but in the end, the book is nothing original.

For those who are unfamiliar with the character, Detective Sara Pezzini controls the Witchblade. While it looks like a power gauntlet, it is actually an offspring of The Darkness and The Angelus, the essence of universe’s Chaos and Light. Recently, the Witchblade was broken into two, giving one piece to Sara lost and the other to a young woman by the name of Danielle Baptiste.

I really liked what Ron Marz has to offer for Witchblade. His current storyline has Sara investigating a series of murders that may tie into the history of The Knights Templar and the Holy Grail. What does it have to do with the Witchblade or Sara Pezzini? Well you will have to read it to find out but the answer is pretty interesting. I really enjoyed the cliffhanger at the end of the book but it may be lost on people who are not familiar with the Witchblade series. The dialogue was also crisp and fast paced, which is a staple of Marz. The dialogue could have been more creative though.

I like that Top Cow books do not have to adhere to a rating system but I think that while freedom of expression can make a book great, it can also hurt a book. Usually, when Marz writes a book for DC, he gets a little more creative with dialogue. Here, without restrictions, he seems to curse just for the sport of it. While it reads well in some areas, in others it just looks out of place.

The art by Stjepan Sejic is average at best. This is not to say that he is not a talented painter. His pieces are great but like some art out there, it just does not “pop.” It is art that looks good but it never breaks free from its one-dimensional prison that is the comic page. It just sits there. It doesn’t come alive from the page like a painted piece from Alex Ross. It may be just my taste though because he does have talent, so maybe someone else would be impressed by his work but I was not particularly.

Overall, I was not overly impressed with the book. I am a fan of Ron Marz’s writing but this book relied too much on foul language to get its point across and the art was lifeless.