REVIEW: Witchblade #185

Story By: Ron Marz,Â Matt Hawkins &Â Â Marc Silvestri
Art By: Keu Cha,Â Stjepan Sejic,Â Abhishek Malsuni, Brian Ching,Â Randy Green,Â Michael Turner,Â Isaac Goodhart,Â Nelson Blake II,Â Linda Sejic &Â Marc Silvestri
Publisher: Top Cow/Image

Here I was, just reading a few issues of Witchblade and it goes and gets stopped.Â This issue is a double sized (i.e. costs more) finale to a very popular series.

As a finale, not a lot really happens.Â There is the idea of a future, a period of transition and finally a period of acceptance, all wrapped up in a “remember me” kind of vibe, similar to when David Tennant Left Doctor Who.Â The most poignant parts of the book are the good-byes from the writers, especially Ron Marz and Marc Silvestri, who acknowledge the need for closure, that may have been lacking in the last issue’s conclusion of Sara walking away from the police force and her life then.

Art is supplied by a myriad of people from co-creators the late Michael Turner and Marc Silvestri, to Abhishek Malsuni whose work on figures and postures is pretty good but inconsistent with faces, to Stjepan Sejic.

There is a lot of history and reminiscence in the book, which to anew reader like me, goes over my head.Â But that doesn’t detract from the story; I may not know who some of these people are, but Sara’s interaction with them gives you most of the feelings you need to appreciate their relevance.

I am in two minds regarding this book.Â If I take the cynical view, then this book is both over priced and self-indulgent.Â For me, I was happy with Sara walking into to the sunset at the end of the last issue.Â The fact that Sara herselfÂ says “it’s a young woman’s game”, makes me wonder if this is just an excuse to draw Witchblade on a different half-naked, now younger, woman.Â This thought is somewhat laid to rest with the inclusion of a preview of Witch #1 written and pencilled by Stjepan Sejic who seems to be going for the young teen crowd, which maybe the wrong way considering what fans like about Witchblade in the first place.

Back to the main part of the book fans of the character will no doubt enjoy the book for what it is, a chance to say good-bye to a character that seems to have had her day and served her purpose.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network