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Creative Team: Marguerite Bennett (Writer), Giuseppe Cafaro (Line Art), Arif Prianto (Colors), Troy Peteri (Letters), Marc Silvestri, Matt Hawkins, and Elena Salcedo (Edits)
“Feeling Good”
WITCHBLADE Published by Top Cow / Image Comics
FIRST THOUGHTS
Finally having a new WITCHBLADE series on the shelf is exciting, and knowing that a lot of what readers will see in each issue is somewhat familiar but also different is going to be very interesting moving forward. Each new issue should be providing something as this world is building for readers – new and old.
THE STORY
Marguerite Bennett slows things down a bit in this issue as compared to the first issue’s high pace and energy. That issue was about Sara and the Witchblade finding one another and this issue is more “what is this” for Sara. She has a lot of questions, and the major one is if she’s actually in control of her own body with the Witchblade.
This just being the second issue, readers are going to be wondering that, too. There are instinctual actions that Sara wants (and needs) to do with or without the gauntlet, but having something like the Witchblade being able to read your mind and act on its own based on those instincts might not be something Sara’s ready for.
The slower pace of this issue allows Bennett to give the readers some more insight on Sara and let them know her a little more which is only going to help readers connect to her and want to dive more into this series as it moves forward.
There is a lot to build in this world, and Bennett is providing readers just what she wants them to see and to know as she feel they need it. A writer could easily turn on the firehose and provide loads of exposition, but Bennett doesn’t and that pacing is nice to read.
THE ART
The art in this issue from Cafaro, Prianto, and Peteri is great! There’s such a dark and brooding style to Cafaro’s linework and then Prianto comes in and lays down this color palette that just pushes the linework to life. There is a good balance in this issue of scenery work where the characters are standing around and then the action sequences. There is a definite energy change on the page when the action starts and Cafaro just becomes very fluid.
Something I really appreciated in the back of this issue is the art gallery where there’s a page process of how the page is laid out, penciled, inked, colored, and then lettered. The ability for a reader to see that kind of progression and how this team comes together is great and adds to my appreciation of the work that is going into this series.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, I think this was a good issue. Bennett’s writing remains top notch and the art by Cafaro, Prianto, and Peteri matches that energy and quality. Having been a long time fan of this character there’s a lot of ‘been there done that’ to this issue when it comes to the previous volumes of this series, but acknowledging that this is also someone’s first time reading these characters is important when reading. There’s plenty of time to get into new territory, and I am just enjoying the ride.
