Review by Shaun Daniels and Edited by Sharon Wong
Witchblade #151
Written by Tim Seeley, Art by Diego Bernard, Colors by Arif Prianto, Ink by Fred Benes, Letters by Troy Peteri, Covers by John Tyler Christopher, J. Scott Campbell, Diego Bernard, Fred Benes & Arif Prianto and Published by Top Cow Productions
Sarah Pezzini, the bearer of the Witchblade, finds herself in a new town and in the hands of a new creative team with writer Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash) and artist Diego Bernard (Kato), who are putting a pair (two to be exact) of fresh eyes on the long-running Top Cow series. Starting with the duo’s first issue, Witchblade #151, Sarah is in the second city, a sort of New York-like City. Regardless of whether this change of scenery was due to pizza or the events of the last issue, she is without pull from the Chicago PD and deep dish pizza.
Normally, Sarah is on the right side of a jail cell but in this issue, she’s on the wrong. It’s unclear as to what Sarah’s in for (she proclaims her innocence) but whatever it is, it must be bad. The real story starts by backtracking to Sarah working the case that eventually landed her in the slammer. As balancing the light and the dark in the world doesn’t pay the bills, cheating husbands and suspicious wives do. What may have seemed like a run-of-the-mill job of snapping pictures of an unfaithful husband turns out to be a close encounter of the supernatural kind. Sarah finds the husband in question dead and not just any kind of dead. It’s as if he’s been dead for days even though it’s only been a couple of hours. After following several leads, she tussles with the murderer with the end result being Sarah in the pokey.
Tim Seeley jumps right in like he’s been writing Witchblade the whole time (no disrespect to Witchblade writer Ron Marz, who wrote 71 issues over seven years). Many a times, a new writer tries to create their version of the main character on an ongoing series but Seeley, on the other hand, steps right into the character of Sarah Pezzini. He handles this well just like the jumping on point that issue #151 is for the series. The opening narration fills the reader in on who Sarah is, or rather what she is, and a little of her backstory. Usually, narration isn’t always a great tool to use but this book being a PI story at its essence lends itself to narration. Seeley’s also no stranger to writing woman especially women who are, let’s just say, a little rough around the edges (read the Image Comics series Hack/Slash for more examples of Seeley’s writing of women…if you don’t, there must be something wrong with you….I’m just saying).
Diego Bernard, much like Tim Seeley, is a fantastic fit for the series. The man draws beautiful women and a woman wrapped in bloody intestine Witchblade armor like it’s nobody’s business. Yes, this issue’s big bad is a gorgeous woman wrapped in intestine-like armor that will suck the life out of you.
If you are a lapsed Witchblade reader or in search of a new read then look no further than issue #151 of Witchblade. P.S. – this book is also 100% Yancy Butler-free.
Feedback is always welcomed at shaun@horrorhaven.com and sharon@horrorhaven.com
