Reviews

Witchblade Rebirth Volume 1 by Fred Benes, Tim Seeley, Diego Bernard

aceinit's review against another edition

3.0

I’ve always had a love/indifference relationship with Witchblade. I will adore it for a few arcs, then I will lose all interest in it. I was really hoping that the new Top Cow Universe would rekindle that love for the series, but the first “Reborn” arc was underwhelming. Do’t get me wrong, it’s a neat concept: taking Sara out of New York and having her deal with corrupted, bastardized versions of her own power and that of the Darkness, but this arc just never drew me in. There are places where the time and location jumps are extremely jumpy and ill-explained, and the art is too cartoonish to match the writing. I couldn’t really get immersed in the story because of the huge disconnect between the subject matter and the bright, animated style.

I’ll give Witchblade one or two more arcs to rekindle my interest. If it fails to, I’ll probably just stick with The Darkness and Artifacts.

Side note: Jackie Estacado created this universe in his image and rewrote Hope's story, erasing her as Sara's child and instead making her Jenny and Jackie's child. And, though Jackie has the power to scatter the Angelus host and apparently make a lot of folks forget him and what he can do, Sara still has him on speed-dial. Leaving Sara in his life isn't going to have catastrophic ramifications on Jackie's world later. Nope. Not at all.

aussiesff's review against another edition

4.0

Sara is in a new city and stirring up trouble. I liked this volume but as an intro to the witchblade universe I probably could have chosen a better starting point. They do an alright job re-introducing characters but some are not as clear as if you had read earlier volumes.
That being said, the story line is solid, and the artwork is amazing with some beautiful full page spreads that would be great as stand alone pieces of art.
I will be reading more from this universe.

civreader's review against another edition

4.0

Leaning slightly towards 3.5*, but like the mythology and overall story. Stylised art is clean and good throughout. Looking forward to reading book 2.

nightxade's review

3.0

Witchblade is soon coming to a close. I have a lot of fond memories of this series for many reasons, but I probably should have kept them as that, instead of trying to pick it up again now. Following the events of Artifacts, Top Cow's universe has undergone a big shake up and many of its cast members are starting their lives over. Sara Pezzini, wield of the mystical Witchblade, is among them. Now a Chicago private detective, she struggles with her new role and the annoying beat cop who always wants to bust her chops. An investigation leads to Pez being accused of murder, but of course, there's more to the story. By that, I mean a group of people seeking immortality through an alien symbiote, and a coven of witches who want all the power. Interesting things are happening in this story, but not interesting enough to impress me. It's a whole lot of ghastly bad guy of the week after phenomenal cosmic powers, with little depth to their purpose, and lots of extra skin. Pez is still her badass self, and it's great to see her in better control of the Witchblade, but like I said, I'll just stick with my nostalgia instead of joining Sara Pezzini on her rebirth.

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