Broken Frontier

Dani, now the wielder of the witchblade, comes back to New York from her wild trip to New Orleans to seek the help of Sara Pezzini. Unfortunatly, the return of Celestine will insure that her talk goes anything but smoothly.

At 108 issues and going, Witchblade has shown that it is much more then a simple cheesecake comic and there is some real strength in the characters in this book. With Marz doing the writing, this characterization has only been strengthened.

It’s unfortunate, then, that this particular issue really falls flat. There was promise, as Dani is still new to Witchblading, and therefore is really unsure of herself. It’s endearing, and it will remind longtime readers of the growing pains Sara went through when the series started. It does seem a little out of character for Dani, but you can imagine anyone coming into control of this mystical weapon will want some help.

It’s also interesting to see Sara’s reaction, as she wants to stay at a distance thanks to her current station in life; a completely understandable and realistic result. The fact that she thinks about her sister’s situation and finally caves feels like a decision Pezzini would eventually make. Adding Celestine into the mix just confuses the situation, but in a good way as far as the action is concerned.

And that’s where the unfortunate part comes in. There really isn’t anything more than that. After reading this story – which is only 15 pages due to a backup "Tales of the Witchblade" story – I just had the feeling that nothing happened. I’m all for pauses in the action to build characters’ personalities, but I want some real development. I just didn’t find any here.

The backup story should be a bonus, seeing the Witchblade in Feudal Japan, but that might be the biggest issue of all. It’s the exact same story I just read! Take the first part of the book, paint on a kimono or two, add a "-chan" to a name, and you have the second part.

The art is good-looking throughout the book, but the drab background of Sara’s office provide for pretty dull panels when Sara and Dani are having the heart-to-heart.

While it’s an introduction to a storyline that will hopefully be of the quality that Witchblade has been delivering, this particular issue never gets off the ground. Instead of being bad, this book commits the bigger sin of being boring.