Broken Frontier

The relaunched Witchblade has flashes of her previous life, but thrives in her current relaunch.

150 issues in, and Witchblade needed a slight shift. Not everything was broken, but a few tweaks here and there, and a new creative force, make this the Batman of Top Cow's New 52, as it were. Sara Pezzini's off to Chicago from New York, working as a Private Investigator instead of Police Detective, and has her first real case; villains with their own take on the Witchblade armor, looking more like burst sausages than sharp metal, are chasing down the Fountain of Youth, which may actually exist. When a fight with one of these monsters ends up with an old lady instead of a young woman, Sarah's arrested, requiring the help of a newfound magician friend to make bail. Luckily, once free, she soon finds something to take out her rage on.

Witchblade has always been an enjoyable series, often more occult detective story than super-heroine. Tim Seeley's new scenario and world for Sara has made the previous issue a perfect jumping on point, and this issue does nothing but confirm that. Given that Diego Bernard appears to be having fun drawing the disgusting creatures that Sara must face, they seem to be a team that will work well on this book for, hopefully, a good time. Given the continuance of back-matter (even if the Witchblade checklist is a reprint), the book also proves that a good value can be found under the $3 price point.

Until the character needs a soft reboot again.