So based on the cover, I am guessing Jackie Estacado, bearer of the Darkness is going to die by the end of this story arc. Should we even care? Is Witchblade still an excuse for the main character to be drawn half-naked? Is the continuity of a small creator owned “super hero” universe easier to understand then the Big Two? We will try to answer all of these questions. So to catch everyone up, including me, they have a nice synopsis of what has happened up to this point. Apparently Witchblade and Darkness had a kid, they sacrificed said kid to end/save the world, and in the new world Darkness brought their kid back. So far, the continuity is not any easier to digest than the Big Two.
Onto the actual comic and we are back “months ago” where Witchblade (Sara Pezzini) is talking to Darkness (Jackie). Or well his decapitated head. We then get a flashback scene where thankfully Sara is in her underwear, because after the decapitated head I really needed to see some random Witchblade ass. We get heavy, HEAVY handed dialogue while Witchblade threatens Aram, the former bearer of the Darkness several thousand years ago. Also, we see that all the yoga has paid off for Witchy as she can stick out her ass, twist her body to show off her tits in the same direction and STILL hold up a man with one hand by the throat. The two agree to team up to stop Darkness who is apparently ready to end the world for reasons.
After more posing and horribly stilted dialogue the two agree to team up to stop Jackie Darkness from trying to end the world. Why is he ending the world? Why is he teamed up with the big bads known only as Ancient Ones. Beyond that, I have no answer, and the book offers none either. So, we will just go with “reasons”.
We leap into the Estacado mansion and Sara encounters, Jenny, the formerly dead ex-girlfriend of Jackie who is now alive in this new world and is the mother of the baby Jackie and Sara had in the old world. That last sentence made as much sense as me trying to explain how Cable and Cyclops are related.
Sara and Jenny talk, in more bad dialogue and eventually we get to see Hope, the aforementioned child of Jackie, Sara, and now Jenny. Hope is “creating”. Which means she is bringing back the dead nanny that she killed. She killed the nanny because the nanny was going to kill her dad. Sara freaks out after the resurrected nanny tries to hurt Hope resulting in the child to start randomly yelling. At this point in time I think I would rather have it be Hope from the X-Men series, she comes with a clearer back story while even traveling through random futures with Cable for the majority of her life.
Anyway the issue ends with a child who can bring back the dead freaking out and turning green. Oh also Sara has settled on using the Witchblade to kill Jackie. This issue was a mess. The art is poor. The color seems drained from the palette. The dialogue is heavy-handed. The plot is near nonsensical and is based on knowing stories that happened years ago to have anyone care. Just avoid this comic. It isn't even worth it for the train wreck value.
Before we end this review let's reveal the questions to our answers from before. No you shouldn't care that Jackie and the Darkness are going to die. I counted at least six panels where randomly Sara was posing like a super model or turning at an insane angle that defied logic and spines, so yes this book is still an excuse to get T&A. And the continuity is just as confusing as any X-Men comic.
Score: 1/5
Writer: David Hine Artist: Gabriel Rearte Publisher: Image/Top Cow Price: $3.99 Release Date: 2/11/15