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Review: ‘Blackacre’ #4

Published

11 years ago

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Blackacre #4 continues the travails of Hull as things go from bad to worse. Having escaped the forces of the military industrial complex he once served, he finds himself faced with an altogether more depraved, vile enemy; Jesus freaks. This issue is the calm before the storm for this arc, with the finale coming in next issue, but it’s still got the quality story, characters and art that you’ve come to expect from “Blackacre” by now.

WRITTEN BY: Duffy Boudreau
ART BY: Wendell Cavalcanti
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE DATE: March 6th, 2013

There’s nothing really exceptional about this issue, beyond the fact that despite its lack of any distinguishing quality it still remains eminently readable and captivating. More than anything else, this issue sets the stage for what’s to come. We see tension begin to simmer between Sinclair and Bird, his man in the field, and Sinclair begin to worry about an investigation into his actions headed by a rival politician. Hull is captured by the Yokes, religious tribesmen and women who have established a totalitarian rural cult in the wilderness they inhabit, who are none too happy when they discover tokens of their slain brethren in Hull’s backpack. Caged, he befriends a recent captive, Lee, whose rebellious nature is slowly wearing on the cult’s leaders. There isn’t a lot that happens this issue, but what does unfold serves to heighten the tension that will be released, or developed further, in issues to come.

Cavalcanti’s art is, as usual, excellent. If there’s one thing that stands out in this issue, however, it’s how he manages to have characters communicate through their body language and facial features. It’s an often-overlooked flaw in comics that characters faces don’t properly correspond to their words. It’s easy to have a character to have an overly shocked or cynical expression when they are suddenly betrayed or are an archetypical villain, respectively. But it’s another thing to have characters functionally communicate with minimal text, with none at all, or to communicate something beyond the text. This isn’t to say it doesn’t happen at all in comics, but this issue is an excellent example of how to do it well.

Another month, another quality issue of “Blackacre.” Pick it up.

4/5 Skulls

Reviewed by – GeorgeShunick

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Comics

‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics

Published

5 days ago

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April 18, 2024

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Witchblade cover

Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.

Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.

In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”

The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”

Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”

“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.

Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”

Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.

  • Cover A: Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover B: Giuseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover C: Blank Sketch Cover

  • Cover D (1/10): Dani and Brad Simpson (Full Color)

  • Cover E (1/25): Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto, Virgin Cover (Full Color)

  • Cover F (1/50): J.Scott Campbell (Full Color)

  • Cover G (1/100): Bill Sienkiewicz. (Full Color)

  • Cover H (1/250): Line art by Marc. Virgin Cover, Inks (B/W)

Witchblade #1 will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.

Witchblade comic panel Witchblade #1 cover image

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