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Advance Review: “Captain America” #16.NOW

Published

10 years ago

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Rick Remender’s “Captain America” has been through a life-changing ordeal. Cast away in Dimension Z for twelve years, he has finally returned to the world as we know it. While away he lost a son and a lover, but he gained an odd ally in Arnim Zola’s daughter Jet Black.

She serves as the focus for this chapter. Remender revels in having this anti-heroine explore the new world around her for the first time. Cap has never looked better thanks to Pascal Alixe’s sharp lines and detailed character work. He draws Jet Black with certain contempt as she analyzes humanity. As she does, Remender’s script toils in her ultimate decision, will she be friend or foe?


WRITTEN BY: Rick Remender
ART BY: Pascal Alixe
PUBLISHER: Marvel
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: February 5th, 2014

Jet Black is easily the most alluring element of Remender’s Cap run. She is destined to be a villain but when met by the ideology of helping the weak she’s conflicted. Through her interactions with Cap her ideology has come to reflect on him. There’s this paradoxical and beautiful give and take that sees both characters adopting each other’s traits.

For Jet, the terrible thought of fulfilling her destiny hangs over her head. She is strong willed, convicted, and self-sufficient but lost in a world populated by people who don’t possess such traits. She feels her time isn’t best suited helping the weak, but showing them how to help themselves. She provides an interesting spin on the usual Cap formula.

The overarching conflict begins to “bubble” to the surface. Its still not clear which side of the conflict Jet will find herself on. Remender uses this issue to sow seeds of doubt, and it works magnificently as a reintroduction to his world. The first page brings you up to speed, and the remainder of the issue deals with what is sure to be the core conflict of Remender’s run: the idea of fulfilling your destiny or duty.

Pascal Alixe’s art provides a breath of fresh air. I wasn’t a fan of the JRJR stuff in the first chapters, so I’m happy to report that those looking for a harder edge to their Cap book will find it here. The art is polished and gritty if that makes any sense. Alixe’s art reminds me of an up and coming Jerome Opeña.

There is a smoothness and detail to the character work that makes them incredibly inviting to look at. Jet Black’s physique has never looked more tantalizing. I’d go as far to say that this is the art I’ve been craving on the book since day one.

So the next chapter of Remender’s Cap story begins here. Big threats are coming to tear apart the fractured man. We will see this disillusionment continue to “bubble” in the oncoming issues. A broken Cap and morally grey sidekick will carry one of the best and most original “Captain America” stories ever told into a new age. I want more NOW.

Rating: 3.5/5 Skulls.

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Comics

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

Published

2 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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