Comics
Review: “Curse” # 2
“Curse” continues its descent into small-town madness with another chilling chapter of werewolf mythology. Laney pushes himself to a point of no return. Moreci and Daniel show that compassion is both his greatest strength and weakness. Yet, it is history that becomes the focal point of this stellar second issue. Our past defines us, and that characterization is often impossible to escape.
WRITTEN BY: Michael Moreci & Tim Daniel
ART BY: Colin Lorimer & Riley Rossmo
PUBLISHER: BOOM! Studios
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: February 19, 2014
People in small towns love to gossip. They take great interest in the lives of others, particularly a person’s past. It’s hard to change who you are when everyone has already made up their minds behind your back. Laney will always be the failed Football star. It’s a shame really, but it’s his cross to bear.
The script this month does a solid job at turning the screws on every character in play. Things are getting significantly worse, and are only bound to get darker with each successive issue. Within all of this darkness is an air of compassion. We’re reminded why Laney has taken on his crazy inquest and briefly encounter some humanity within the heart of the beast.
It’s a great way to bring everything into a murky grey area. Within this fog the lines of right and wrong dissipate. Laney is no better than the town drunk, and the werewolf becomes a victim. It’s a heartfelt spin on the dynamic we’ve seen before. Managing to breath new life into an old fable.
Lorimer does the bulk of the lifting again this month. His clean digital approach manages to imbue the cold winter with some warmth, and his character work is stunningly clean and detailed. He revels in darkness, and has a serious gift for creating haunted eyes. His choice of angles imitates some of the horror greats. By using obtuse viewpoints on the most normal interactions he creates an unparalleled sense of dread.
Rossmo’s work falls onto the complete opposite side of the spectrum. His lines are wild and unkempt. His work is drawn with a certain ferocity that screams danger. He make the werewolves’ past brilliant. The muted color palette channels a ghostly world devoid of warmth and should bring back twinges of his work on Green Wake.
This issue takes a more leisurely pace and uses it to gloomy effect. We’re dragged through a story of loss and desperation. The characters that populate this bleak world are given their time to develop and the conflict becomes even more complicated. Thing’s won’t be easy going into issue 3.
“Curse” manages to be so much more than typical werewolf fare. The dynamic combination of styles within the creative team propels it to be something uniquely horrifying. There is loss, isolation, blood, guts, manipulation and more. The book touches on all sorts of taboos and like any good horror story has its roots firmly grounded in the history of its world.
Rating 4/5 Skulls.
Comics
‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics
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.
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Cover A: Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto (Full Color)
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Cover B: Giuseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto (Full Color)
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Cover C: Blank Sketch Cover
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Cover D (1/10): Dani and Brad Simpson (Full Color)
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Cover E (1/25): Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto, Virgin Cover (Full Color)
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Cover F (1/50): J.Scott Campbell (Full Color)
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Cover G (1/100): Bill Sienkiewicz. (Full Color)
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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.
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