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Review: ‘Nosferatu Wars’

Published

10 years ago

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I’m obsessed with a good writer/artist pairing in comics. The kind that makes me excited just on word alone. Writer Steve Niles and artist Menton3 provide that sort of ambitious coupling that sends chills straight to my gut in this month’s special “Nosferatu Wars” one-shot. And when combined with the word and context behind “Nosferatu” you know it’s going to be “bag and board” worthy.

WRITTEN BY: Steve Niles

ART BY: Menton3

PUBLISHER: Dark Horse
PRICE: $3.99

RELEASE: March 12, 2014

The plot of this horror one-shot is introductory. There is no beginning, middle, end. There are a series of events shadowing vampires Tarquin and Moria as they live, love, fight, and hunt during the black plague. In order to give us some context of their lives, Niles seamlessly interlaces flashbacks and possible flash-forwards. This technique also serves to make the plotlines time frames enigmatic. We’re not quite sure which plotline has us in the present. Overall, this creates a circular-type understanding of their existence, which is simply impressive.

Niles sets up an interesting character dynamic. Two vampire lovers against the world, “enemies in life, lovers in death” …and other romantic literary tropes are added into a juxtaposition of the pair’s humanity and their absolutely brutal impulses. In a landscape of literary bipolar disorder, Tarquin and Moria go from gentle, kind beings, to loyalty-driven vigilantes, love-driven murderers, utterly brutal fiends and back again. His writing really accentuates this as he uses a gothic-romance tone—a tone that’s fairly rare for Niles though shockingly unique to his writing.

True to Menton3’s artistic nature, the color palette is dark and rich, the faces and bodies are harsh and slender throughout the two styles of illustration he ping-pongs between in “Nosferatu Wars”. When his more sketch-like, rudimentary illustrations break into his velvety gallery-style art it’s like a high–voltage current running to your shock collar. It exacerbates the fear and heightens the senses in handpicked panels.

Without giving anything away, I must confess the ending twist made me laugh for an abrupt moment. I’m still not sure how I feel about it but a.) I believe in the future, we will get an answer on why this twist was important to utilize, and b.) it’s a fresh take on the vampire genre. Like…a never before seen take. The one-shot ends on this twist leaving you slightly unsatisfied and craving more.

I enjoyed getting acquainted with Tarquin and Moria, consuming the stunning art, and obsessing over the hauntingly beautiful bloodshed. Though the plot was not completely stand-alone, which is uncharacteristic of a one-shot comic, I do think (and hope) that we will see these characters in a series of one-shots. Or however it’s done, I believe we will see more of this nicely established world and its brilliant characters.

4/5 Skulls

Reviewed by Bree Ogden

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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

on

April 18, 2024

By

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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