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Advance Review: Undertow # 2

Published

10 years ago

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Pushing into unknown territory is never easy. The excitement of discovery comes hand in hand with the dangers of loss. For the crew of The Deliverer the ideals of settlement are contested while the small crew on land comes to terms with the dangers of being intrepid in another layered and stellar issue of “Undertow.”


WRITTEN BY: Steve Orlando
ART BY: Artyom Trakhanov
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: March 19, 2014

Our history is one of a settled people. We grow up learning of the trails and tribulations that go with sailing to new lands and the choice to buck the status quo and follow a leader into a new and dangerous world that comes with it. So watching the Atlantian people go through the motions of such a journey provides an incredibly interesting lens on science fiction.

Aboard the Deliverer we’re treated to a more robust feature for the supporting characters. Civil unrest starts to spread. So naturally debates arise about the best course of action. On land Ukinnu follows Anshargal into the abyss. We’re treated to a whole host of dangers, and the relationships of the characters are deepened through survival.

Amongst all this Orlando takes time to focus on certain character beats that go a long way to expanding what we know about our leading men. Both Ukinnu and Ashargal have flashbacks. These sequences take place in a time long before we met them on the pages of issue #1. Each manages to take the respective character in a new and different direction while still informing what we knew about them previously. It serves to balance the pacing of the A and B stories perfectly.

Trakhanov’s art is still absolutely breathtaking. His colors wash over the panels in a way that emotionally compliments Orlando’s script. The colors are vibrant and engaging during the action scenes and literally make everything pop off the page. Stylistically the inserts used to break up large panels help convey the character’s feelings in hectic moments. While the flashbacks have their own style and tone. Everything in the execution shows a creative team that’s found its perfect groove.

What happens on these pages doesn’t throw the story forward with the same raging current of the first, however, the issue revels in smaller moments finding its focus on character and world building. The effort is solid throughout and manages to convey all sorts of unique information pertaining to this strange new world.

The relationships between the characters are now more complex and layered. Everyone’s motivations aren’t entirely clear and idealistic clash is very close on the horizon. For a book chock full of new ideas, it’s the old ones that prove most interesting in the second issue. A flawed but driven leader, an ambitious newcomer, and the dangers of being frontiersmen prove most engaging. These elements along with the exciting final page will have you dying of anticipation until April.

Rating 4.5/5 Skulls.

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Comics

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

Published

5 days ago

on

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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