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Review: “The White Suits” # 2

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10 years ago

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Lethal and visceral “The White Suits” feels like a whisky soaked love letter to violent international crime movies. The pages flow with a certain strangeness that Toby Cypress seems to revel in. His style is all over the book. The use of loose paneling and fast scratchy coloring compliments Frank Barbiere’s fever dream of a narrative. It all comes together to create an engaging momentum that still doesn’t concern itself with making too much sense.


WRITTEN BY: Frank J Barbiere
ART BY: Toby Cypress
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: February 19th, 2014

Prizrak has clearly seen some shit. The White Suits have torn through his psyche, and surely he was once one of them. What our plucky FBI Agent, Sarah, hopes to get from him is anyone’s guess. Yet, the two push forward to take on the unstoppable force that is The White Suits.

The disjointed narrative and art style lend to the Prizrak’s plight. If that seems like a negative, it’s totally not. This is a book that seems to plunge itself into the depths of a broken man against insurmountable odds, who fears what he may have been. The mythical White Suits cut through the pages just like they do their enemies.

Cypress is a little more subdued than the debut issue. It helps to convey some forward momentum that the story needs. Outside of the action his wild style can rest on his fantastic character designs and helps the script push the exposition out while still remaining visually engaging.

The use of only black, white, and red really helps certain elements of his style pop. The darkness of this book speaks just as much as its white counterparts, and the hand drawn sound effects lend to a visceral and gritty feeling in the action scenes. There is something about the oblong character designs, with the long limbs, the extended angles and the hard backgrounds that is irresistible.

Things actually end up moving extremely quickly in the later half of the issue. Barbiere wastes no time attempting to payoff the plot points he sets up only pages ago, and he does so in a pulse pounding race to the final page. When you finally get to the end, you’ll feel like you hit a wall and were forced to stop dead. You’ll want to keep flipping but there is no more fun to be had this month.

There really isn’t anything quite like “The White Suits” out there today. It is wholly unique and reading it provides a dynamically different experience than most comics. It’s wild, sketchy, and completely untethered. Yet, its moved along with brisk dialogue and larger than life criminal violence that never lets you catch your breath. You’ll still be trying to piece it all together by the time the last page hits but the mysteries brought on by the bigger picture should have you coming back next month.

Rating: 4/5 Skulls

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

Published

1 day 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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