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Review: “Trees” #3

Published

10 years ago

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Instead of a worldwide mystery to unravel, “Trees” #3 follows Eligia as she pursues the enigmatic Professor Bongiorno with a brief cutaway to the young artist Chenglei from issue #1.  The scope of this issue is so drastically different from the previous two I had to read it twice to make sure I hadn’t missed any pages.  However, I enjoyed this character-centric issue a great deal.

trees_03

WRITTEN BY: Warren Ellis
ART BY: Jason Howard
PUBLISHER: Image
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: July 23, 2014

Reviewed by Epic Switzer

The best thing about slowing the pace in this issue is that my attention was drawn to Jason Howard’s fantastic art.  Last month I wrote about his detailed character work and kinetic figure drawing and this issue really puts the focus on his talent.  I tend to focus on the narrative qualities of a book and there are not many I read specifically for the art, but in this case, “Trees” has me completely hooked on Howard’s work.

I was pretty taken aback by the brakes being thrown on this issue and it led me to think a lot about story structure and audience expectations.  At first I was disappointed; this issue wasn’t at all what I expected from this series, despite only being three issues in.  But on second thought, I don’t know Warren Ellis’s grand design.  I don’t know how he has structured this story or the benefit of slowly things down at this point in the narrative.  I have to assume it will all come together and read as a well paced arc, so I am reconsidering how turned off I was initially.  After all, subverting expectations is a lot of the fun in storytelling.  Never the less this issue was missing a great deal of what I initially loved about “Trees”.

For me this issue really reads as a call to action for Eligia, who seems to have met her Yoda in Professor Bongiorno.  I look forward greatly to whatever it is that he is training her for, but I also have to assume the resolution to this plot line will be quite a ways away.  There are half a dozen other plot lines that have been introduced and, up until this point, Eligia hasn’t necessarily been positioned as our protagonist or main character.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to see her in the spotlight, as long as it isn’t for too long.   The scripting and art continue to stand out in this series, so I look forward to seeing where things are going.  I just hope the tempo becomes consistent.

Epic Switzer AKA Eric is an aspiring filmmaker and screenplay writer living in Los Angeles.  His work tends to focus on the lighter side of entropy, dystopic futures, and man’s innate struggle with his own mortality.  He can be found on twitter @epicswitzer or reached via email at ericswitzerfilm@gmail.com. 

 

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Comics

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

Published

23 hours 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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