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[Comic Review] “Imperium” #5 Messes With Your Mind

Published

9 years ago

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Reviewed by Brady Steele. The war has begun and one side didn’t even know it. Imperium #5 kicks off the promised Resource War from the end of last month in fine mess-with-your-mind fashion. Toya Harada’s team of monsters is all but assembled to begin pushing the world towards the future their leader envisions. Let the impending Utopia begin now.

STK672403

WRITTEN BY: Joshua Dysart

ART BY: Scot Eaton

PUBLISHER: Valiant Entertainment

PRICE: $3.99

RELEASE: 3 June 2015

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Professor X, The Vision, an Alien/Predator hybrid, Marv from Sin City and an other-dimensionally possessed amoral scientist walk into a bar…yeah, me neither. Writer Joshua Dysart has genuinely made something remarkable here inImperium. He has put together a book in the tradition of Suicide Squad where virtually none of the main players want to be there. In fact, most of them want to kill their leader, Harada. This precarious combination makes for a great place for unpredictable storytelling.

One of the many clever things writer Dysart accomplishes this month is set up a heist in the middle of geo-political power struggle. At first, it appears paranoia has set into Harada’s opponent, Director Kozol’s mindset. He’s constantly checking security on his submersible fortress: both physical defenses and psionic ones too.

Kozol is CEO of Rising Spirit, the superhuman making company that also now has a cold fusion reactor. He knows this makes him prime target #1 for Harada and his minions. The best part is… he’s not wrong but literally no one can see them coming. Just like the readers themselves, no one really knows what’s happening until midway through this issue! It’s genuine brilliance to behold.

The second half, like all good caper films, shows off just how they pulled it off. The only thing that takes away from the story is the art by Scot Eaton. There’s nothing wrong with his work. He’s a very capable artist in the traditional sense and approach to comic book storytelling. However, it lacks the menace; the grit and the eeriness that helped establish how atypical this book is. Hopefully it steps up next month. This story is so refreshingly original I look forward to seeing what happens next. You should too so keep reading.

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Mr. Steele enjoys all things comics and imagination-based. Using his lifetime of comic-fu-dom for good, he imparts his knowledge for the universe to enjoy and for you, dear readers, to pass it on.

Twitter: @mrbradysteele

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Comics

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

Published

2 days ago

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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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