Comics
Review: George R.R. Martin’s ‘Skin Trade’ #2
With the monstrous success of Game of Thrones, author is George R.R. Martin is currently red hot. His books are flying off the shelves of book stores and Avatar Press was smart enough to scoop up the comic book rights to his gory werewolf novel. Using Martin’s prose novel “The Skin Trade” as the source material, Avatar has tasked writer Daniel Abraham and artist Mike Wolfer with adapting “Skin Trade” into sequential form.
WRITTEN BY:George R.R. Martin & Adapted by Daniel Abraham
ART BY: Mike Wolfer
PUBLISHER: Avatar Press
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: August 7th, 2013
The series follows private investigator Randi Wade as she digs deeper into a pair of murders that left victims brutally skinned alive. She quickly finds a connection to the case she’s investigating and the murder of her father, which leads her straight into the mouth of danger. Willie Flambeaux, an asthmatic sort of repo man, knew one of the victims and is out to bring the killer to justice. Flambeaux enlists the help of Wade and together they set out to solve this murder mystery. But Willie is holding onto some secrets he’s not telling Randi, which leads to him butting heads with the Harmons, a powerful family that hold enormous power within town.
Abraham and Wolfer are executing this book with deadly precision. They are taking the time to build the characters and bring things to a slow boil. The pacing of this book is perfect and they are revealing just enough to keep readers intrigued and salivating for more. We are slowly learning things about this world and the major players within it right with Randi Wade as she tries to decipher each piece of the puzzle. With each revelation comes more questions as they continue to build a great foundation of mystery and suspense.
In the past I’ve never been a huge fan of artist Mike Wolfer’s artwork, but here in “Skin Trade” he is turning in some of the best work of his career. He’s able to perfectly capture the intensity of the scenes, as well as the emotion of the characters in each carefully constructed panel. When Wolfer is finally unleashed, he delivers some fantastic action sequences and a brilliant stomach turning image of the murder victim’s skinned body in issue #2. In “Skin Trade”, Wolfer has really stepped up his game to pack the same potency as the story.
“Skin Trade” is another fantastic addition to the stable of Avatar Press horror books. There is the perfect balance of mystery, intrigue, suspense and character development. The only complaint is that this book might be better suited as a graphic novel, because the intricacies of the story would have more impact in one reading rather than the current monthly format.
4/5 Skulls
Comics
‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics
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.
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Cover A: Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto (Full Color)
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Cover B: Giuseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto (Full Color)
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Cover C: Blank Sketch Cover
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Cover D (1/10): Dani and Brad Simpson (Full Color)
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Cover E (1/25): Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto, Virgin Cover (Full Color)
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Cover F (1/50): J.Scott Campbell (Full Color)
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Cover G (1/100): Bill Sienkiewicz. (Full Color)
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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.
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