Comics

Review: ‘The Crow: Curare’ #3

Published

11 years ago

October 25, 2013

As the mystery comes to a riveting conclusion, “The Crow: Curare” #3 ends with a gripping cat and mouse game between an ex-cop and a child killer. A terrific combination of police procedural and horror, the pulse-pounding suspense is undeniably gripping. With its finale, “The Crow” series continues to say so much about its universal themes of grief and redemption.

WRITTEN BY: James O’ Barr
ART BY: Antoine Dode
PUBLISHER: IDW Publishing
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: Oct. 23, 2013

Since the ’70s, Detective Joe Salk has become obsessed with solving the murder of an innocent little girl. Even after handing over his badge and gun, Salk continues to prowl the crime-infested streets of Detroit for the elusive child-killer. Salk believes there is a small chance he will find that important clue he missed before. The crow, the spirit guide, has given him a second chance at the investigation and brought him Carrie to assist him. Salk wants make things right for the dead little girl and catch this child-killer before he strikes again.

Writer James O’ Barr drives the hard-edged crime tale with such a fast and suspenseful pace. Always keeping the narrative from Detective Salk’s point-of-view, the readers discover the missing clues as he does. We find out how the child-killer became the way he is at the same time as Salk. As the investigation continues, the child-killer, who was always in the background in previous installments, becomes even more dangerous as we uncover his previous crimes. Though Salk has gotten old and fat over the years, the child-killer has become tougher and harder after remaining uncaught.

Because she has never grown up, Carrie is an echo of her true self, trapped forever in the body of a little girl. Salk talks to Carrie as if she were a real little girl, instead of a ghost. After realizing a fellow police officer kept something hidden over the years, Salk and Carrie end up in the hospital. While Salk is interrogating his suspect, Carrie is wandering the hallways, laughing with the sick and wounded. The sick patients that Carrie is speaking to are the same ones the crow will take to the afterlife.

In his sketchy artwork, Antoine Dode keeps up with the suspenseful pace as Salk jumps into his beat-up car, driving from one location to the next. Given a second chance at life, Salk always has this serious and mean look on his face, as if he’s back to being the cop he was supposed to be. When Carrie describes her childhood, Dode portrays the cartoony imagery from the child’s naïve state of mind. Carrie thinks of a smiling sun and hearts when she describes a mother she barely knew.

My favorite part scene is when Salk enters the child-killer’s house. Dode lets readers inside the mind of a monster. The walls are spray-painted with words that hold significance to the child-killer. The chilling images get even more twisted as Salk discovers what the murderer does to the bones of the dead children.

“The Crow: Curare” #3 ends on a highly satisfactory note. Creator James O’ Barr brings something new to “The Crow” series and hopefully that direction will continue. If you’re a huge fan of police thrillers such as “The Killing,” you’re going to enjoy every bit of “The Crow: Curare” min-series.

4/5 Skulls

Reviewed by – Jorge Solis

Lonnie Nadler

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Comics

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

Published

7 days ago

April 18, 2024

Meagan Navarro

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.