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[Interview] Garth Ennis Reveals The Origin Of The ‘Crossed’ Virus

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10 years ago

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This week marks the monumental 50th issue of “Crossed: Badlands” and the return of return of original writer/creator Garth Ennis to his demented world. To mark the occasion, Ennis is going back to where it all began to show how the “Crossed” virus was originally unleashed in the new story-arc “The Thin Red Line”.

Garth stepped into the line of fire to answer some questions from Bloody-Disgusting about the 50th issue, the story-arcs that stand out to him, and his long term plans for “Crossed” moving forward into 2015.

Bloody-Disgusting: Issue #50 is a landmark in today’s comic industry that very few titles make it to. What does the anniversary mean to you?

Garth Ennis: It’s that bit simpler for Crossed, remember, because we’d already established an audience before we set to work on the ongoing book. There was less of that sense of crossing your fingers and blindly trusting to luck, which I think has doomed far too many potentially interesting projects- Vertigo and Image in particular have launched dozens upon dozens of series without considering whether they might make better one-off graphic novels or miniseries. They don’t test the water first, and effectively consign the stories to oblivion- making writers, artists and readers alike the losers. Having multiple writers and a bi-weekly schedule makes reaching #50 that bit easier, of course.

BD: Looking back over the past issues of Crossed, are there any story-arcs that stand out to you as being a benchmark for the book?

GE: I’ve said this before, but I think Si Spurrier’s “Wish You Were Here” webcomic has fulfilled the potential of Crossed better than any other story. I like some Badlands arcs better than others, but they certainly make it easier for me to pop in now and again and do the stories I want to do without committing to an ongoing schedule. I’d probably single out the recent five-parter by Christos Gage and Christian Zanier as being the most ambitious.

BD: Do you have a trajectory plan for the next 50 issues? How long do you envision Crossed lasting?

GE: The individual arcs that make up Badlands are more William Christensen’s department, in terms of their creative teams and order in which they appear- I said from the start that I didn’t want to take on a particularly heavy editorial role. I’ve already finished my Crossed story for 2015, an eleven-part story called ‘Once A Warrior King’, which effectively finishes the trilogy made up by ‘The Fatal Englishman’ and this year’s ‘The Thin Red Line’. It’ll probably appear a little later in the year than March, and if all goes well it should lead into something very interesting indeed for when we hit the #100 mark. After that it’s hard to say. You may well see Crossed moving from comics into other media. Time will tell.

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Comics

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

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10 hours ago

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April 17, 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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