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The Complete Witchblade Volume 1

The Complete Witchblade Volume 1

  • Downloads：2907
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-05-14 10:56:00
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Warren Ellis
  • ISBN：1534316450
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

This first collection of the bestselling series created by MARC SILVESTRI， DAVID WOHL， BRIAN HABERLIN， and MICHAEL TURNER equips streetwise cop Sara Pezzini with the mysterious Witchblade， a weapon of prehistoric origin and untold power。 As the artifact's bearer， Sara goes toe to toe with a Machiavellian industrialist， supernatural serial killers， and far worse， as the supernatural underworld of New York alters the course of her destiny forever。
Gorgeously rendered and painstakingly assembled as the first in a series of absolute collected editions。
Collects WITCHBLADE #1-19， THE DARKNESS #9 & 10， TALES OF THE WITCHBLADE #1/2 & 3

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Reviews

Terrafied ，

I've a stack of Witchblade issues from years ago。 I never read the origin issues and I wanted to have compendiums instead of loose single issues。 It was a fun time 。 I've a stack of Witchblade issues from years ago。 I never read the origin issues and I wanted to have compendiums instead of loose single issues。 It was a fun time 。 。。。more

OmniBen ，

（Zero spoiler review）Whilst I never do spoilers， I can safely say， I cannot spoil this book， as I have exactly no idea what the hell is going on here。 This is the least complex， yet most puzzling story I think I've ever read， yet I still find myself somewhat drawn to it， and not getting anywhere near as frustrated or downright pissed as I would be of other titles that were similarly obtuse or hard to follow。 There are a few reasons for this。 The panel layouts， especially in the earlier issues， a （Zero spoiler review）Whilst I never do spoilers， I can safely say， I cannot spoil this book， as I have exactly no idea what the hell is going on here。 This is the least complex， yet most puzzling story I think I've ever read， yet I still find myself somewhat drawn to it， and not getting anywhere near as frustrated or downright pissed as I would be of other titles that were similarly obtuse or hard to follow。 There are a few reasons for this。 The panel layouts， especially in the earlier issues， are very poorly done。 I can't say if this is a staple of nineties comics or not， as I've yet to read many of them， but the text is spread haphazardly all over the page， making it most difficult to follow。 Whilst the somewhat ambitious layout choices can look cool from time to time， it dos the story no favours。 The writers also grossly overuse the-- cut off method of speech。 So many conversations are continually cut shotr， with dialogue often not flowing from one person to the next anywhere near as effortlessly as a good storyteller should aim for。 Also， the multiple points of narration， with the characters speech， the character inner monologue， the narrator and the Witchblade itself all communicating with the reader。 It gets terribly chaotic and confusing at times。 I was continually reading on， absorbing the information， although continuously having to stop and wonder to myself， what in gods name is going on。 Sure， its not always so vague， and I'm no dummy now， but it was a major stumbling block towards enjoyment。 Not only this， but multiple characters blend together and， adding to the muddled storytelling， makes keeping track of different similar characters additionally hard。 I do enjoy the overly wordy nature of the book at times。 When all things are firing well enough， it can make for an engrossing few moments， although it unfortunately won't last long。 I could dissect the writing of this book further， although I will leave it there for now。 It was a frustrating and puzzling read， although there was certainly a lot of interesting story occurring within the pages， if only a more focused， talented storyteller could bring it out。The art， which I feel is the main reason why the title initially garnered such a popular following。 Despite the relative consistency of artists throughout the book， the quality can vary considerably， even within individual issues。 As well as this， some of the scans are horrifically done， and made certain pages look unappealing and amateurish。 Obviously， not every panel can be front cover quality， although sometimes the quality can degrade to such an extent to make it additionally noticeable， and a bit jarring。 Some of this art is drop dead gorgeous， and I'm not just referring to the hyper unrealism of the female and many of the male protagonists （of which I enjoy and have zero problem with）。 Its half the charm of the title in fact。 That being said， there appeared to be a scaling down of this throughout the run of the book。 Whether this was intentional or subliminal I couldn't say， although it was something of a detractor as the run continued。 If I had no idea what on earth was occurring in the story， at least there would be a fetching lady to look at。 The intertwining of the different books （Witchblade， Tale of the Witchblade and The Darkness） left me a little perplexed as well。 Having not read any of these stories before， I can't say whether or not the editor did the best they could or not， but there certainly seemed to be a few holes and inconsistencies in the story， that left me scratching my head， yet again。 Of course， It could have been my issues with following， though it did seem to be a little more deep rooted than that。 All in all， my enjoyment of the book mostly surpassed the issues I've mentioned here。 This is certainly a flawed collection of stories， but the frequently stellar artwork and scantily clad ladies （what can I say）？ keeps this title from the lower score it may have deserved。 Here's hoping these problems get ironed out in the second collection which is being released in the next few weeks。 3/5。OmniBen。 。。。more

Annette Petersen ，

I loved the artwork。 The sexism and stereotypes were tedious but I realise they were a product of their time。The stories were pretty good too。

Edward Davies ，

The artwork has aged well， though I wasn’t a fan of the order the comics were in。

Brian ，

This is。。。。really， really 90s。 Antiheroes and "gritty" subject matter depicted seemingly just to show you how "mature" the comic is might have worked in 1996， bit in 2021 it feels very edgelord。 Similarly， the captions often feel cramped and hard to said，There has doubtless been tons of ink spilled elsewhere about its problematic representation of men as musclebound supermen and women as willowy waifs with waists the size of saplings and breasts the size of basketballs， so I won't add to it， but This is。。。。really， really 90s。 Antiheroes and "gritty" subject matter depicted seemingly just to show you how "mature" the comic is might have worked in 1996， bit in 2021 it feels very edgelord。 Similarly， the captions often feel cramped and hard to said，There has doubtless been tons of ink spilled elsewhere about its problematic representation of men as musclebound supermen and women as willowy waifs with waists the size of saplings and breasts the size of basketballs， so I won't add to it， but know that it's true， however much you happen to personally care。That said， the worldbuilding is pretty good， the colors are vibrant and beautiful， and the story， while a bit convoluted and silly， was interesting enough。 I didn't dislike it at all， I just feel that it is very much a product of its time and the medium has developed past it。 I'm sure it's got its devotees and I'm not here to say they're wrong， just that I doubt I will ever count myself among them。 。。。more

GreenScreenGrin ，

Witchblade was a title I remember from my teen years， but I mostly remember Michael Turner’s art， which is why I wanted to read this。 I would say this story， and its art， are products of their time， and doesn’t age so well in 2020。 Everything is over the top and sexy， and the writing itself is quite shallow。 Still， I found this book to be entertaining， and let’s face it — this book is marketed for the nostalgia factor。

Jan Geerling ，

Another teen memory from the 90’s。 The artwork is as fancy as I remember。 The story is not up to much。 A bit shallow， but still a fun read。

FrontalNerdaty ，

I remember picking up random issues of Witchblade when I was younger and thinking it was bad ass。 It had hot chicks， buff guys and a ton of action！ 11 year old me was in my element。。。By 2020？ It’s a tougher read for a few reasons。 Image in the 90s was a hot bed of trying to break the norm and embracing aspects that the ‘main two’ wouldn’t。 Witchblade is sort of the epitome of this。 Sara Pezzini is the hero of this tale。 She’s a police officer come super powered being and the stories attempt to w I remember picking up random issues of Witchblade when I was younger and thinking it was bad ass。 It had hot chicks， buff guys and a ton of action！ 11 year old me was in my element。。。By 2020？ It’s a tougher read for a few reasons。 Image in the 90s was a hot bed of trying to break the norm and embracing aspects that the ‘main two’ wouldn’t。 Witchblade is sort of the epitome of this。 Sara Pezzini is the hero of this tale。 She’s a police officer come super powered being and the stories attempt to wove in her work with plots about Yakuza， mob bosses and under age modelling。 It’s。。。 a lot。 The stories are decent enough but are hampered by a lot of interior monologuing from characters， and not always just Sara。 The plots either move at break neck speed or terribly slow with no one style winning out。 The art is both the highlight and downfall of this tome。 Turner is known for his style and here it’s on full display。 Sara is thin with large breasts， a tight butt and plumped lips。 This is the main way all the women （and worryingly an under 18 girl all too often） are drawn and the men are nearly all drawn laughably muscular with long hair。 This is the most 90s thing about the comic。 For the time I see why Witchblade was immensely popular and why it’s remained celebrated。 In a more modern context？ It’s sort of bad。 But if you embrace it and enjoy it for what it offers and not what it lacks there’s lots to enjoy。 。。。more

Paul Allard ，

Excellent reminder of Image’s early accomplishmentsThis complete comic collection of Witchblade， some Tales of the Witchblade and the crossover with the Darkness showcases the talent of the artists， Michael Turner， Marc Silverstein and others。 If you want voluptuous barely-clad women and hugely handsome men， this is for you。 The story， to some extent， is secondary but still interesting。 Very enjoyable and entertaining。

Louis Corsair ，

It took a long time to finish this。 It has a ton of 90s cliches and dialogue that can only be found in comics of that era。 But it’s likable in it’s own way。 The Family Ties crossover was pretty cool and a good way to end this collection。

Alan D。D。 ，

Aunque hubo momentos en que ni el guión ni el arte me convencieron （es un producto de su tiempo， definitivamente）， la mitología parece atractiva， te mantiene interesado en la historia y hay varios momentos en que realmente disfruté de la lectura。 Sin embargo， no puedo dejar de lado el hecho de que los últimos capítulos fueron confusos y que hubo exceso de "spreads" de dos páginas。 Aunque no es una mala lectura， se queda un poco corta para la época actual。Although there were times when neither th Aunque hubo momentos en que ni el guión ni el arte me convencieron （es un producto de su tiempo， definitivamente）， la mitología parece atractiva， te mantiene interesado en la historia y hay varios momentos en que realmente disfruté de la lectura。 Sin embargo， no puedo dejar de lado el hecho de que los últimos capítulos fueron confusos y que hubo exceso de "spreads" de dos páginas。 Aunque no es una mala lectura， se queda un poco corta para la época actual。Although there were times when neither the script nor the art convinced me （it's a product of its time， definitely，） the mythology seems engaging， it keeps you interested in the story， and there are several times when I really enjoyed the reading。 However， I can't ignore the fact that the last few chapters were confusing and that there were excess of two-page spreads。 Although it's not a bad reading， it falls a bit short for current times。 。。。more

J Earl ，

The Complete Witchblade Volume 1 collects several of the early volumes of the series and related series。 As such， it is as much for collecting as reading。It is not only disingenuous to criticize the work for "being dated" or for showcasing an artist's early growth， it shows a complete lack of self-esteem that you feel the need to try （and fail miserably） to demonstrate your intelligence by making asinine statements。 If you don't like or can't appreciate artwork from the period， then don't read i The Complete Witchblade Volume 1 collects several of the early volumes of the series and related series。 As such， it is as much for collecting as reading。It is not only disingenuous to criticize the work for "being dated" or for showcasing an artist's early growth， it shows a complete lack of self-esteem that you feel the need to try （and fail miserably） to demonstrate your intelligence by making asinine statements。 If you don't like or can't appreciate artwork from the period， then don't read it。 It was done then， not now。 Just pretend you know how to think。Anyway， as I mention above， this is not 2020 art trying to look like 1990s art， this is the original artwork。 If it really bothers you then you may want to avoid it。 If you like the history of comics and graphic novels and appreciate what came before and helped to give us what we have today， you will likely enjoy this。 In other words， if you buy a Beatles album and complain because they don't make music that sounds like 2020， you'll dislike this， if you buy a Beatles album and think about how what they did helped lead to what you like in 2020， you'll like the book。Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via Edelweiss。 。。。more

Chad ，

Yikes， this started off really badly。 But you'd be surprised what you'll find yourself reading during a global pandemic。 I thought this thing might be saved by Michael Turner's art （This is where Turner got his start back in 1995。）， but even that was bad to begin with。 The women have gigantic boobs and stomachs three times as long as they should be。 All the women also must borrow their clothes from their younger sisters because they are at least 4 sizes too small。 The panel layouts are excruciat Yikes， this started off really badly。 But you'd be surprised what you'll find yourself reading during a global pandemic。 I thought this thing might be saved by Michael Turner's art （This is where Turner got his start back in 1995。）， but even that was bad to begin with。 The women have gigantic boobs and stomachs three times as long as they should be。 All the women also must borrow their clothes from their younger sisters because they are at least 4 sizes too small。 The panel layouts are excruciatingly bad with text boxes randomly placed all over the page。 I was constantly confused where to go next。 There's a ton of 2 page spreads both horizontal and vertical。 I'm guessing so Turner could keep up with the book。 These made the book real fun to read digitally。 Try reading a 2 page vertical spread on an ipad。 It's always off by 90 degrees so you find yourself tilting your head to the left to try and read it。 The art itself is so static。 Every shot is posed。 There's never a sense of action。 For a comic book， that's a problem。Turner's art really kicks it up a notch around issue 10。 He's started to develop the style he's known for。 His anatomy has gotten better， although he's still drawing unnaturally large boobs。 But comics， especially Image comics in the 90's， were all like this。 The storytelling has gotten better as well。 The panel layouts flow better although he's still too reliant on two page vertical layouts。 Whoever thought those were a good idea should be keelhauled。 Textbox placement at least makes logical sense now， so I know what order to read them in。Editorially， there's some odd things about this book。 The book includes Tales of the Witchblade #½， 1-3。 The 3rd issue is the first issue of a longer story though。 Instead of including it all together here， you only get the first part。 It may be a deceiving marketing trick。 That one issue is written by Warren Ellis and I've seen his name listed first in the solicitations for this book， even though he only wrote 20 pages outs of 600+。 For a big omnibus collection like this， there are surprisingly few extras， just 4 alternate covers。 There's at least 50 blank pages in this book so that they could maintain all the 2 page layouts in the issues。 I'm sure they could have easily filled those pages with extras and not just some swirling color like they did。Even though this started out very poorly， the stories at the end were more compelling and I will probably check out the next collection in November。Received a review copy from Image and Edelweiss。 All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned。 。。。more

Theediscerning ，

Taking this as evidence， comics back in the mid-90s were quite messy – people were trying hard to get images in funky， non-gridlike arrangements， and therefore captions and bubbles were all over the shop。 Seriously， many of these pages you'll find it impossible to know which order to read things in。 The messiness also shows itself in text coming from three sources on the same page， the omniscient narrator， the lead character and more all getting their part of the over-lapping mess of script。 But Taking this as evidence， comics back in the mid-90s were quite messy – people were trying hard to get images in funky， non-gridlike arrangements， and therefore captions and bubbles were all over the shop。 Seriously， many of these pages you'll find it impossible to know which order to read things in。 The messiness also shows itself in text coming from three sources on the same page， the omniscient narrator， the lead character and more all getting their part of the over-lapping mess of script。 But never mind， if you like a comic with all those flaws you want all of it – no？ Well， here's a whole hunka book， providing you with hours of messiness。 Here's the woman cop， and the baddy with the stupidly powered sidekick （if he's that powered， why is he on the side？？） with the alien glovey thing， and here's the origin story of how the woman and the glovey thing met。Read here in 2020 it's not aged well。 All the blokes are boring as hell， the story loses a lot of oomph through too much internal monologuing， and it just seems to have tried too hard （at everything）。 But I – kinda like the publishers – expect you to know what you're getting， and be in need of it all。 So what do we get in these pages？ Well， not 600pp of action – a heck of a lot of it is the blank gaps that replaced the single-issue advert pages， and that pad this out to make sure the double-page spreads， formatted vertically or horizontally， land right。 （And boy， don't those spreads make this bloody annoying to read digitally。） But we do get the first 19 issues， peppered with the first few 'Tales of the Witchblade' episodes， and ending with the 'Family Ties' four-parter， which brings in bits from the Darkness spin-off， and takes this lump up to the close of 1997。 And that's it – a dedicated credits sequence， and a surprisingly small variant cover gallery to close， and nothing else that at all makes this a de luxe edition。 This instead relies on your urge to get a heck of a lot of vanilla in one large dose， with the possibility of about nine more of the things。I won't be back for more – the mash-up of police procedural， with added glamorisation of the mob， yakuza et al， and alien superpoweredness was too ungainly。 But it's a thing， and these books are fine ways to experience it。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Complete Witchblade Volume 1

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Complete Witchblade Volume 1&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Complete Witchblade Volume 1&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0