This is Artifacts where I will be exploring the Artifacts line of TopCow Productions. This first batch of readings will be dealing with the beginnings of the nascent universe. For the next couple of weeks, we’ll be shifting focus away from the two main series and instead looking at their “Tales of ….” spinoffs. The potential for a in universe justification for this kind of spinoff was apparent with “Witchblade” #9 that featured a somewhat perplexing daydream of that time when Anne Bonny wielded with Witchblade on the high seas. The initial “Tales of the Witchblade” would run 10 issues (#1/2-9), published between 1996 and 2001. “Tales of the Witchblade” #1, also featuring a tale of Anne Bonny, was released November 1996 two months after Bonny made her cameo in “Witchblade” #9. In total the series would an anthology series of various Witchblade wielders mostly composed of one shots with a pair of two and three issue stories thrown in. A collection of the series is out of print, if it ever existed in the first place, but “Tales of the Wtichblade” is currently being reprinted in the “Complete Witchblade” collections. (Volume 1 contains #1/2-3, Volume 2 #4-8 – I’m not sure why they didn’t include #9 in this collection since it finishes off the ‘Raquel’ story). This week we will be looking at “Tales of the Witchblade” #1/2-2. Issues #3-4 form a two-part story and it would be better to group that with the next batch.
This initial batch of “Tales of the Witchblade” is part of the reason why I’m fascinated by this Artifacts line. They offer an experimental space akin to “Grendel Tales” for that franchise where by way of history you are able to abstract out and show how the Witchblade would interact in different generic aesthetics. Issue #1 is pirate adventure. The second issue is a medieval fantasy. The ½ issue published in Wizard Magazine is a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk story. I say aesthetic because their plotting and narrative structure is largely the same with the discovery and commune with the Witchblade. These recurring narrative elements help to define what is Witchblade-esque across the variety of reference points. Within this variety of aesthetics is also a shifting art team. Billy Tan goes from inking issue #1 to co-penciling and co-inking #2 with David Finch. The credits in these issues are by no means clean with multiple story by credits and writing credits often shared between consistent writer Christina Z and normally the penciler, but that’s also a byproduct of both the time and the collaborative nature of comics. I wouldn’t say any of these single issues are great. The most successful overall is #1/2 by Z and Nathan Cabrera who are constrained to produce a twelve pager that would fit in a “Megazine”. It’s interesting that that is the issue where that eras wielder is not the focus and most macguffin made flesh to a certain degree. But even if these issues don’t achieve greatness in their 22 pages, they’re good enough (with some trepidation) that evoke the imaginative potential of comics and Superhero comics in general. Anything can be a superhero story from a certain point of view.
“Tales of the Witchblade” is the story of how Anne Bonny became to possess the Witchblade, making it a prequel to “Witchblade” #9. While it continues some aesthetic trademarks of the franchise I don’t care for, the male gaze cheesecake is just boring and soooo not my jam, Z and penciler Tony Daniel do a first for the franchise: physical humor! As Jack and Bonny’s crew search the island for the mysterious treasure the living island slowly consumes their crew in a series of darkly humorous kills. As they slash through the jungle, suddenly, a carnivorous plant ensnares one of them and spits out their heart! The moment is not overtly played for laughs. The sudden shift to jagged borders and angular panels, a rupturing of the contained square/rectangular design reinforces the sudden and horrifying act of being eaten alive. The humor from that kill is developed use of onomatopoeia, emphasizing he plant burping as it spits out the heart. That kill took up two pages, the following kills are one-page affairs – often one to two panels – whose brevity is their humor. The decision to keep the comic in the POV of Anne Bonny does a good job of limiting the readers own perspective and more effectively play up the idea that the Island is alive and out to get them.
Continued belowAlso, of note in this issue is the transformation sequence once Anne puts the gauntlet on. Does it feature a spine breaking impossible pinup? Yes. The page as whole though plays the sequence as Magical Girl-esque with an emphasis on Anne/the page spinning like Sailor Moon or Linda Carter.
If you want more Anne Bonny comics go check out “A Man Among Ye” written by Stephanie Philips with various artists.
The second “Tales of the Witchblade” has lots of unfulfilled promise. Set in the Kingdom of Sicily, 1213 AD “Witchblade” tells the story of Annabella Altavista. We go from a pirate adventure to a medieval fantasy … with the sudden appearance of a demon. A lot honestly happens in this issue and yet it has a choppy flow to it. Annabella is staying with an order of monks who protect and prey to the Hand of God, unknowingly the Witchblade. This setup initially hade me curious, perhaps it could go in a meditation of patriarchy and misogynies fear of not so much “losing” power but even sharing it akin to Benedetta. That did not happen because pages after learning Annabella is 18, she is sexually assaulted by one of the monks who then flees to the neighboring Swamians! What just happened is not really meditated on. Annabella’s feelings are not really considered, as the issue must move quickly into the back half action sequence of defending the monastery, which involves the sudden appearance of a Demon (ok it could actually be one of the WildStorm aliens but I’m not certain.) A job that comes down to Annabella after she takes control of the Witchblade.
While “Witchblade” has tended to at least recognize all the ways in which patriarchy seeks to control and demand women’s bodies, throwing in a one-page assault scene for plot purposes is tacky. And then to brush the aftereffects of side even worse. There is some dark comedy in the stupidity of the monks who act with Einstein’s definition of insanity as they take turns putting on the Witchblade, only to lose an arm and bleed to death like their brother in front of them.
The only upside to this issue is that David Finch’s artwork is plainly really good. Tony Daniel’s pencils and overall shapes in the previous issue where very round and cartooned. Finch’s work is cartooned but in a different way with his aggressive and sharp lines that make everything gritty. The coloring on the cover by Finch and Banning by JD Smith is also worth recognizing. The overall composition is kind of standard with Annabella in an action pose on a horse, but Smith gets the color banding of that eras digital coloring to really work with this warm purple-orange background color that makes everything pop and not appear so horrendously gritty.
The #1/2 issue of “Tales” is the shortest but also maybe the most successful of this batch of issues. This strip could have easily been in an anthology like the Judge Dredd themed “Megazine” where most strips are 10 pages. With that kind of budget, it forces writer Christina Z and writer-artist Nathan Cabrera to compose efficiently and not aim too high. The previous issues have all gone big and to their detriment in the case of #2. The plot of this strip is explained by the top of the second page. Tommi-X9 is a bounty hunter in a cyberpunk-post-apocalyptic era and is contracted to retrieve the daughter of Gourge, Persephani. Once they find the Persephani plans go awry and the Witchblade gets involved. This being a 12-page script they do have to yada yada a few things like Tommi-X9 intuiting that the mysterious mass that the Witchblade has transformed into is a gauntlet that wants Persephani to wear them, but it otherwise hangs together well.
If you’ve read my 2000 AD coverage in the digital pages of Multiver-City One you’d know I am very much against the use of double page splashes in this context. It just eats up too much of the page budget. The double page splash before the finale page at least compositionally works because it could’ve been done as two single pages but works as two pages.
While the plot is straightforward, the character work that is realized through Cabrera and Victor Llamas linework gives the strip something the previous ones lacked, friendship. Persephani is the weilder of the Witchblade in this strip, but she isn’t the POV, Tommi-X9 is. While their page time together is relatively brief it is all in service of that final page where they found a partnership together to use this newfound power to build a better world out of the ashes of the old world. While this promise is deferred to a never produced continuation, it’s an image of hope and promise of more that is different from the previous issues promise. This newfound promise is also built on artwork that does not perpetuate the cheesecake bs that dominates this franchise. Cabera’s figure work is cartoonish they are not bifurcating and isolating the female form for explicitly and tired sexualization. Tommi-X9 and Persephani are allowed to simply be.
Next week we look at “Tales of the Darkness” with all five issues of that miniseries featuring tales of the Darkness as warlord of space and quasi-medieval times.
