Witchblade #179

By Ron Marz, Laura Braga & Betsy Gonia

Ron Marz’s Witchblade has been amazing since he’s returned to the title and it’s great to see that #179 is no exception, with a relative standalone issue that takes Rooney and Pezzini away from the city into the countryside to investigate a gruesome murder of animals. It’s a relatively simple standalone that works, and Marz, Braga and Gonia pull it off pretty well.

The book itself has plenty of character building scenes between Rooney and Pezzini—which all work very well—although long-term readers will no doubt be well aware of what these characters are capable of it was good to see them working together on a case like this, which was a refreshing break from the previous issues and even though the story may not be overly complex, it works, with a neat twist at the end that furthers the ongoing narrative.

Laura Braga’s artwork continues to be amazing, but if you’ve been read. With Betsy Gonia’s colours, the atmospheric night setting is handled very well and the effective ‘monster of the week’ storyline looks pretty good, with the execution of the only major fight scene in this issue being pulled off well, even if the main attention was on character interactions that we got to see over the course of this book.

There isn’t much  advancement in the ongoing arc this month, meaning that if you’ve been wanting to check out Witchblade then you probably could with this issue, and understand what’s happening pretty well indeed. Most of the recent issues have been fairly handy jumping-on points, especially with the recaps provided at the beginning, so if you’re not already reading Witchblade then you really should consider jumping on with this issue. There are a few tantalizing details dropped towards the end of where we might be headed, and we get the feeling that things are really about to kick off, with a very interesting finale page that certainly has this reviewer interested in finding out what’s going to happen next indeed.

Witchblade is probably the best book that you’re not reading, and don’t let the massive number count put you off. Although there is nothing new in this issue in terms of originality, with the way that it’s presented it doesn’t really matter, with it being a pretty good read in term of quality. If you’re looking for a good comic with some awesome female lead characters then this is one of the best ones out there, and once again, the fantastic creative team of Marz, Braga and Gonia haven’t disappointed.