She's got it all. Brains. Beauty. And a mystical gauntlet that makes her one of the deadliest
women in comics. But take a closer look. Witchblade may have many of the trappings of
the rest, but comic book fans have quickly learned that the allure of Top Cow's resident
femme fatale cuts more than just skin-deep.
"Witchblade is more of a thinking book," offers Top Cow Editor-in-Chief David Wohl, co-
creator of the red-hot character with Top Cow founder Marc Silvestri. This is one title that isn't
turning out to be your normal babes with boobs and big guns excercise. Witchblade is the
story of Sara Pezzini, a cop gunned down by the mob and the inheritor of a mystical Witchblade
gauntlet. Sara's life has been anything but mundane, with the series' mix of mystery, conspiracy
and full-throttle action. And the lack of normalcy is what originally had Wohl shaking in his boots.
"We had never done a book where the art and the narrative complemented each other as much
as Witchblade did. People have to spend a lot of time reading this book and dealing with
character, and I was fearful that people would not want to look at a book like this. I'm pleasantly
surprised," says Wohl.
People are looking thanks in large part to the efforts of Witchblade co-writer Christina Z
(her last name is guarded secret at Top Cow), who claims to write from real life, rather than
comics.
"My intent from the beginning was always to make Witchblade a very realistic, very
human book," says Z. "We've all experienced weird and very real emotions and experiences in
our lives. For Witchblade to really work, Sara had to become an emotional confidante to
readers in a very real way," she says.
Wohl agrees, offering that the elements of uncertainty and doubt that permeate Sara's quest for
answers in Witchblade are a big part of the book's real world look. "There is no specific
mission or odyssey to guide her," he explains. "Sara is just this reluctant hero with a whole lot of
problems. If she has a mission, she doesn't have a clue as to what it is. She's been thrust into
this situation with the Witchblade attempting to control her. She's just trying to come to grips with
this power and then decide if and when to use it."
The origin of Sara and her unpredictable gauntlet began in 1995, when Silvestri and Top Cow
were prepping their Cyblade/Shi crossover. "We were looking for a female character to
go out in her own book and we felt Cyblade should stay in Cyberforce. But what we did
not want was a Bad Girl. What we wanted was a character who would function in a realistic
world, but who would also have the powers of a super-hero. We knew the market was getting
more sophisticated and we saw creating a character-driven book with a female character as a
risk worth taking."
Silvestri and company batted around many ideas and eventually came up with the idea of a
female cop and a tone not unlike the TV series "NYPD Blue." "Those early issues of
Witchblade were essentially a more mature look at police life--the interaction between the
characters around the police station and the types of crime they were involved in," offers Wohl.
After the mood was established, the idea of the Witchblade gauntlet was thrown onto the table.
"We said, 'Okay, what does the gauntlet do? Why is it out there? Why is it on her?' Things
started falling into place rather quickly," says Wohl.
Once Witchblade was given the green light at Top Cow, Wohl remembers that the
Witchblade creators took the high road during a series of plannings. "With a lot of books,
people try to think up things like origins, backgrounds and motivation after the book has already
been out there. We decided in our early meetings to get all that stuff out in the open right away.
When the time came to actually tell the story, we already knew how characters would react to
certain situations because we already had the nuts and bolts stuff figured out. The first eight
issues of Witchblade basically wrote themselves."
But not without a writing process that, according to Christina Z, skirted the time-honored tradition
of each member of a comic book team handling their own business and nobody else's.
"Since David and I are the co-writers, we usually come up with a lot of raw ideas on our own and
then get together, over a long dinner, and throw them around until we come up with a basic plot.
Then I'll go away and write the basic story in seven scenes, kind of like a screenplay, give it to
Mike [Turner, the series' penciler] for his input and then pass it back to David, who does a polish.
Then we'll show it to Mike again. I'm definitely more the emotional voice in Witchblade
and David is the more clinical. But the combination of both of us has, so far, resulted in a very
seamless style of storytelling."
Turner has a different take on the creative process. "We have our yelling matches and the 'No, I
want this!' and the 'No, I want that!" he admits. "But, in the end we grab the book, look at it, go
out and have a beer and say, 'Man! That turned out good!' "
Those yelling bouts must be getting more frequent, as Top Cow is working overtime to give fans
of Sara and the Witchblade more good stuff. Witchblade is already making inroads into
merchandising heaven. A 90-card sourcebook of information, written by Christina Z, is slated for
an October release. Also on the horizon is a Clayburn Moore statue. And Silvestri reports that "a
pretty big producer" has taken an option on Witchblade and is currently scouring the
market for a film or television deal.
In the meantime, the series' creative team is planning a whole new set of story arcs to tantalize
readers. Witchblade #9 gets the juices flowing when Sara goes toe-to-toe with the
infamous "Microwave Murderer." The tension will mount when we discover the shocking true
identity of the serial killer (Wohl hints that it is somebody readers are very familiar with), and the
Witchblade, for a reason that will eventually come to light, refuses to do battle with this nemesis.
Issue #10 finds Sara running into the Silvestri/Garth Ennis creation The Darkness. Additionally,
readers will be introduced to an old wielder of the Witchblade and learn the secrets surrounding
why only a female can wear the gauntlet. And if that isn't enough, Silvestri hints that the katana-
wielding Nottingham may not be quite dead.
Also on the Witchblade hot plate is a general breakdown of law and order among the
organized crime types following the disappearance of crime mogul Kenneth Irons. The following
story arc, beginning in issue #11, finds supporting character Lisa getting involved in the modeling
industry, going to wild parties and having some bad things happen to her which will impact on
Sara. Wohl offers that, by Witchblade #13, "Lisa will be a totally different person." And
finally, Jake the cop and Sara will begin to develop an intimate relationship that will dissolve
under the weight of a shocking surprise in that issue.
Surprises are par for the course in Witchblade, says Silvestri, who is reluctant to reveal
all the secrets in store for readers.
"But we're planting seeds," he assures. "Witchblade is a mystery book as well as an
action-adventure book. There are occasional red herrings and some real clues, but
Witchblade is a book of subtleties. And so people should be looking at things more
carefully."
