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WARNING: This review contains spoilers. If you’re going to read the story arc, read my review of Witchblade 125 and go pick up the series yourself! If you don’t mind being spoiled, continue on ahead.

Witchblade 126 starts to explain a bunch of the questions that began in Witchblade 125. Why does the Angelus force want to kill Sara? Who is the mysterious guy who seems to be connected to the Darkness, and to Sara? As it turns out, when the Witchblade spit, it had to split along the same axis it was created to balance: darkness and light. Sara in issue 126 reveals just how far toward the Darkness she has fallen, while Dani realizes she has to take the Witchblade away from Sara for balance to be restored (and so that Sara doesn’t destroy herself and everyone she cares about).

Of course, the mysterious man convinces Sara that she needs to recover the Witchblade for herself. The stage has been set for the story arc “War of the Witchblades” to start reflecting its title.

This issue feels much shorter, possibly because it didn’t have that short story afterwards to further introduce Gleason. Dani, Finch, and Gleason all come through more clearly as characters with fears, desires, and concerns, and the old Chinese sage (presumably Chinese and presumably a sage — his background isn’t mentioned here) gives both Dani and the readers a clearer idea of what’s going on. The Angelus is indeed interested in Finch, but possibly only because Dani now wields the light side of the Witchblade. Or possibly because the Angelus force thinks Finch will make a good host, which is what I’m pulling for. Sara had a kid with the host of Darkness, after all — it would be balance for the Angelus host to have a crush on Dani!

There are more large panels in this issue, emphasizing Sejic’s colors and hyperrealistic style, which remains one of the draws of this book for folks who haven’t read Witchblade before. In this issue, some of his more Final Fantasy feeling images have the same problem as the Final Fantasy movies — occasionally, the characters are so flawless that they look almost plastic. For the most part, though, the art is excellent, and dark, bitchy Sara comes through incredibly clearly. Her change is obvious from the moment she appears in the issue. Marz weaves the exposition in seamlessly — it comes out through dialog in a natural way, giving readers a clue into what’s transpiring without feeling like we’re being handed the plot. If I have one complaint, it’s that Sara was so much more sympathetic in the previous issue, and the jump to Sara-the-darkness-oriented-bitch is a little fast. It sounds like that change has been building before this storyline, however, and long time readers won’t feel as jolted by the character change. Overall, I’m looking forward to the next issue, and I’m curious how the status-quo will change: will Sara lose the Witchblade forever? Or will there be some way to restore her to her balanced state?

Review by Alana Abbott

Tags | top cow, witchblade