Alex Underwood is gaining some control of the Witchblade, but is it enough to save Ash?
Witchblade # 6
Writer: Caitlin Kittredge
Artist: Roberta Ingranata
Colorist: Bryan Valenza
Publisher: Top Cow
What You Need To Know:
Alex is the new bearer of the Witchblade. She now not only has to overcome her personal demons but real ones. In the last issue, Alex manifested the Witchblade as armor for the first time as she saves the women that the bad cop was sex trafficking.
What You Will Find Out:
This issue opens with Alex remembering being in Afghanistan with Johnny. She is interviewing him and they suddenly are attacked. The scene shifts to a hospital where Alex is waiting to hear how the women she rescued are doing. The doctor tells her they will all need medical treatment and that the police are waiting to speak to her.
She instead leaves after looking at her phone and remembers she has a date to keep. She meets up with Johnny’s mother. It is apparently the anniversary of Johnny’s death and they meet every year to light a candle. They are interrupted by a text from Ash that says “Loft”. Johnny’s mother says that it is okay for her to go because she knows that her job is important.
Alex goes to Ash’s loft and finds that he has been taken. She calls Debbie and Majil in to help her. They look over the place and find a bunch of photos of Ash from different time eras. Debbie jokes that she hopes that he is a vampire. While they are searching, Alex notices that Roseland is watching the loft from the street below. She then gets a video call from the bad cop/demon who shows that he has Ash. He wants Alex to come to him alone so he can kill her and destroy the Witchblade.
Alex confronts Roseland who tells her that she lost her legs in a previous case and now has prosthetic legs. That is why she does not create a fuss about the bad cops because she is afraid that she will lose her job and nobody would hire her. She agrees to take Alex to where she thinks her partner is holed up. Alex goes in alone to confront the bad cap despite Roseland’s protests.
After Alex confronts the bad cop, Leonetti appears. The cop is confused because he killed Leonetti. It turns out that Leonetti is the big bad. He is a demon as well and seems to be the one behind all the problems. He tries to scare Alex, but she tells him that he is scared of her. She manifests her armor again. He says that he is Legion and that he cannot die. After a short (and somewhat vague) battle it is done. The main demon is gone and Roseland arrests her partner who doesn’t appear to be a demon anymore. Alex leaves with Ash and tells him she knows he has been lying to her. She sends him away and goes home… to find Johnny sitting on her couch.
What Just Happened:
Alex just defeated the demons who have been plaguing her since the first issue. But how? The word and art leave it very vague. I can not really tell you if the demon was dead or just defeated and run away. This seems to happen a lot in this series. The action scenes are almost nonexistent. I have really no idea what Alex did to save the women from the last issue because it doesn’t show anything besides her blocking a bullet. The story is interesting and the art is nice. But I have to admit to a constant state of confusion which at first I thought was on purpose. Now, I am not so sure.
Rating: 6/10
Final Thoughts:
This series has an interesting lead character bu what it is lacking in clarity. While the art is nice, it doesn’t always convey to the reader what is happening. This story has lots of potential and I would like to see it get there.