Alex, the newest bearer, struggles to fight off a possession and to come to grips with the Witchblade.
Witchblade # 5
Writer: Caitlin Kittredge
Artist: Roberta Ingranata
Colorist: Bryan Valenza
Publisher: Top Cow
What You Need to Know:
Alex Underwood is the new bearer of the Witchblade. The Witchblade is an ancient artifact with mysterious origins. Alex has been using the Witchblade to investigate a group of crooked cops who have pentagram symbols on them. When we last left Alex she was helping a woman who was possessed by a demon. During the course of the conflict, the demon jumped from the woman and into Alex. Alex confronted the demon inside her.
What You Will Find Out:
While she is possessed, in her mind she is reliving when she was kidnapped as a young girl. She had managed to escape in the real world, but in her mind, she is being chased. The demon tells Alex that she acts tough but she doesn’t even know how to control the Witchblade and that she fights against the artifact. It tells Alex it will enjoy using her body and the Witchblade. The Demon threatens to kill everyone Alex loves. Before that can happen, another entity appears and gets rid of the first demon. He appears to Alex in the form of her friend, Johnny, who had died. Alex asks why, and he tells her that he can only talk to her by accessing her memories. Alex notices that “Johnny” has a pentagram symbol. He offers her a deal. If she leaves New York, he will let her live. After Alex refuses his offer, they banter a bit and then she returns to the waking world. Alex wakes up and is greeted by her friends. Debbie takes her home, and Alex tells her what has been happening.
Alex goes back to investigating the crooked cops. She follows one of the cops that is investigating her, She finds out that the cop is dirty, mostly into prostitution. She follows him to a brothel where a prostitute tries to force her to leave. When she grabs Alex, the Witchblade makes her answer Alex’s questions. She has the pentagram mark on her, so Alex has found the connection she was looking for. She finds out that the cop is delivering more girls to a gangster type named Frank Leonetti. While she is following the crooked cop she is approached by Roseland, the main cop investigating her. Alex asks why she is harassing her instead of trying to arrest her dirty partner. Roseland tells Alex that she has been looking into her past and she knows about Alex being abducted when she was a kid. This pisses Alex off. Alex accuses Roseland of being crooked too, which Roseland denies.
Alex follows the bad cop to where the girls are supposed to arrive. For some unknown reason, the cop kills Leonetti and there is a shootout between the cops and Leonetti’s men. After they dispatch the gangsters, the bad cops aim to kill the girls. Alex decides she can’t keep fighting the Witchblade and catches a bullet before it hits the girls. Alex is in full armor. 
What Just Happened:
Alex has not been using the full abilities of the Witchblade the entire time. This is the first time that she fully manifests armor. The first five issues are as much about her accepting her new destiny as her past. Kittredge is weaving a good tale. Although, I would say that the pacing is a bit off. It jumps from one climatic event to another. For instance, it goes from demon possession to sex trafficking in the course of one issue. It would be nice if it slowed down a bit. Maybe a whole issue for a demon possession? Ingranata’s art is nice, but I am not sure how I feel about the new Witchblade armor.
Rating: 6/10
Final Thoughts:
I am genuinely enjoying this title, but I do think the creative team needs to work a few issues out. Like I said earlier, the pace needs to slow down. I do like the slow reveal about Alex’s past and the Witchblade’s history, but there is just too much going on with the demons, bad cops, and sex trafficking all in one issue. It’s like Spider-Man 3 where there were too many bad guys. It also needs to focus on the side characters more so the reader can know something besides the basics about them.
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