Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels

700 WITCHBLADE

publishing event in San Francisco, Wilson left the house of a friend and was later found

unconscious, with injuries that included a fractured neck. After a week in intensive care,

Wilson was put on an accelerated therapy program and has shown signs of improve-

ment. A controversial fi gure, at times he refl ected the excess found in his comics.

Selected Bibliography: Rosenkrantz, Patrick. Rebel Visions, Th e Underground Comix

Revolution 1963 – 1975. Seattle: Fantagraphics Books, 2002; Wilson, S. Clay. Th e Art of

S. Clay Wilson. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 2006.

Richard L. Graham

WITCHBLADE. Witchblade is an ongoing monthly comic from independent U.S. pub-

lishers Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics , primarily featuring tough

independent female New York Police Department homicide detective Sara Pezzini. Cre-

ated by Mark Silvestri, David Wohl, Brian Haberlin, and Michael Turner, Witchblade

concerns Penzini’s discovery and use of the Witchblade, a supernatural ancient weapon

that envelops the body and imbues

the user with superhuman powers.

Th e title has maintained popular-

ity and is an interesting take on

female superheroes. Pezzini fi rst

appeared in Cyblade/Shi #1: Th e

Battle For Independents (1995),

where she was mortally wounded

during an undercover case, the

Witchblade made its choice to in-

clude her in the long line of women

that has shared its power and

healed her wounds, allowing her to

survive the resulting confrontation

with villain Kenneth Irons. She

then passes a Periculum test, after

which the Witchblade bonds with

her at a cellular level and slows the

aging process. Similar to Green

Lantern , “ Witchblade” refers both

to the power-giving device and

colloquially to the character who

possesses it any given time.

Although the comics fetish-

istically represent Pezzini in full

Witchblade armor and little else, the

moderately successful television

Yancy Butler and David Chokachi in the TNT television
series Witchblade. TNT/Photofest