Witchblade #127 review

Witchblade #127
Written by Ron Marz
Art by Stjepan Sejic
Letters by Troy Peteri
Published by Top Cow

Conflict is inevitable. Here we have a continuing installment of the ongoing saga "War of the Witchblades." Last we learned, aspiring dancer Dani Baptiste (daughter of Sara's police captain) has the light half, while Sara Pezzini wields the dark half, possessed by an entity known as Tau'ma (pronounced TOWW-MA). The issue opens up with a man praying to God for help, however Sabine (one of the Angelus) shows up and toys with the man's faith, for mere amusement no less. She is quickly informed that Sara is alone and without the "aid" of Tau'ma. So Sabine and her cronies fly out looking for Sara.

Meanwhile, back at Sara's apartment, Dani uses her key to get in and finds Sara's boyfriend/partner Patrick Gleason waking up on a recliner. After a quick "hi/how are ya," they discuss Sara and how she's changed and how they're both worried. Dani tells Patrick that the Curator told her that she has to take the Witchblade from Sara. That's pretty direct coming from a guy who speaks in riddles. Just as Dani goes to check up on Hope, Sara walks in.

*cue dramatic music*

Right off the bat, there's something. . . off about Sara. She's short with Patrick, she can't remember where she was last night, she's even ruder to Dani. Hell, even her baby daughter knows something is wrong as she wails when Sara snatches her from Dani. Then, Dani tries to talk to Sara and explain that there is definitely something wrong and the only way to fix it is for Sara to give her the rest of the Witchblade. Needless to say, Sara isn't having any of that. She lunges at Dani out the window and the two bearers have a brief skirmish. Sara, goes on rants of hate and violence, while Dani is trying to calm Sara down and assure her that something is terribly wrong. It ends on a pretty good cliffhanger, but I won't give away the details.

Ron Marz continues to hammer out solid story with great pacing and flow. Stjepan Sejic's art has grown on me since I was first introduced to it. The detail from the Angelus' armor to Sara and Dani's Face/Off pose, it's all pretty immaculate. I was really impressed with the fast pace of the fight scene at the end. There is one minor hiccup with the paneling structure, but nothing to take you out of the story, it just may have you scratching your head. This issue is nearly flawless and gets the ball seriously rolling with this arc.