I've mentioned Top Cow's First Born mini series a few times already. Written by Ron Marz and illustrated by Stjepan Sejic, this series touches everybody in the Top Cow universe and lays the foundations for the new The Darkness series. Oh, and it answers a few questions raised in Witchblade. Well, the first issue has sold out, but Top Cow has provided Newsarama with the full issue for free, so if you're interested, click here and read it. Enjoy!
Saturday, August 25, 2007
First Born (Again)
I've mentioned Top Cow's First Born mini series a few times already. Written by Ron Marz and illustrated by Stjepan Sejic, this series touches everybody in the Top Cow universe and lays the foundations for the new The Darkness series. Oh, and it answers a few questions raised in Witchblade. Well, the first issue has sold out, but Top Cow has provided Newsarama with the full issue for free, so if you're interested, click here and read it. Enjoy!
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11 comments:
Well, since I'm starting with Witchblade, I don't think I'm going headlong into this First Born thing. At least for the moment.
But I wouldn't mind if you'd explain further the Top Cow universe issue, Fel. I'm pretty new there. ;)
Well, First Born takes place immediately after Witchblade #109, so you should wait until then before reading it. Also, the good thing about Witchblade is that it is pretty much self-contained, so you don't have to go and read a bunch other titles to understand what's going on. The one series Witchblade has been most related to is The Darkness, which was cancelled a long time ago, even though they recently put a few specials out, and there's a new series coming after First Born is over. Therefore, I think I should just give you some information about Witchblade, so you don't feel lost when reading the series (and keep in mind I only read the first 36 issues or so, and then jumped to ish #100, with just some random issues in between).
The basic premise of Witchblade is that there is this magic gauntlet that can only be wielded by a woman. The Witchblade chooses its wielder, so there is only one chosen woman in every generation (or something like that). Many women became famous because of it, such as Cleopatra or Joan of Arc (it was the Witchblade's voice she heard in her head). On Witchblade #1, Sara Pezzini, a New York cop, finds the Witchblade and discovers she is the chosen one, even though she obviously has no idea what the thing is or how it works at the time. The Witchblade's willpower is quite strong, and it takes Sara a while to learn how to control it, or, at least, prevent it from killing everything in sight (the Witchblade has a remarkable bloodlust).
There is a guy, Kenneth Irons, who knows about the mystic artifact and has been looking for it for many, many years. Irons is not important anymore, but he had a henchman named Ian Nottingham who actually is relevant. He was an implacable assassin, and at some point he dated Sara and also wielded the Witchblade (I don't think I've read those issues, so I'm not sure how that happened, but it did).
That is pretty much what goes on in the first 30 issues or so, and even though I didn't read most of the issues in between 36 and 100, it seems there weren't many changes. In issue 92, the origin of the Witchblade is revealed (so you can just go and read that one), and the relationship between the Witchblade (which requires a female host, in this day and age Sara Pezzini) and the Darkness (which requires a male host, in this day and age mafia hitman Jackie Estacado) is revealed. Also, the relationship the Angelus ("the light") has with both the Witchblade and the Darkness is explained.
But as I was saying, not many things changed until issue 100, when we find Sara in a very unexpected situation, and we meet Danielle Baptiste, a young dancer who may or may not be important in future issues. But it's obvious things are about to change in many ways.
These changes and events unfold starting on issue 100, and most everything becomes clear by the time First Born begins. So when you read First Born, you'll see the Angelus and the Darkness in action.
Regarding the overall Top Cow universe, the Witchblade is one of 13 mystic artifacts that seem to be responsible for keeping the balance of the universe or something like that. So far, only a few of these artifacts have been revealed. One of them is the Witchblade, as I said, and another one is the Spear of Destiny, the weapon wielded by The Magdalena, another character that has been somewhat important in Witchblade.
And that's pretty much it. There are other Top Cow characters that show up in First Born, such as Cyber Force or the characters from Hunter-Killer, but I doubt they will be relevant.
Also, I guess all this is probably explained on Wikipedia, so you can also check that out. Still, I think this summary should give you enough background to fully enjoy Witchblade.
Enjoy!
Siguiendo mi propio consejo, acabo de leer la página de Witchblade de Wikipedia, y he descubierto un detalle que se me había olvidado mencionar. Jake, el policía que aparece en el número 100, había sido el compañero de Sara desde que su antiguo compañero Michael la diñara en Witchblade #1. El bueno de Jake, además, estaba enamorado de Sara, con lo que los acontecimientos del número 100 son todavía más dramáticos.
Pues gracias, Fel, por la interminable parrafada que te has soltado.
Más o menos ya me he enterado de lo esencial, pero casi estoy pensando en leer Witchblade desde el primer número. Porque la historia tiene a priori muy buena pinta.
Hahaha. Haz lo que quieras, por supuesto. En más de una ocasión he pensado yo también hacerme con los ejemplares que me faltan, pero no creo que lo haga. Sin embargo, si a ti te da por leer la serie desde el primer número, que sepas que Top Cow publicó el año pasado el primer volumen del Witchblade Compendium, que recopila los primeros 50 números, y en octubre sale el volumen dos, que digo yo llevará del 51 al 100.
Lo mismo han hecho con The Darkness, que llevo desde diciembre debatiendo si comprarlo o no. Y ahora en Amazon sólo está disponible la edición hardcover, considerablemente más cara. En fin...
Pero vamos, que me alegro de que hayas disfrutado la parrafada. Y si la serie lleva ya diez años publicándose, debe ser por algo ;)
Pues lo del Witchblade Compendium no está nada mal. Aunque, claro, antes aún tengo que hacerme con Ultra y Revelations. Y quizá también con el recopilatorio molón ese de Danger Girl.
Excelentísimas opciones todas ellas. Pero los Compendiums están muy bien de precio para lo que son, sin duda.
Sí. De todos modos yo creo que voy a pasar directamente de la edición hardback. Económicamente hablando, nunca me ha importado un buen TPB. Y estética y cómodamente hablando, tampoco.
A mí tampoco; y la diferencia de precio es sustancial, así que, a por los paperbacks se ha dicho!
Amén, hermano. Amén.
Ý es que con lo que te cuesta un hardcover puedes tener, como mínimo, dos paperbacks, normalmente tres, y a veces hasta cuatro. Makes sense to me :)
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