I have just finished reading the Borne Again trade paperback for Witchblade and after putting it down and letting my thoughts gather about it. My reaction was not "cool" or "that was fun". Strangely enough, it was "this again? really?". Now I don't know why but this brought along a small amount of panic to me. Let me preface that it was not a bad read. But I believe it is by far the weakest Witchblade trade since Ron Marz took over. It didn't elicit any big smiles or cause me to pause and say "ah yeah!".

To describe the panic, it wasn't an immediate panic. It was one the crept up on me and only began to truly become panic when I came to the full analysis of the source of the panic. Now, I have been a loyal follower of Witchblade ever since I picked up the first compendium as a random shot in the dark. At the time, I was a going through a slump when it came to American comics. I was tired of DC and Marvel super-heroes. I needed something new and Top Cow would then become one of the few American series that kept me interested enough that own every issue out so far. Now, it's no secret that Witchblade has had rough beginnings: convoluted writing, rotating writers and artists, contradictory writing born from being an image property that was initially not handled very well. Still, I stayed on because I liked the characters and the setting appealed to things I enjoy reading. Once Ron Marz picked up the series, that's when the series really took off and I really became hooked. I'm also glad because it got me to explore other parts of the Top Universe and enjoy them as well.

To make a long story short and to get to the point. One of the things central to Witchblade is the trials the artifacts put upon their wielders and how they deal with it. That's awesome I enjoy that aspect of the world, a lot. We've seen Sarah grow from the experience and emerge as one of the toughest heroines in comics. And we've also seen her try and get a "normal life" only to be pulled back because it's her destiny. The burden of Fate, which is a cool idea that gives a mythological feel. Now after the universe was remade (after artefacts) and the subsequent loss of her daughter and the creeping cracked world the Darkness created, that's cool too. So many possibilities and I personally still have high hopes on the Rebirth (which it hasn't really lived up to completely, more on that later). But during the arc where Tom Judge and the rest of the bearers confront Jackie, we had an arc where Sarah considers getting rid of the Witchblade. Then the arc ended and basically she said they have to keep up the fight... then I read borne again and fast forward 2 years only, she's getting drunk and miserable and tries to get rid of the witchblade, again? This is where the horror really started to creep in. Since we've had stories like that in a row and neither really amounted to much within the Witchblade itself and it really felt like a step back from what happened in the Progeny arc and what was set up there.

Then I started thinking about the events since the rebirth. They created new characters and started to develop them and make them cool (such as the new bearers). Even started setting up a pretty cool recurring team of antagonists (that occult team gathering power). They introduced the realm of faerie proper and hinted at big forces existing in the universe we haven't seen before. Then, Sarah packed up her boxes... moved to the country, became sheriff and got drunk... tried to get rid of the witchblade again and new side-characters were introduced (only nowhere as interesting as the Chicago ones). And then the horror crept fully.

This is recurring pattern in Witchblade that goes all the way back to when Ron Marz joined the series. The created cool stuff (like the outer gods that possessed Macarthy), Tauma and the Faerie folk. Only we never hear about them again once their arc is over and no further exploration is made. Now you might be wondering why this caused me horror. Well the reason is because a lot of work was put into develloping the Chicago characters, Sarah even starting a romantic relationship. Only then they suddenly move on without any good bye. And I ended up with a story that was my first real "no, this is below the writing quality of this series". And I started to think about where the biggest flaws are in the Top Cow universe. And here's what I came up: they have the yard and the inhabitants but they never build the house.

By this what I mean is they focus on the protagonist's struggle (which is good) but never seem to allow the setting to reach beyond their sight (which is bad). We never get a sense on bigger things outside their field of vision and what else is going on in that universe. As soon as the main protagonists stop interacting with whatever shows up, it disappears no matter how epic the implications. And this brings further problems which is embodied in the Curator. Honestly, in the artefacts arc. There were so many characters that were simply not used well (such as the monk and Ian) and the Curator being the big bad seemed very left field and just left me with questions and once I looked back after reading Borne Again, feeling all sorts of contractions. Especially with Tau'ma (seriously, he is probably the coolest one shot villain they ever created) only they built him up to be so much in War of the Witchblades (even saying he is the curator's brother) but then after, nothing. Heck he even summoned a voodoo goddess and then nothing? What gives?

I guess what I'm trying to say is I felt terror that at some point I might stop caring because the world never develops much and because of that character development is being impaired a bit and here we have a clear case of going in circles. Hopefully this will be amended as the series continues to reveal the last two years in the time skip. But this has me afraid.

I think Top Cow needs to sit down and develop their universe, get some cosmology down and develop the story beyond the artefact bearers and make it matter. It's a world full of demons, sorcerers, faeries and monsters. I can't imagine that there's not thousands of stories that could be told. And having this move forward and criss-crossing with the main series might also help a lot in stopping things from going in circles.

Anyway just ramblings I needed to get off my chest...