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Literary fiction seems to be my genre of choice, but every once in a while my typically mild curiosity in comics morphs into a full blown interest. When this has happened previously I've checked out Sandman, The Watchmen and other high profile, extremely popular comics. A few months ago I started to pick up some digital comics here and there and I came across a few free issues of Witchblade (published by Top Cow). I tried to find an ongoing series that I could catch up on relatively quickly and follow more recent issues without taking years to expose myself to the series (like I would have to with a lot of the original Marvel or DC series). Witchblade's current issue is 154. I figured that if I read the two released compendium volumes, I'd already be 2/3 of the way through the series. Following this logic, I bought a used copy of Volume 1, not quite sure what to expect.

Yes, Detective Sara Pezzini's ridiculously attractive figure caught my eye initially, but the story arc in Witchblade: Origins, describing how Pezzini came to wield the Witchblade, was pretty engaging. Other story arcs in this 50-issue compendium were equally compelling as Sara struggles to control the Witchblade and learns of its ancient, mystical powers. The primary artists seemed to change every few issues, and while I found myself wanting more consistency while plowing through the issues, in retrospect this revolving art direction probably benefitted the series over time. I felt for Sara as she mourned her dead father and battled the demons of her past as well as those of the present.

I was impressed with the first 50 issues of Witchblade and really enjoyed the characters, the satisfying violence, the not-too-creepy sexuality, and the mystique and intrigue behind the ancient weapon and its wielder over the course of history. The Top Cow universe's Jackie Estacado, Ian Nottingham, Ken Irons and others were fun to follow, too, and I'll probably read The Darkness (which is, conveniently, published in a compendium series, as well).

I'll stick with literary fiction, but I think this volume has convinced me that comic books have a lot of entertainment value to them as well...the good ones, at least.

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