Review – Switch #2 (Image Comics)

Publisher: Image Comics / Top Cow
Writer/Artist: Stjepan Sejic
Release Date: 25th November, 2015

Jings me, this is michty good. Switch is a comic that you really should buy. The art is gorgeous and it’s well written. The protagonist is a strong, well realised, realistic young woman who is really easy to engage with. If you haven’t bought issue 1 yet then you might be in luck, I checked in a comic shop in Edinburgh today, and they still had a few on the shelves.

The story in this second issue builds beautifully on the foundations laid in the first comic. We learn more about Mary, and her family, and we learn more about the Darkness and the Light that Mary as the Witchblade seems fated to balance.

One lovely little touch in this issue is when Mary, after being hit by a bus, is interviewed by a certain Detective Pezzini. It looks like our new Witchblade has just met the previous incumbent, whose final issue just so happened to ship this week.

Although some knowledge of the Witchblade universe might be of use, Sejic seems keen to use the old only as a foundation for a fresh start. The subtle way that Pezzini was used in the story, the lack of a torch passing moment, it all bodes well for a new reader like me who isn’t au fait with the full 187 issue Witchblade story.

Something else to really look forward to as the series progresses is the introduction to the past wearers of the Witchblade and the way that Mary channels them. This is really quite cool, so far Mary has channelled two such wearers, and the final panel of this issue promises a whole slew more.

I must admit that it was the beautiful artwork that originally drew me to have a look at Switch, but it’s the really well written story that is going to make me stay. Stjepan Sejic really is a comics double-threat. He’s an artist who can write and a writer who can draw.

Rating: 5/5.

The writer of this piece was: John Wallace
John Tweets from @jmwdaredevil.