By Filip Sablik, Publisher of Top Cow Productions, Inc.
So it looks like I got folks talking with my
last Blog post. That’s great – good conversation and debate is the highest compliment for a blogger, it means people are actually reading and feel compelled to respond in some way. Not only did Newsarama readers comment (44 comments!), but other bloggers responded in their own forums.
The only problem is that most of the commentators seemed to fixate on one statement in the blog post and missed my intended point. Admittedly, that may have been a failing on my part as a writer, so I thought it wise to try and clarify this week. Let’s see if I can get it right the second time around.
The actual point I was trying to make was – Witchblade, as our comic most often dismissed as “T&A” by online commentators, is not and has not been very “T&A” for years. Sara Pezzini, our title character, spends more of her time in more clothes than your average superhero-in-tights comic. I posted some Witchblade covers in comparisons with some recent Marvel and DC covers. In my mind, the Witchblade covers were largely narrative, focused on portraying our heroine as a strong female lead rather than a sex symbol. The other covers struck me as a bit more “T&A” in nature.
The statement that seemed to get the most attention was:
“Top Cow does intentionally place sexy artwork on our convention variant covers. We recognize there’s a part of our audience that digs them and we’d be bad business people for not giving our fanbase what they want. These covers are put out in a limited release and are primarily sold directly to fans at conventions.”
I posted one cover image as an example of a sexy convention cover, our Witchblade #128 San Diego cover, which while sexy strikes me as pretty classy. I’m not embarrassed to show this to my wife. Your mileage may vary.
Two intelligent ladies blogged in response to my blog, one was Laura Hudson at
Comics Alliance and one was our own
Christine Dinh, Marketing Assistant at Top Cow. Before you ask, no, I did not ask Christine to write on my behalf. They both make some interesting points and are well worth reading.
But back to my point, Witchblade is not a T&A comic.
The contrary preconception seems to be largely based on issues published before 2005. I make a point of saying 2005, because that’s when Ron Marz took over the title as writer. I have to credit Ron with doing more than any other single individual in trying to change perceptions about Witchblade. Along with artists Mike Choi, Adriana Melo, and now Stjepan Sejic, Ron has focused on making Sara Pezzini a realistic, fascinating heroine. As for the question of clothes, Sara spends most of her time in everyday clothing and even when she “armors” up, the armor forms over her clothing.
Here’s a good quote from one of the artists, Francis Manapul, who actually drew Witchblade from an interview on
Multiversity Comics:
After moving from Top Cow to DC, was it hard drawing clothing on your characters again? I could imagine it would be quite the change for an artist.
FM: Actually I found it quite the opposite. I drew more clothing at Top Cow than I did at DC. Main reason is that even though the DC characters I’ve tackled have costumes on they are pretty form fitting so they might as well be naked. LOL. It’s quite a misconception how books were visually portrayed at Top Cow. When I was working on Witchblade since it was a police crime drama, there were more civilian clothing than I was used too. I didn’t think I’d be clamoring to draw tights as much as I did after that run. It was strange because prior to working at Top Cow as an aspiring comic book artist all of my samples portrayed heroes in tights. When I started working at Top Cow I had to learn how to portray drapery quite fast. So it was a very valuable experience in learning how to portray real world scenarios.
It seems pretty clear that the interviewer has the same preconception about Witchblade as many people, but Francis (who works exclusively for DC these days and isn’t compelled to defend Top Cow in anyway) does a nice job setting the record straight.
Make no mistake, Witchblade is a mature readers title. It’s a realistic, supernatural/police procedural, which deals with adult concepts, adult relationships, and well… adult characters. I believe those adult themes are handled tastefully, intelligently, and with an eye first towards growing the characters.
One of my goals coming into Top Cow was to have the covers, particularly the trade paperback covers, reflect more accurately what was inside the comics. To date, the rebranding of the Witchblade trade line has been a point of pride for me as Top Cow’s Publisher. When I began, Ron Marz’s run began in Volume 10 of the trade series. I felt we needed to give readers a jumping on point to the “modern era” of Witchblade. In rebranding the trade line, Volume 1 begins with Witchblade #80, Ron’s first issue on the series. The earlier stories are collected as part of the Witchblade Origins trade line and in the massive Compendium editions.
As part of this rebranding, we also commissioned new covers from Stjepan Sejic (the current Witchblade artist), which could serve as iconic imagery encapsulating the tone and themes of the series. Below you’ll see the original Volume 10 and 11 covers juxtaposed against the current Volume 1 and 2 covers.
So here’s the deal, I’m going to put our money where my mouth is. Thanks to the generosity of our friends at
Discount Comic Book Service and
InStock Trades, you can now get a FREE copy of the original printings of the Witchblade trades containing Ron Marz’s first two storylines. All you have to do is make one additional purchase (which doesn’t have to be a Top Cow item) through InStock Trades and either Volume 10 or 11 will be absolutely FREE. If your total order is over $50, you don’t even have to pay shipping. If you don’t want to go in for a trade, you can head over to DCBS and order Witchblade #134, the beginning of a 3-part story, for 75% off the cover price. Check out the links below for more info:
Witchblade Volume 10 (collects #80-85) for
FREEWitchblade Volume 11 (collects #86-92) for
FREEWitchblade #134 at
75% off (go to page 6)
Once you’ve read it, come back and let me know what you thought and if it changed your preconception of Witchblade. Who knows, maybe it’ll make you a regular reader. I know that Ron’s writing certainly changed my preconceptions of the series.
Next time: There is No House Style.
Take care,
Filip Sablik
Publisher Guy
Filip Sablik is the Publisher of Top Cow Productions, Inc. He’s been in the business for nine years and is in his thirties. Occasionally, he does a bit of writing and drawing. He loves comics. Top Cow Productions, Inc. was founded by Marc Silvestri, co-founder of Image Comics. Top Cow currently publishes its line of comic books in 21 languages in over 55 different countries. The company has launched 20 franchises (18 original and two licensed) in the industry’s Top 10, seven at #1, a feat accomplished by no other publisher in the last two decades.