Witchblade #130 Concludes War Of The Witchblades

[ENGLISH] Top Cow tells us: LOS ANGELES, Calif., July 7th, 2009 – Top Cow Productions, Inc. proudly announced today that “War of the Witchblades” will reach its conclusion in Witchblade #130.  Who will emerge as the sole bearer of the Witchblade?  Will it be Sara Pezzini or Dani Baptiste?  Or will it be a completely new bearer?  And who will become the new Angelus?

Witchblade #130 will be the landmark 50th issue of Witchblade written by Ron Marz, The issue is also the 22nd collaborative Witchblade comic with Ron Marz and Sjepan Sejic.  Witchblade #130 is expected in comic book stores on Wednesday, September 9, 2009.

Ron Marz had this to say about the issue:

“The book has very much been a two-character drama since we introduced Dani. We might not have had both characters in every issue, but both characters were definitely a presence in the book. At the end of this storyline, we’ll be back to focusing on one character and that character’s life.”

“There are a lot of different plot threads going on in this arc – Sara, Dani, Sara’s sister Julie, Dani’s friend Finch, the Angelus. And while they might seem like disparate threads now, they’ll all tie together.”

“I will say this: when I kill somebody in one of my books, they stay killed if I have anything to say about it. Death shouldn’t be a revolving door, because it saps the drama out of a story. Sara’s first partner, Jake, took a dirt nap, and it’s gonna stay that way. If somebody is really dead, they’re dead.”

“Somebody ends up with the Witchblade, somebody ends up as the Angelus. But I’m not telling who. That’s why we solicited three different possible versions of the Sejic cover to #130. Obviously we’re only going to press with one of them – but the question is, which one?”

Witchblade #130 will ship with three covers; one by regular artist Sejic revealing the identity of the new Angelus bearer, as well as two covers by classic Witchblade artist Adriana Melo (Ms. Marvel) featuring Sara and Dani respectively. The issue will carry a cover price of $2.99, maintaining Top Cow’s pledge to lock in a $2.99 cover price for all their normal comics in 2009.

About Top Cow Productions Inc.
Top Cow Productions, Inc. (www.topcow.com), a Los Angeles-based entertainment company, was founded in December of 1992 by artist Marc Silvestri, who also co-founded Image Comics earlier that same year. 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. Its flagship franchise, WITCHBLADE, was TNT’s #1 original film of 2000 and the subsequent TV series was released on DVD on July 29, 2008. A feature film, co-produced by Platinum Studios, Inc. and Arclight Films, is slated to begin production in Australia with director Michael Rymer. WITCHBLADE is also the first American property to be fully adapted in Japan as an original anime and manga by Studio GONZO in 2006. Top Cow’s other flagship property, THE DARKNESS, was developed into a major next-generation video game release by Starbreeze and 2K Games and achieved platinum sales status. WANTED, an Eisner-nominated miniseries published by Top Cow from 2003-2005, is now a major motion picture from Universal Pictures starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman. Virtually all of Top Cow’s other properties are in development as feature films, live-action television, animation or video games. Top Cow has also successfully licensed and merchandised its franchises into toys, statues, clothing, lithographs, puppets, posters, magnets, shot glasses, lighters, lunch pails, wall scrolls, mouse pads, die-cast cars, calendars, Christmas ornaments, Halloween masks, trading cards, standees, video games and role playing games.