Witchblade #22 // Review
There are some very dangerous people who barged into Sara’s apartment. They're not after her. They after a piece of tech. That tech is also a person. And she's also dangerous. This would likely put Sara’s life in jeopardy were it not for the fact that she’s attached to a very dangerous weapon. The danger gets more complicated in Witchblade #22. Writer Marguerite Bennett continuous a thoroughly entertaining run with one of the more enduring action heroes of the indie comics world in another issue that is brought to page and panel by artist Giuseppe Cafaro. The issue also makes a strong case for a new Aphrodite IX series.
The tech that is also a person is, of course, Aphrodite IX. She and Sara aren't going to have a whole lot of problems, defeating the people who have come searching for her. They're both very dangerous. And there's some concern about that danger. And that danger may pose problems for other people. Aphrodite was essentially created as a weapon. But she's more than that. Over the course of the evening spent in Sara’s apartment, Aphrodite read every book in her apartment...watched every film she had and listened to every song at 300x speed. She knows a lot now. It just might help her figure out who she is...
Bennett find a way to turn Aphrodite into so much more than the cliché she might have been before. There is a real personality there. And there's a lot of complexity that seems to be engaging some of the questions we currently have about artificial intelligence. And it's doing so a very human way, which is very appealing. There is an emotional connection between her and Sara that serves as a very endearing heart to the issue. There is a lot of action in the issue. But it really is that emotional center that is. It's greatest strength.
Of course, the action comes to the page with a beautiful sense of kinetic rhythm and motion. There's a great grace about it. That is very appealing to watch. And there's a great deal of beauty in that action. But there is a real appeal to more casual moments of emotional drama as they play out on the page. Cafaro has a clever grasp of emotional subtlety that really helps sell the more intricate and complicated ends of the story. It’s all quite impressive.
And, honestly, if Bannett and Cafaro had an opportunity to do an Aphrodite companion series. It would be really cool. Their stylist of storytelling really fits that character every bit as well as it does Sara. It would be kind of interesting to see this particular universe expand just a little bit. So that it can fill two titles, especially if they were both worked on by the same group of people. The interaction between the tour of them is really appealing on a whole bunch of different levels. Bennett and Cafaro continue to work a very appealing narrative gravity in another deeply fun issue.
