Witchblade Takeru Manga OR Witchblade Underpants!

I made it a point to read issues 1-6 before issue 7 came out this week, that way I'd know if I wanted to get the next issue or not. I can say as a comic fan and as a manga fan, that I will not be getting this book anymore. I applaud Top Cow's efforts in taking the Witchblade franchise and trying to do something very Marvel like with it. Marvel of course having Spider-Man J which is the Japanese version of Spider-Man, and he takes on crazy Bumble Bee villains and it is very manga like, meaning if you picked it up from the manga area of Borders you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that and another manga book. Witchblade Takeru Manga, succeeds in doing the same. They keep the same formulas that anime and manga have, this one being demon slaying (a common storyline in both anime and manga). Each issue a villain shows up and the Witchblade kills the demon, thus eliminating them from ever bothering her again and forcing a new demon to show up in the next issue. Another element that this story has, is that the Witchblade bearer (The woman wielding the Witchblade if you're unfamiliar with the Witchblade series) is a demon as well, when she uses the Witchblade she turns all demon like. She of course has a love interest, Kou, who is a decedent of Demon Slayers... I wonder if you see were this is going? He hasn't killed her yet and swears he never will, but in issue 6 she tells him to kill her if she goes full-blown demon.













The dialog and story are boring and typical; the artist and colorist are of course quite good which is the norm for Top Cow books. That's why artist should never run a comic company. They're great at finding artist, but they wouldn't know a good writer if he walked up and hit him with everything he's ever written. At this point Top Cow really can't even attract a decent writer with their reputation. They got Mark Waid, but pretty much screwed it up by delaying the book so much that I doubt he'll return with his busy DC schedule. I also think this book is really just an excuse to draw girls in their underwear, which yes is common in a lot of anime and manga. Typically you know when you're buying an adult book, and if it's happening somewhere else it's at least a bit more tasteful or at the very least funny. This book has a gross amount of it, and none of it's funny or sexy. It's just there! I've taken the time to scan every scene of it from issue 6, I was going to do the entire series thus far but, once you see how many shots were in just issue 6 you'll know why I gave up. Issue 7 comes out this Wednesday, so if you're just a die hard fan of demon slaying manga, or Witchblade, or drawings of girls underwear, then feel free to pick the book up. Other wise consider yourself warned!