Witchblade #1
Witchblade #1 (Juniorpress, 1996) is the Dutch-language debut of one of Top Cow Productions' defining characters, bringing NYPD detective Sara Pezzini and the ancient supernatural gauntlet she wields to Benelux readers for the first time. The source material it reprints — the American Witchblade #1 (November 1995) — launched what would become Top Cow's flagship series and one of the most recognizable female-led superhero titles of the 1990s, anchoring the entire Top Cow Universe around Sara's ongoing struggle with the Witchblade. Michael Turner's art on that foundational issue established a visual identity that defined the series across twenty years and two reboots, and the characters introduced within — Sara Pezzini, the ruthless industrialist Kenneth Irons, and the deadly bodyguard Ian Nottingham — drove the mythology for the run's entirety. As one node in a broader European wave of licensed Top Cow reprints (parallel German editions from Splitter and French editions from Semic appeared around the same time), the Juniorpress edition documents how quickly the property crossed the Atlantic and found an international readership.
Witchblade #1 (1996) introduces a gripping blend of noir suspense and supernatural mystery, as police officer Sara Pezzini and her partner Michael Yee stumble upon a dangerous secret at the Rialto. When a powerful mystical gauntlet known as the Witchblade is unveiled to a select few, Sara’s desperate attempt to save Michael ends in tragedy—but the gauntlet chooses her, fusing to her hand and unleashing its deadly power in a moment of raw survival. With a bold, striking cover by Michael Turner and dynamic art throughout, this issue sets the stage for a story where justice, fate, and ancient magic collide.
In the gritty streets of New York, police officer Sara Pezzini and her partner Michael Yee race to stop a dangerous secret unfolding at the Rialto, where businessman Kenneth Irons is offering a mysterious gauntlet to the highest bidder. As Irons’ enforcers close in, Sara’s desperate fight for survival leads her to the Witchblade—its power surging through her as she battles through a hail of bullets, only to face the devastating cost of victory.
In the wake of a brutal murder that leaves a woman cooked from within, Sara Pezzini struggles to recover—both physically and emotionally—while haunted by the death of her partner, Michael Yee. As Jake McCarthy and Joe Siry visit her in the hospital, tensions rise over the mysterious events at Kenneth Irons’ tournament, and the Triads’ deadly retaliation against Irons only deepens the web of intrigue. With the Witchblade calling to her, Sara embarks on a desperate attempt to reclaim her power—only to face the harsh truth that some losses cannot be undone.
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The American source material was produced at Top Cow Productions, an Image Comics imprint founded by Marc Silvestri, with scripting by David Wohl, co-plotting by Brian Haberlin and Michael Turner, and interior art and co-plot contributions by Turner himself — inked by D-Tron, lettered by Dennis Heisler, and edited by Len Wein. The Witchblade property had been seeded just months earlier in the August 1995 crossover one-shot Cyblade/Shi: The Battle for Independents, which contained a four-page Witchblade preview and served as Sara Pezzini's first appearance anywhere in print; the solo series followed within the same calendar year. Juniorpress b.v., a Dutch publisher experienced in licensed comics for the Benelux market, acquired reprint rights and translated the series into Dutch, assigning its own editorial team — credited in later issues as 'Nederlandse eindredaktie' and 'Nederlandse produktie' — for localization; the first issue appeared in 1996, making it one of the earliest foreign-language editions of the series alongside the concurrent German Splitter edition.
Trivia · 8 facts
- This issue reprints the content of Witchblade (Image/Top Cow, 1995 series) #1, cover-dated November 1995, in Dutch translation for the Benelux market.
- It is the premiere issue of the Witchblade (Juniorpress, 1996 series), a licensed Dutch-language reprint line published by Juniorpress b.v. that ran to at least 23 issues through circa 2000.
- The American source issue features the first solo-series appearances of NYPD detective Sara Pezzini (the Witchblade's bearer), villain-industrialist Kenneth Irons, and assassin/bodyguard Ian Nottingham — the core trio driving the original run.
- It is the second in-universe appearance of the Witchblade artifact itself; the gauntlet and Sara Pezzini had their true first appearance in the August 1995 crossover one-shot Cyblade/Shi: The Battle for Independents, which also contained a four-page Witchblade preview story.
- The creative team for the American source issue was: script by David Wohl, co-plots by Brian Haberlin and Michael Turner, pencils and additional co-plot by Michael Turner, inks by D-Tron (with assists from Nathan Cabrera and Viet Truong), letters by Dennis Heisler, and editing by Len Wein; Marc Silvestri, Top Cow's founder, is credited as co-creator of the series concept.
- The original American issue featured a two-page wraparound cover by Michael Turner — a format not carried over into most reprint editions.
- The series the Juniorpress edition draws from ran continuously from 1995 to 2015 (185 issues), spawned the spinoff series The Darkness, and was adapted into a TNT live-action television series in 2001, a Japanese anime in 2006, and manga and novel adaptations the same year.
- A 30th Anniversary facsimile reprint of the original American Witchblade #1 was published by Image/Top Cow in July 2025, demonstrating the source issue's enduring significance to the publisher.
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Witchblade #1 (1995), Witchblade #2 (1996)
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