Probably 3.5 stars. I'm familiar with a couple of these characters Darkness, Witchblade and Tom Judge, but there's really a huge cast going on here. As with all stories with a bunch of main characters it takes time to introduce them all and try to give each one some time. So not a ton happened in these first 5 issues, but I liked what did happen. And now that the "Fellowship" has been gathered (actually 2 different ones) it's time to head to Mordor. :)

I love the art on these and all the characters just radiate "cool". I may have to check some of their previous stuff out. ( )

Another winner from Top Cow!
8:10 am 2 November 2015
Artifacts Volume 1 - Ron Marz
I'm enjoying the Top Cow Humble Bundle more than the Army of Darkness bundle. (Luckily, the Top Cow seems to have more to offer, so I'll be able to distract myself wth that for a long, long time.) I've also noticed I tend to read in waves: paperback for a while, Comixology for a while, MU for a while, HB for a while. Right now, I'm on a Humble Bundle kick.

I'm working my way through my most recent purchases right now. And having a ball with it! Top Cow is interesting because as horror based as a lot of the Witchblade and Darkness are, they're also based on Angelus and the Heavenly Host. The Magdalena is based on Christ's bloodline surviving. Not to say that this is accurate, certainly not if you're looking at it from a historian's point of view. But it also does incorporate real history and mythology into its storylines. It's more like Supernatural than anything else I can think of, though, in that it took a couple facts and made everything else up, or used what it could for its narrative purposes, and made everything up if it didn't fit.

This takes place farther in, and while there's a lot of backstory and history with these characters, it's all explained. See, the Witchblade, the Darkness, The Angelus are all Artifacts. There are thirteen total, someone is trying to gather them all together to tear down the world and build it anew. A manmade flood if you want to get religious about it.

And so it's going to come down to an epic battle between the artifacts. I'm really quite eager to read more, and luckily, Top Cow provided this Humble Bundle - the one still going on, although only for a couple more days - with six volumes of this series. ( )

Well, that was a pleasant surprise. I'm unfamiliar with the Top Cow universe and picked this up on a whim because it was on sale and curiosity may have killed the cat, but it always opens my wallet. Flipping through it, I didn't expect much--women sporting cleavage that would make Barbie feel inadequate and some religious imagery that brought on PTSD flashbacks of Penny for Your Soul. I just knew this was going to have more Catholic fetishism than a Madonna video. Forgive me, Top Cow, for I have sinned.

There's an impressive mythology at work here that has a smart religious element. There are 13 ancient artifacts that have selected bearers/protectors throughout the centuries. Sara Pezzini is the current bearer of the Witchblade, the artifact created to balance the forces of good and evil (represented by The Darkness and The Angelus, both of whom are the embodiment of two artifacts). The remaining artifacts are scattered amongst other characters, such as The Magdalena (the protector of the Catholic Church and wielder of the Spear of Destiny) and Tom Judge (the ex-priest, recent denizen of hell, suspiciously John Constantine look-alike bearer of the Rapture). Of course, with 13 artifacts, there's an extensive cast of characters so I'll leave it there.

If the 13 artifacts are ever brought together, it will bring about an apocalyptic event. Naturally, there's always some asshat who wants to bring about the end with the intention of rebuilding the world as he sees fit. It's no different here and it's not long before the artifact bearers have chosen sides: those determined to keep the artifacts apart and those who will stop at nothing to bring them together.

The artwork is beautiful, though conventional and features scantily clad babes that did nothing for me but will probably have the fellas hoping for a wardrobe malfunction. (I mean, seriously, I've seen Victoria's Secret models clad in gauzy nothings that probably offer more protection than Sara Pezzini's Witchblade "armor".) The writing, blend of mythologies, and universe-building is impressive. There are angels and demons and androids and icemen and assassins and even a DRAGON! Well, at least hints of a dragon. That's enough to count me in for the second volume. ( )