In WITCHBLOOD #1, available from Vault Comics on March 31st, 2021, Yonna, an immortal witch, wanders and grifts her way through life until she encounters a cowboy biker gang of vampires who have a particular hankering for witch blood.
The Details
- Written By: Matthew Erman
- Art By: Lisa Sterle
- Colors By: Gab Contreras
- Letters By: Jim Campbell
- Cover Art By: Lisa Sterle, Gab Contreras
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: March 31, 2021
Was It Good?
It was… different. The book doesn’t immediately read as fantastic or terrible because the art and story exist in this odd, unquantifiable pocket of space where you’re not quite sure if you love it or hate it after the first reading.
There’s a quirkiness about the story and the main character in how she integrates deep, dark magics and monsters as a common fact of her world. Conversely, the story feels like it doesn’t take itself too seriously, so it isn’t weighed down by tension between the witch and the vampires.
In all, there’s no tension of any sort. That may not matter to you if you like the manic pixie persona of the main character and the fantastical elements of her world. However, you may find it odd that an immortal witch is being hunted by a cowboy biker gang of vampires who want her blood, and yet, the main character doesn’t express any fear, concern, or worry over the situation.
As far as the art, it’s bright. Very bright. Neon, Hot Topic bright. And that color scheme matches the main character’s personality pretty well. Bright, bouncy, and unmarred by the worries of life. In comics, colors set the mood, and perhaps that’s the biggest contrast here between the visuals and the story. Any sense of danger or tension is canceled out by the sunny optimism of the colors.
It may sound like we’re down on this issue, but we’re not. It simply embodies contradictions, and that means defining it as good or bad is truly in the eye of the beholder. However, we’re going to give it a shot.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
Yonna is an immortal witch traveling the lonely rides of (what looks like) the American South West on her trust motorcycle, Ramblin’ Rose, with her raven, Bhu. She’s not going anywhere or doing anything in particular except moving forward on the lonely road until she needs to stop for gas, food, or money.
In addition to being an immortal witch, Yonna is a bit of a grifter not above using magic to rob and trick humans for supplies when she needs it. On her way to the next reachable town for a re-supply, Yonna is run off the road by an old truck driven by a driver shouting obscenities in Spanish. Yonna is fine but her bike isn’t and she’s forced to walk it to the next town.
Cut to the driver of the truck who enters a diner for a meal. The driver is a tall woman wearing a big hat, and she bears a small but striking scar on her lip. One of the diner’s patrons becomes extremely nervous by this stranger’s appearance.
Yonna strolls into the same town and heads to the local mechanic for repairs, but without money or a willingness by the mechanic to barter, Yonna storms off to get cash. When she spots the same truck outside the diner, she storms in and demands the driver give her money for repairs.
The truck driver steps out of her booth, exits the diner, and returns with a sword from her truck. The woman is a hex hunter, and she immediately attacks Yonna with her sword while Yonna is eating the breakfast the hex hunter left on the table. Dodging the slashing sword, Yonna tosses some herbs into a nearby pot of coffee and casts a charm to fill the diner with a noxious gas so she can escape.
The hex hunter chases Yonna outside and they keep fighting until Yonna manages to destroy the hex hunter’s sword with an ice spell. Before the fight can continue, somebody tosses a smoke grenade to shroud the entire town in darkness. A biker gang dressed in urban cowboy clothes pulls into town, and the hex hunter stops to say this is who she was here to intercept.
The nervous patron from the diner comes out and hands a scroll to the lead vampire who promptly kills the patron for no apparent reason other than he can. The hex hunter’s mission was to stop the handoff and she failed, so she takes off to leave Yonna to deal with the vampires.
The lead vampire, Labelle, boasts the scroll is the map to the Esmerelda Spiritus Mundi. It’s not explained what that is, why it’s important, or why Yonna reacts like it’s important.
React Yonna does and she tries to snatch the map away. She fails, and the vampire gang opens fire with pistols, wounding Yonna. She calls her raven, Bhu, who drops a bottle filled with a blue substance that burns the vampires. While they’re distracted, Yonna hops on the freshly repaired motorcycle and flees down the highway.
How Does It End?
The town’s troubles are permanently over. In the desert, no one can hear you scream. Somebody thinks Yonna is delicious, but not in a good way.
Final Thoughts
WITCHBLOOD #1, available from Vault Comics on March 31st, 2021, is an odd, unique, somewhat contradictory story of magic and monsters in the American South West. This first issue will get a positive score solely on technical merit, but whether it’s truly good or not is squarely up to you.
Score: 8/10
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