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aceinit's review
2.0
Top Cow, to me, has always been a universe divided. On one side there are the more lore-and-legend based titled such as Witchblade, The Darkness and their spin-off characters Magdalena and Angelus. On the other side are the more mecha-oriented titles such as Cyberforce, Aphrodite IX ( or IV, as it is now) and, I am assuming, Hunter-Killer.
My reading preference has always leaned towards the former. I’ve been a reader of the Darkness since issue 1 and have followed Witchblade for at least 75% of its run, and read most of the series containing The Angelus, the Magdalena, Universe, and etc. The mecha titles, on the other hand, are very much not my thing, which is a large part of the reason I found this arc such a stark disappointment from its predecessor.
Let me also say, I fully get what Top Cow is doing with Artifacts. To do a company-wide crossover event one must, of course, include titles and characters from the entire company. But the contrast between the mecha and non-mecha factions is, to me, a little too stark. I don’t think these universes were meant to co-exist and intermingle with one another.
Though we do get some excellent action sequences out of the new arrivals, the story, for me, would have been better served by keeping the characters from the first four issues front and center. I am hoping that Jackie, Sara, Dani and Tom return to prominence in the final arc, and that the storyshifts back in that direction. I am hoping this volume was the obligatory “action-packed interlude.”
The story in these issues takes a backseat to all that action, and all the action does yield some truly extraordinary artwork. Some of the best comes in issue 8 when a draconic Glori faces off with the Magdalena on a balcony. The coloring is superb, and I found myself wishing the scene was a 2-page spread. And the final page of the arc, featuring Jackie and Sara, is both an unexpected turn in this storyline and something I’ve been wanting to happen for years.
I look forward to seeing how the final five issues of the series will wrap everything up.
My reading preference has always leaned towards the former. I’ve been a reader of the Darkness since issue 1 and have followed Witchblade for at least 75% of its run, and read most of the series containing The Angelus, the Magdalena, Universe, and etc. The mecha titles, on the other hand, are very much not my thing, which is a large part of the reason I found this arc such a stark disappointment from its predecessor.
Let me also say, I fully get what Top Cow is doing with Artifacts. To do a company-wide crossover event one must, of course, include titles and characters from the entire company. But the contrast between the mecha and non-mecha factions is, to me, a little too stark. I don’t think these universes were meant to co-exist and intermingle with one another.
Though we do get some excellent action sequences out of the new arrivals, the story, for me, would have been better served by keeping the characters from the first four issues front and center. I am hoping that Jackie, Sara, Dani and Tom return to prominence in the final arc, and that the storyshifts back in that direction. I am hoping this volume was the obligatory “action-packed interlude.”
The story in these issues takes a backseat to all that action, and all the action does yield some truly extraordinary artwork. Some of the best comes in issue 8 when a draconic Glori faces off with the Magdalena on a balcony. The coloring is superb, and I found myself wishing the scene was a 2-page spread. And the final page of the arc, featuring Jackie and Sara, is both an unexpected turn in this storyline and something I’ve been wanting to happen for years.
I look forward to seeing how the final five issues of the series will wrap everything up.
shane_tiernan's review
2.0
I was disappointed with the change of artist on this one and it really just turned into a slugfest with a bunch of characters I'm not all that familiar with so I often couldn't tell what was going on. I did like the plot but not sure if I'll continue with this series.
atlantiareads's review
2.0
The second book in the Artifacts series carried the story along and gave insight into some other plot points, but over all I found the story hard to keep up with. And the art was too dark for my tastes.
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