Witchblade 162

"BLACK CAT" Sara Pezzini finally relents to Cain Jorgenson's advances and agrees to a date at a baseball game in this date night issue of WITCHBLADE! But as usual, the Witchblade's tendency to attract weirdness like a magnet will draw out Chicago's supernatural corruption... even at Wrigley Field.

"HOPE THROUGH THE DARKNESS"...Sara Pezzini moved to Chicago to escape her failures and to leave her demons behind her in New York. Her new life in the Windy City has been far more difficult and far stranger than she ever expected. Until now, her past has stayed buried. But when Rapture bearer Tom Judge and Darkness bearer Jackie Estacado come a knocking, Sara risks the discovery that her new life in Chi-town may not have been a decision that she made for herself.

"APPARITIONS" Sara Pezzini moved to Chicago and started a new life as a private investigator to escape her past in New York. But instead of getting settled into her new career, Sara has felt like she has been running in circles chasing ghosts... or, is it the ghosts that have been chasing her? Sara will have to contend against mercenaries, gangsters, and power hungry leprechauns, all while suffering the drudgeries of trying to stay profitable. Maybe black cats really do bring quantifiable amounts of bad luck. Collects WITCHBLADE 161-165

Can science fiction--especially sci-fi cinema--save the world? It already has, many times. Retired officers testify that films like Doctor Strangelove, Fail-Safe, On the Beach and War Games provoked changes and helped prevent accidental war. Soylent Green and Silent Running recruited millions of environmental activists. The China Syndrome and countless movies about plagues helped bring attention to those failure modes. And the grand-daddy of "self-preventing prophecy"--Nineteen Eighty-Four--girded countless citizens to stay wary of Big Brother. It's not been all dire warnings. While optimism is much harder to dramatize than apocalypse, both large and small screens have also encouraged millions to lift their gaze, contemplating how we might get better, incrementally, or else raise grandchildren worthy of the stars. Come along on a quirky quest for unusual insights into the power of forward-looking media. How the romantic allure of feudalism tugs at men and women who benefited vastly from modernity. Or explore why almost every Hollywood film preaches Suspicion of Authority, along with tolerance, diversity and personal eccentricity, and how those messages helped keep us free. No one is spared scrutiny! Not Spielberg or Tolkien or Cameron or Costner... nor Dune or demigods or zombie flicks. Certainly not George Lucas or Ayn Rand! Though some critiques are offered from a lifetime of respect and love... and gratitude.

Doc Morrow doesn't remember what happened to him last night--and what he doesn't know might kill him! With the clock ticking, Morrow consults with some very unorthodox specialists. But will the cure prove worse than the disease? "Charmingly demented... I can't wait for future volumes." --Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing

THE DEATH OF EVERYONE,' Part One The countdown to issue #100 begins here--with the story that will change EVERYTHING for Invincible! Mark's powers have finally returned, just in time for every life on Earth to rest in his hands. But what will happen when everyone learns that what is happening... is Mark's fault?

The lines are drawn between the cartel and Augustus' group in the race to save Emma. The only problem is that things could get a little grisly before either party is ready to strike.

Dr. Luke Taylor's world continues to unravel and open up as the hunt for his missing, and very much pregnant, wife continues. His clone counterparts show him just how many clones are out there - and how much the government had a role to play!