Witchblade #133 features the second and final part of a tale titled “The Bridge,” a tale of magic in a mundane world. And not the usual Biblical kind of magic, but more like fairytale magic. And when it's in a Witchblade title, you know it's going to be Grimm (I had to say it).

The recap explains that Sara Pezzini and her boyfriend Patrick Gleason (both police detectives) traveled to New England for a romantic weekend. But once they arrive, they learn of a case involving a number of missing children. The two detectives quickly join the search, eventually splitting up to cover more ground. Patrick vanishes near an old bridge, and when Sara goes to investigate she's attacked by a rather large troll, dragging her under the bridge. Patrick later wakes up to find he's in the company of the missing kids, who are unharmed. Sara then barges in while fighting the troll, trading blows until the children intervene. Apparently he's not the real threat the kids are afraid of, but what could be worse than a gi-enormous troll?

What follows is a most enjoyable tale of magic the world has forgotten. You learn in this story that as the world of man became more mundane, there was no more room for magical creatures. And this is true for us in the real world. As we grow up and have are minds bogged down with the mundane, we forget about the stories of our youth that left us in wide-eyed wonder. Unless you still read comic books that is.

Ron Marz and Stjepan Sejic once again team up for this storyline. Again, I love how Ron Marz's characters feel “real” in a world of magical creatures. Even the troll feels like a real character as opposed to just another monster. And Marz helps us realize that there are monsters out there far worse than a troll. Some of the world's evils come from all too real sources. Without spoiling anything, I will say that the ending is very satisfying. And at the very end of the issue, a familiar face returns to the pages of Witchblade.

Witchblade fans should already be reading this since it's part of the regular series. If you're not that familiar with Witchblade, it's not a problem here. This story is fairly self contained and explains itself as it goes along. Frankly, issues #132-133 would be a pretty good jumping-on point. And again, I really enjoyed the fairytale aspect of the story, as odd as that sounds out loud. This gets 4 out of 5 stars.


Writer: Ron Marz
Artist: Stjepan Sejic
Cover: Sejic, Jeffrey Spokes
Publisher: Top Cow
Cover Price: $2.99
On Sale: Now