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Kinda-blah take on the Image Comic.

It’s a little funny that in the 16 years since its creation, the number of live-action adaptations of Image Comics characters can be counted on one hand. We had the god-awful Spawn film and…well, not much else. The only other thing I can think of off the top of my head is this, the Witchblade television show, based on the Top Cow book of the same name.

On the surface, Witchblade stays true to the comic roots. Detective Sara Pezzini ends up finding the Witchblade, a mystical item that latches on to her, granting her amazing abilities. She ends up using this morphing thingamajig to help solve crimes of both normal and supernatural natures. Now, the one major change from the comics is that Pezzini (played by Yancy Butler) doesn’t run around in a metal bikini. That’s like doing a Punisher movie without the skull on his chest, or an X-Men movie with the muties wearing leather jack…..uhm, nevermind.

Anyway, what we have here on this seven-disc Warner set is the complete 24-episode series. It lasted from 2001 through 2002 on TNT, and had a pretty decent fanbase. It’s a pretty decent show, balancing its CSI-style stuff with swordfights and other action as Sara has to deal with the evil Kenneth Irons and Irons’ minion Ian Nottingham. While the inclusion of the Joan of Arc mythos is interesting, the show remains frustrating throughout with very little character development.

It’s all just…decent. The acting is fair and the effects are serviceable, but there’s just not much life to be found here. It just shows so much promise that never materializes.

The set contains two by-the-numbers making-of featurettes that amount mostly to the cast and crew gushing about how much they loved the show. The only interesting thing about a group of original casting sessions included is that they were still recording them on crappy VHS. The final extras are occasional bits featuring a character from the show named Gabriel offering philosophical nonsense.

Witchblade had potential, but simply didn’t exercise enough of it. And while it may be more technically proficient than that horrible Spawn film, it’s nowhere near as fun.

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