I’m a sucker for good endings. Out of all the movies, shows, comics and novels that I’ve experienced, the thing that I enjoy the most is seeing a good story end well. Sometimes I might get a shiver or feel the echoes of what happened for a few days such as the instance when I finished Stephen King’s The Dark Tower novels for the first time. Times like this has brought me to the self understanding that every good story worth reading or telling, for that matter, should make the reader leave with a certain sense of closure when turning that final page. I just had that experience once again when reading the final issue of Witchblade. It’s been a title that has been one of my long time favorites and it finally came to an end with issue #185. I have to say that I didn’t start reading this comic when it first came out, though I had heard of it. My first introduction to Detective Sara Pezzini was with the television show based on the comic. From there I got the collection of the first issues and found out that I really liked the comic book too. The idea of a female chosen throughout the generations to wield an ancient artifact that had immeasurable power was similar to another favorite: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was similar enough that I decided to stick with the comic for a while and I’m happy that I did. It introduced me to a whole array of new characters and stories that I enjoyed. It was a dark and gritty take on the battle between good and evil that was less super-heroish than what I had been accustomed to. One character that was intricately connected to Sarah was the wielder of
‘The Darkness.” They were friends, lovers and mortal enemies time and time again, a story that came to its own conclusion a few issues earlier with #181 (I’ll save that for a later commentary). With this and a few more closures to be made, Sara’s time with the Witchblade was coming to an end. This brings us to issue 185. The final issue was crafted by two awesome writers who have had a large part in telling Sarah Pezzini’s story: Ron Marz and Matt Hawkins. The story itself was split into two chapters with each writer telling their part respectively. I liked that there was no last antagonist threatening the world and no final battle to be fought. It’s a remembrance of the past as Sara helps the Witchblade move on to the future. It is preparing to find a new bearer to wield it. The journey is heartfelt with the final pages being almost poetic. It’s definitely a goodbye not only for Sarah and the artifact, but also to the reader who has taken part in the journey with both of them. What I appreciate the most is that Sara wasn’t killed off in an overdone attempt to have the series end in a tragic and dramatic fashion. Now I want go back and read it all from the beginning knowing that it’s all part of the complete tale of one particular Witchblade wielder. This issue was such an event for myself that I had to listen to iTunes “epic scores” radio station as I experienced it. Like I said, I’m a sucker for good endings. This one will serve as a model and inspiration for any endings that I might have in mind for some of my own writings. If you like good endings then go start at the beginning with Witchblade issue #1 so you can get to this issue 185.
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