I'll be completely up-front, I have never read a single issue of Witchblade before this one-shot. However, I tried my best to piece together what I could from the background info provided in the issue, and truthfully, it wasn't too hard to keep up.

 

The issue, titled "Due Process" finds out heroine Sara Pezzini, bearer of a legendary weapon called the Witchblade, attempting to get a wrongfully accused prisoner set free. Years ago, she made a mistake that caused an innocent man to be sent to prison, separated from his family, and ruining his life. To make amends, Sara is attempting to have him set free. Sadly, his long years in prison have caused him to make some rather permanent affiliations. On paper, he's a member of a white power Aryan Nation gang. In reality, his loyalties lie to a much darker, and much more frightening, entity.

The story itself wasn't particularly difficult to follow along with, which was good news for me. It twists and turns a bit, with some interesting ideas presented along the way, but it ended before I really got invested in the drama. What I saw of the Witchblade's powers were intriguing, but I was left in the dark about the world around it. While I understand that it's part of an ongoing series, as a one-shot, I would have expected it to be a bit more self-contained.

 

On the whole, the characters were certainly interesting, and I would love to see more of them; but I didn't get a sense of what was at stake for any of them, and what their place was in the comic's world. Luckily, the issue's writing more than made up for any ambiguity I might of had on the background of the storyline.

 

The highlight for me though was Alina Urusov's artwork. Simply put, it was just gorgeous. While the specifics of the story may have been confusing for me, I kept reading if only to enjoy the awesome illustrations. There were so many panels in this comic that were downright awesome, beautiful, or a combination of the two.

 

Overall, "Due Process" is a good, but not spectacular, introduction to the series. I was intrigued, but the lack of proper context and world-building didn't give me a good sense of the scope or direction of the greater story. I would like to check out additional issues of the comic, but unfortunately, "Due Process" was not an entirely fitting entry point. Luckily though, what it gave me was good enough anyways to warrant additional reading, and I look forward to seeing where Witchblade takes me next.