Witchblade (2017) Issue 2 is the second issue of the 2017 reboot Witchblade comics series. This issue is the second part of the Life After story arc.
Synopsis[]
Struggling to adapt to her new life as the Witchblade's host, Alex finds she's the prime suspect in the death of an NYPD detective—and that the dead cop had powerful and corrupt friends who will do anything to keep his shady business quiet. But in the world of the Witchblade, nothing is quite what it seems, and Alex soon learns that there's more than greed and graft at play inside the circle of corruption. The bent cops also have a supernatural backer, and Alex has just landed in his crosshairs.
Characters[]
Plot Summary[]
Alex is interrogated by Detective Victoria Roseland at a police precinct. The detective tells Alex to reveal what happened at Detective Grove's home, the night she killed him. Two days earlier, at Grove's apartment, Alex checks the detectives vitals, realizing, that she killed him. She apologizes to Myra for what she has done, but the wife isn't sorry for this. As the police arrives, Myra tells the officers, that Alex saved her life as Blake was about kill them both. Alex herself then stands up and leaves the scene. When officers notice this, they decide to send a car to her house or the courthouse to pick her up tomorrow.
Having realized, that she's not the same anymore, Alex goes to man, that helped her, Ash. He calms her down, saying that he would never willfully let the Witchblade hurt her. Ash continues by telling Alex, that he can teach her how to control it. Alex then asks Ash to explain her what this thing is and make it stop. Ash tells her, that no one knows where it came from. What they do know is that, the Witchblade is a weapon, meant to fight all the darkness and evil, that normal humans can't see. The artifact only chooses special women, chosen for their place in history's darkest hours. Because Alex has been chosen at the moment of her death, her bond to the artifact is especially strong.
Ash then tells her to stop fighting the Witchblade and begin to listen to it as monsters that she's meant to destroy will try to eliminate her while she is still new and vulnerable. After listening to Ash, Alex returns to her apartment, where she washes the blood from her face. She then begins to cry and takes a drink. Meanwhile, someone at the street watches her apartments window. When Alex notices this, the man disappears. Later, Alex goes to her office. As she picks up the picture, Myra has gave her, it begins to burn. This forces Alex to drop the framed picture on the ground. Out of the back of the picture, a flash drives falls out. Detective Victoria Roseland then walks into her office, wanting a formal statement from her. Alex tells her, that she will come by the precinct after the work.
Sometime later, Alex meets with Debbie and together the check the contents of the flash driver. Inside they finds information about various cops in 78th precinct in illegal activities. Alex concludes, that Blake kept this information in order to blackmail his fellow officers. Alex also notices, that all the officers bear a strange tattoo on their body just like Blake. Accompanied by Ash, Alex goes to morgue in order to inspect Blake's corpse. Unfortunately, Ash doesn't recognise the tattoo. Blake then wakes up and pushes Ash out of the room. He then grabs Alex and pushes her on the ground. As Blake slowly walks to her, indenting to killer her, Alex grabs an electric saw and cuts off his arm, bearing the strange tattoo. Noticing, that the hand began to smoke, Alex grabs a scalpel and stabs the hand, killing Blake.
Outside the morgue, Alex decides to go to ER, but Ash tells her to give the nerves a few hours to knit and she 'will be good as new. Ash then leaves Alex alone, saying that he's supposed to protect the Witchblade and not the wielder and until she begins to use using the weapon as it was intended, she will be on her own. Instead of giving up, Alex visits a nightclub, that Blake's colleague visit. She notices footprints leading to the VIP area filled with off-duty cops. The bouncer then tells her to go away before the cops arrest her for disturbance. Alex counters this by saying, that she will tell her friend at the network about cops having a relationship with Russian mobster Ivan Tenebrev. The bouncer then tells her to leave for her own good and Alex decides to comply.
After leaving the club, Alex calls Debbie, wanting to meet her at a bar. Debbie agrees, but first must to drop off the flash drive to her investigators. A man then attacks Debbie from behind, beats her up and takes the drive. Having heard about this, Alex rushes to the courthouse to check on Debbie. Debbie calms her down, saying that she's okay. She then shows Alex, a picture of her family with "stop" written on it, that the attacker left for her. Debbie also reveals, that she has lost the drive. In the present, after hearing Alex's story, Roseland concludes, that she is guilty of something, but she hasn't figure out what yet. Roseland then leaves, telling that Detective Barrows will see her out.
Outside the interrogation room, Roseland orders Barrows to take Alex down the street and make sure she goes home. As Barrows takes Alex out of the room, she notices, that his boots leave the same footprints seen at the club. She then tells her to stay away from her, when she sees the same strange tattoo on his neck. Barrows tells her, that Debbie isn't the only one they can get. He then shows the footage of Mr. Underwood walking home. After seeing this, Alex tells Barrows, that although she doesn't know what that mark means, but if he hurts her loved ones, there will be no place on this Earth he can hide from her. Hearing, that Alex can see his mark, scares Barrows and he proceeds to run away.
Although Alex has a strong feeling, that tipping her hand was a mistake, revealing to be not as helpless as she looks, she feels good about her decision. To be continued...
Trivia[]
- Detective Barrows likens Alex to the Batgirl, a DC vigilante superhero.