via The Blog From Another World

Top Cow Month isn't just full of awesome interviews, previews, and contests: it also marks the 15th anniversary of the publisher's most popular series, Witchblade!

In honor of this occasion, we've got another spectacular interview with writer Ron Marz below, plus an amazing Witchblade/Artifacts Contest for you to enter! Plus, stay tuned to our interview with artist Stjepan Sejic on Friday, April 22, in which we'll debut an exclusive sneak peek at Witchblade #144!

TFAW.com: You've been writing Witchblade since issue #80–almost half her run. What are some of the most memorable story arcs you've written?

Ron Marz: The "First Born" storyline comes to mind initially because having a lead character have a baby obviously changes the dynamic of the series as a whole. I'm also really fond of what we did in issue #92, which finally explained the origin of the Witchblade itself. We've been able to mine a lot of story material from that.

TFAW.com: How has Sara Pezzini evolved over the years?

Witchblade #144RM: Hopefully Sara has become a more well-rounded character . . . no pun intended. My goal has always been to make sure that Sara was just as interesting and real without the Witchblade as she is with it. So I've tried to flesh out her character as much as possible, as a cop, as a mother, as the wielder of the Witchblade.

TFAW.com: Right now, she's dealing with the death of her sister and the kidnapping of her child, Hope. How is she going to move forward after this?

RM: I suppose a lot of that depends on whether she ever gets her daughter back. That's obviously the kind of thing that could break a person, and I want to make sure we're dealing with the kidnapping and with Julie's death as realistically as possible. Sara's going to have a rough time of it over the next year.

TFAW.com: One major factor in Sara's history is her complicated romantic attachments. Can you describe the nature of her relationship with Detective Patrick Gleason?

RM: Gleason's her boyfriend, really kind of the first time in the series that Sara has had a steady relationship with anyone. But some of what goes on between Sara and Jackie Estacado in Artifacts is going to complicate that quite a bit.

TFAW.com: Patrick is generally categorized as the "nice" guy many women take for granted. Can you expand on that? Is that likely to change in the near future?

Witchblade #142RM: One of the reasons we made issues #142 and #143 a Gleason solo story is that I wanted to expand his character a bit and give him a chance to step into the spotlight. Certainly Sara is the lead character in the book and Gleason is by definition a supporting character, so he tends not to get as much screen time. I think those issues will give him a little more of an edge in readers' minds.

TFAW.com: Sara is also attracted to Jackie Estacado, the mob boss who is the host of The Darkness–and also the father of Sara's daughter, Hope. Will Jackie and Sara ever come closer to an actual romantic relationship?

RM: I think their relationship is the definition of "complicated." She's a police detective, he's a former mob hitman and unrepentant killer, despite having his own personal code of honor. Jackie and Sara certainly aren't "good" for each other, but sometimes we're most attracted to that which isn't good for us. Stay tuned.

TFAW.com: Speaking of Hope, she was actually conceived while Sara was unconscious and Jackie was under the influence of The Darkness. What made you decide to take that route?

RM: A big part of it was that I wanted there to be a mystery to who the father was, even to Sara. It was a situation in which they were both used by the personification of The Darkness. It's something that really wouldn't have happened if either of them had been aware of it. Although now that they have this child together, there's a tie that's always going to bind them.

Witchblade #147TFAW.com: How will Patrick deal with Jackie having a permanent tie to Sara?

RM: We've already seen that it's not a pleasant relationship between those two. They don't like each other, however, there's a certain respect for each other. But if Gleason and Jackie both end up wanting the same thing, there's going to be an inevitable clash.

TFAW.com: How will Artifacts affect both the Witchblade and Angelus titles?

RM: Angelus was a limited series, though I certainly wouldn't mind doing more with the character if there's an opportunity. Moving forward, the Witchblade title is going to reflect the changes that take place due to Artifacts . . . but you'll have to wait until Artifacts is over to find out just what those changes are.

Our thanks go out to Ron for catching us up on Witchblade. You can browse our selection of Witchblade comics and graphic novels right here on our site. Plus, come back Friday for our interview with artist Stjepan Sejic, and remember to enter our Witchblade/Artifacts Contest for your chance to win a variant comic signed by Ron Marz!

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