Top Cow Productions Inc. and Virgin Comics announced today the first-ever crossover comic book event between the two companies, starring the top, solo female characters from both publishers. In the story, longtime Top Cow icon Witchblade, a mystical artifact currently wielded by New York City detective Sara Pezzini, travels to India and encounters Devi, a supernatural force created by the gods that has been reborn inside the body of a young woman named Tara Mehta.
“The crossover seemed like a perfect connection,” said Top Cow Publisher Filip Sablik. “It was a natural fit to have the Witchblade and Devi meet each other. And to have writer Ron Marz at the helm for us was by far the logical choice.”
Marz is the current writer on Witchblade, having joined the title with issue #80. He has committed to writing the book until at least issue #150 with artist Stjepan Sejic. Marz is also the editor of three of Virgin Comics’ Shakti line of books, including Devi, Ramayan 3392 A.D. and The Sadhu. He joined the staff one year ago to mentor and nurture the company’s young staff of India-based creators.
“Because of my connection to both universes, this crossover was pretty much my baby to run with,” said Marz. “I came up with a concept that would have the two characters believably meet, and from there we fleshed it out to create out a dynamic tale led by two beautiful women and featuring some scary bad guys and a cool pay-off to boot. Plus, this may not necessarily be the only time Sara and Tara meet!”
Top Cow will publish part one of the story in April, called Witchblade/Devi #1. Joining Marz on the issue will be artist Eric Basaldua (Magdalena), who will also draw one of the covers. Virgin Comics will then follow up with part two in May, entitled Devi/Witchblade #1. On that issue, Samit Basu (Devi) writes the story, and Mukesh Singh (Gamekeeper) will provide art and one of the covers. The celebrated Greg Land (X-Men: Phoenix – Endsong) provides variant covers for both issues.
“Simply put, this was a no-brainer for us to do,” said Gotham Chopra, Chief Creative Officer and Editor-in-Chief of Virgin Comics. “Not only are we at Virgin huge fans of Witchblade, but the whole team behind it at Top Cow. I know our guys—Samit Basu and Mukesh Singh—are both going to bring their A game to make sure that Devi holds her own against Sara.”
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