By Stephen Pytak 

     The Top Cow comic Witchblade celebrates issue
100 in July. 
     Besides going out and buying up all four special
covers, I can't think if a better way to celebrate than
to revisit the pilot of the TNT series.
     I wish it was in a DVD box set. But that hasn't
happened yet. So I have to dig out the VHS copy
I made when it aired.
     The magical gauntlet wasn't the boob hugger 
like the one in the comic book.
     But then again, this was made for TV. And for a 
TV pilot, it wasn't the worst.
     TNT's "Witchblade" was more "Hill Street Blues" 
than "Wonder Woman."
     Comic book elements obviously had to play a 
part. But the pilot and the first season really cooked 
when they were used in small, powerful doses.
     Some fan boys I know had problems when Yancy 
Butler was cast in the lead.
     "She's too butch," one said to me one day when 
I was flipping through the comic racks.
     The "Sara Pezzini" in the comics looks like a 
Victoria's Secret model.
     But Yancy's "Sara" looks like she could kick your 
ass. And that doesn't mean she can't model lingerie.
     She's a tough babe who's married to her job. She 
drives a motorcycle, fast. And she likes her music 
loud. She packs a .22. And an attitude. She has 
issues with her past. And she has more enemies 
than friends.
     Among those enemies is a card-carrying crime 
boss, "Gallo (Conrad Dunn)," who supposedly 
killed not only one of her childhood girlfriends, but 
her father.
     The pilot kicks off with Pezzini investigating the 
death of this  friend and a showdown in a museum 
with one of Gallo's goons. 
     There's gunfire. Display cases shatter. And a 
medieval gauntlet attaches itself to her pitching arm. 
     It saves her life, then turns into a bracelet. She 
shrugs and keeps it. 
     Soon, other characters enter the picture, in 
particular billionaire "Kenneth Irons (Anthony 
Cistaro)" and his mysterious bodyguard, "Ian 
Nottingham (Eric Etebari)." Both express interest 
in the bracelet. And both are eccentric and fun to 
watch, the latter in particular.
     Eric Etebari's "Nottingham" is an obsessive 
poetic introvert who dresses in black and has that 
"you know, I could kill you" look. 
     His motivations are never clear. His obsession 
with Pezzini and the "Witchblade" is just blind. But 
who cares. This guy's a hoot. He should have his 
own show on The Sci Fi Channel.
     Anyway, somehow Irons sets Pezzini up. She and 
her partner, "Danny Woo" are trapped in an old 
theater. Gallo and his gang show up and gun Woo 
down. And Pezzini turns to her new bracelet for 
help.
     It works. For a few seconds, the film goes into 
bullet-time. And Pezzini and the "Witchblade" wipe 
out some of Gallo's gunmen.
     Not a bad action scene, but it's definitely 
"Matrix" inspired.
     In the end, we learn a thing or two about 
Pezzini's new wristband.
     Irons, who's also a "Witchblade" obsessive, says 
that the weapon chooses to activate itself on its own. 
And it can leave a "Wielder" without protection.
     Pezzini finds this out during her showdown with 
Gallo in a subway. She summons some of her inner 
demons and…BAM!…She's not only got a glove on 
her hand, but a whole suit of armor to boot.
     She doesn't kill Gallo.
     Instead she swears to bring him to "justice."
     However, the next day, Gallo turns up dead. It's 
ruled a suicide.
     But, Pezzini suspects otherwise and continues 
her adventures into the darker side of greater New 
York.
     The film inspired an interesting 11-episode first 
season. The last three shows, in which Pezzini finds 
herself running for her life from her own employers, 
were my favorites.
     TNT cancelled the series after the second season 
failed to deliver. Honestly, I wasn't happy with it 
either. But I think this series deserves resurrection, 
maybe on cable.
     I was also hoping a soundtrack of some sort 
would be released. I mean, Xena has one. So does 
Dark Angel. 
     I thought the primary characters, and actors, in 
this series were so good, I would have had them mix 
it up a little bit in the new Lara Croft film.
     Top Cow does that crossover stuff all the time.
     By the way July 2 is Yancy's birthday, so we wish
her the best!
     According to the IMDB, she's busy working. She
did a movie with Lou Diamond Phillips, 
"Bloodlines." And she's working on some film called
"Basilisk" directed by Stephen "Flounder" Furst.