Artifacts #10 & Origins (Top Cow)

writer: Ron Marz, Marc Silvestri
artist: Jeremy Haun, Ryan Sook, various

First off, these are not new comic, but since I bought them off racks containing new comics, I figured I'd treat them as such.  Part of the reason for that is that I want to emphasize that Artifacts is a book currently in print that I very much want to support.

It just so happens that I didn't really know that until Top Cow announced a talent contest that will potentially allow a schmuck like me the chance to write the characters in this series.

The comics I found happen to feature Ji Xi.  The one-shot Origins features exactly that, origins for all thirteen bearers of the eponymous totems of power.

I haven't until now come to appreciate Artifacts because I tend to read most of my superhero comics from DC and sometimes Marvel.  For about a decade Image competed pretty heavily in the superhero genre, but now mostly sticks to Spawn, Savage Dragon, and Invincible, two out of three from its earliest days.  Top Cow was one of the studios that more or less spun off from Image, and thus counts as a solo entity, a small publisher in other words.  Most small publishers trying to do superheroes inevitably prove why they're small publishers trying to do superheroes.  Their effort are bush league.

I assumed Top Cow was the same.  Marc Silvestri launched the imprint with Witchblade (in essence the original Artifact), who originally appeared to be just another member of the '90s bad girls craze, mostly because her costume, which was an extension of her Artifact (worn one hand when not fully activated), covered her body just enough not to show private parts.  The short-lived live action TV series that followed was just one indication that she could be more than just another bad girl.

After The Darkness followed and became another successful franchise, Top Cow solidified itself as an imprint.  Some time later, Ron Marz came along and started to expand the concept that had become central to the imprint.  This eventually resulted in Artifacts.

Artifacts #10 was originally #10 of 13 issues.  It became an ongoing series once everyone realized what they had.  Therefore Marz has had the luxury to continue a slow build on everything he's done so far.  This has meant that a character like Ji Xi can sit back while other characters like Tom Judge take the front seat.  Of all the totem bearers, he's still known for possessing the so-called Thirteenth Artifact, because even the artifact doesn't have a name yet, much less a history.  His appearance in this issue is indicative of his role so far, trying to figure out how he fits in, if he's a villain or a hero (because these Artifacts can go both ways).  It may not be the wisest move to try and understand everything that's going on by reading a random issue like this, but it's still plenty of indication of the quality that's gone into the project, and the strong characters who exist.

Origins, again, presents two-page recaps of the major developments worth knowing about the thirteen characters at the heart of the Artifacts franchise.  Aside from Witchblade, the Darkness, and Ji Xi, there's Angelus (the light that counterbalances the dark), Tom Judge (the Rapture), Glorianna Silver (Ember Stone), Michael Finnegan (Glacier Stone), Alina Enstrom (Pandora's Box), Ian Nottingham (Blood Sword), Sabine (Wheel of Shadows), Magdalena (Spear of Destiny)Abby Van Alstine (Heart Stone), and Aphrodite IV (Coin of Solomon).  Angelus (also known as Dani Baptiste, who once served as a replacement Witchblade), is considered one of the big three in the franchise, along with Witchblade (Sara Pezzini) and the Darkness (Jackie Estacado).  The Magdalena and Aphrodite IV are also known elements of the Top Cow landscape.

What's impressive is that Artifacts has successfully transformed the Top Cow catalog into a working mythology.  I'm embarrassed to admit that it's taken me so long to discover it, much less appreciate it, but at least I have.  I'm making it a mission to try and spread the word, not because I have the vague hope of one day hoping to shape it, but because it's worth supporting in its own right.  If you have no working knowledge of it, Origins is a good way to go.  Otherwise pick up a random issue for yourself and see if it catches your fancy, too.