Witchblade (Comic Book)

Witchblade is an American comic book series published by Top Cow and created by Marc Silvestri, David Wohl, Brian Haberlin, and Michael Turner. The Witchnlade is a supernatural gauntlet that seeks out and bonds with a succession of female hosts, who then become the Witchblade's ally in fighting the forces of evil. The title was first published in 2015 and ran until 2015; the Witchblade and its wielders have also appeared in a number of crossover and special issues, as well as a television adaptation that aired on the TNT cable network from 2001 to 2002.

Witchblade Annual #1 (Volume 1, Annual 1)
The story opens with a beautiful woman standing at the edge of a roof, meat cleaver in hand, covered in blood. When Sara tries to stop her from jumping to her death, the woman attacks her. The Witchblade protects Sara, who pulls the woman away from the edge as she comes to her senses. The woman is confused and can't remember why she's on the roof. Sara brings her to the police station and explains that she is under arrest for hacking a man to death with the meat cleaver.

Sara's precinct has seen several of these cases, in which woman attack men for seemingly no reason. She links all of the women to Dr. Rosewood, a prominent plastic surgeon. When Sara and her partner catch Rosewood in a lie, they head to his house to ask him a few more questions. Gleason discovers that Rosewood is using an ancient Tibetan medallion to control the minds of his patients, using them as mindless killers to destroy his enemies. Just as Gideon discovers Rosewood's secret, Sara discovers that Rosewood's wife is also under his control. Can the two detectives stop the doctor before they are stabbed to death?

Witchblade: Shades of Gray (Volume 1, Issue 2)
In this four-part miniseries, Sara investigates a series of gruesome murders and suspects that they may be the work of the handsome Dorian Gray (spoiler: it's that Dorian Grey, the one with the painting). However, the real killer is Gray's former best friend, an immortal shapeshifter named Le Comte De Saint Germain, who enjoys killing men and stealing their identity (right down to their physical appearance).

The Count has hypnotic powers, which he uses in his current identity to hypnotize a woman into having dinner with him. Later, at a club, he hypnotizes another woman and breaks her boyfriend's hand when he tries to interfere. When Detective Alice Burns arrives to arrest him, he orders his thralls to attack them.

Witchblade: Shades of Gray (Volume 1, Issue 3)
Gray shows Sara the famous painting and explains how he became friends with the Count, and how they had a falling out when the Count murdered a young woman in an attempt to get his hands on the Witchblade. Meanwhile, the Count hypnotizes Alice and has her dress up before sending her over to Gray's apartment.

Witchblade: Shades of Gray (Volume 1, Issue 4)
Sara arrives in time to stop Alice from killing Gray, but the Count has assumed Gray's form. Sara is forced in the classic "which one is the evil impostor" situation as the two "Grays" argue about who really killed the young Witchblade wielder back in 19th century Morocco.