WITCHBLADE #22 — Bennett, Cafaro & Prianto Unpack Corporate Shadows and Cyborg Nightmares

Detective Jake McCarthy has been hunting a shadowy corporate conspiracy, only to find himself side-by-side with the very person he was sent to catch. As magical and technological threats converge on Sara Pezzini, this issue of Witchblade dives deep into the weird and the dangerous.

Marguerite Bennett has spent the last few arcs weaving Detective Jake McCarthy into the fabric of the Witchblade mythos, and issue #22 is where that thread pulls taut. You’ve followed Jake’s investigation across the country, tracking a corporate conspiracy that seems to have fingers in every pie. Now, the story turns inward. The man who was hunting the shadows is now standing right beside them.

The setup here is pure noir tension. McCarthy ends up partnered with his latest target: Aphrodite, a cyborg assassin. On the surface, the dynamic is clear—she’s hunting Sara Pezzini. But Bennett and the artistic team have layered this with a sense of unease. Is Aphrodite just following orders, or is there a bigger, more sinister machine at work? The threats aren't just coming from the magical world of the Witchblade anymore; there are technological nightmares rising to meet them.

Guiseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto bring a distinct visual rhythm to these pages. Cafaro’s pacing is sharp, grounding the noir elements in gritty realism, while Prianto’s inks add a layer of texture that makes the cyborg elements feel invasive and wrong. It’s a beautiful, unsettling contrast that highlights the clash between ancient magic and cold, hard tech. If you love the idea of magical artifacts colliding with futuristic weaponry, this is the issue that brings it all together.

This is the kind of issue that rewards readers who have stuck with the series. It doesn't ask you to relearn the lore; it assumes you’re already invested in Jake’s moral dilemma and Sara’s struggle to keep her power from consuming her. It’s a confident step forward in a story that has been quietly building toward something major.

For those who like to layer their reading, keep an eye on the variants by Valerio Giangiordano. He’s captured a specific, haunting quality in his take on both Witchblade and The Darkness. It’s the kind of art that makes you want to hold the book a second longer, just to stare at the details.