Tomb Raider Witchblade Special Vol.1, Issue 1

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Tomb Raider/Witchblade #1
TombRaiderWitchbladeSpecialVol1Issue1Vendetta.jpg
Issue No. 1
Story Title Vendetta
Release Date December 1997
Writer Michael Turner
Pencil Michael Turner
Ink Joe Weems
Colors Jonathan D. Smith
Letters Robin Spehar & Dennis Heisler
Pages 32
Price $2.95

Tomb Raider/Witchblade Special Vol.1, # 1 (short Tomb Raider/Witchblade), also known by its title Vendetta.[1], is the first Tomb Raider Comic released by Top Cow in December 1997. It is a Crossover between the Witchblade and Tomb Raider universes. It was penned and pencilled by Michael Turner, one of the co-creators of the Witchblade series.

Story

When visiting New York, Lara Croft is arrested by Detective Sara Pezzini of the NYPD when she gets mixed up in a monster attack that leaves one Vincent Scarponi dead.

Lately it seems that I'm the one Siry sends to these bizarre crime scenes. I must be the Mulder and Scully of the NYDP.
— Sara Pezzini, Page 10

Lara reveals to Sara that all began when she was commissioned to retrieve a talisman with a black pearl, that is believed to be a wellspring of immortality, for Lucas Moralto from a labyrinth in the ruins of Hal Saflieni, Malta, three months earlier. When returning the artefact Moralto, a 90-year-old friend of the late Lord Henshingly Croft, it turns out, that he does not intend to simply prolong his life, but instead wants to carry out a vendetta against the Scarponi family.

The victims in these pictures are actually descendants of a crime family that has been disbanded to 50 years. This family, the Scarponis, had a war with a rival family, of course, the Moraltos, that all but annihilated the both of them.
— Lara Croft, Page 14

Learning of his evil intentions, Lara tries to take the talisman from him, which splits in two in the process, releasing a Winged Demon that sets out to carry out Moralto's orders. Lara and Sara set out to Moralto's fortress in Bar Harbor, Maine and infiltrate it from the ocean side. Lara confronts Moralto to learn that the half of the talisman Moralto was able to keep is now part of him and transforms him into the winged demon. Lara is faced with the demon and has to fight him. Sara gives her a hand, or rather a bolt of fire from the Witchblade and together they can defeat the demon. Moralto survives and later shows up on the doorstep of Antonio Scarponi's family while Lara takes the talisman with her, to keep it safe.

I was forced to live with the fact that I couldn't kill the man and I couldn't prosecute him either without getting laughed out of the force. We had to let him go.
— Sara Pezzini, Page 28


Characters

A detective of the New York Police Department.
The victim of a vicious monster attack and a member of a (disbanded) crime family.
A man in his 90s, an old friend of Lord Croft, who commissioned Lara to find an artefact for him, who then turns out to be a member of a rivalling crime family to the Scarponis.
A creature from a talisman inlaid with a black pearl. Lucas Moralto decides to take on its form to carry out his vendetta.
  • elderly woman
Vincent Scarponi's neighbour, who reports a domestic dispute, that turns out to be something else entirely.
  • X-Files watching teenagers
Vincent Scarponi's neighbours who have Lara chasing a monster through their living room.
A character from the Witchblade universe.
  • Joe Siry aka Siry
Detective Pezzini's captain mentioned in the comic.
The wife of Antonio Scarponi. She remains nameless, but is seen in the comic.

Locations

Three months before her visit to New York Lara visited Malta to explore the ruins of Hal Seflieni, where she discovered a talisman with a black pearl in the centre she had been commissioned to retrieve for a man called Lucas Moralto.
After Lara and Sara have talked, they drive to Bar Harbor in Maine to confront Lucas Moralto.

Artefact

  • Talisman with Black Pearl
The black pearl of the talisman is believed to be a wellspring of immortality. However when Lara splits the talisman in two, a winged demon is released.

Gallery

  • Winged Demon


Trivia

  • The couple of teenagers in the apartment next to the victim of a vicious attack are watching an episode of "The X-Files", and Sara Pezzini calls herself the Mulder and Scully of the NYPD.
  • Drex (Lloyd Drexler) and Siry are characters from the Witchblade universe.
  • When Sara recalls Lara's background story she describes her as Multimillionaire Archaeologist and names her parents as Henshingly and Mary Croft.
  • Lara carries her half of the talisman around her neck.
  • Lara is repeatedly called Laura by Sara and Moralto. Apparently the American writers didn't pay enough attention.
  • The comic addresses an issue Lara and Sara are both facing, that neither of them can tell the truth about supernatural occurrences.


  1. ↑ Inside Cover, Note the dot is part of the name given there.
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