Line #18 ComicBook/Switch2015


1	[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/switch.jpg]]
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3	->''"So... why did it choose me? I had my theories, but the one I settled with, at least for a while was: [[AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent you eat enough steak, and after a while you'll find yourself craving a burger]]."''
4	-->-- '''Mary'''
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6	An AlternateUniverse[=/=]AlternateContinuity all-ages spin-off of ''{{ComicBook/Witchblade}}'', also featuring some elements from ''ComicBook/TheDarkness''. This comic book series, created by Creator/StjepanSejic, the longest-running artist on ''Witchblade'', is based on a what-if scenario where the eponymous Witchblade chooses Mary, a snarky nerdy schoolgirl, instead of Sara Pezzini. It began as little more than a few drawings that Šejić posted on his Website/DeviantArt account, as an attempt to "test the waters" and see whether there's a potential readership for this kind of story. The project became very popular, and Šejić has been able to persuade his bosses at Top Cow (an imprint of Creator/ImageComics) to publish it as an actual comic book series, starting with Fall 2015, with scripts by Creator/RonMarz. As of March 2016 two issues have been published and a third is in production.
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8	The project was initially called ''Twitch'', a play on ''"'''T'''eenage '''Witch'''blade"''. However, Top Cow was forced to [[{{Pun}} switch]] the title to '''''Switch''''' to prevent a possible copyright collision with a ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'' spin-off, ''Sam and Twitch''. WordOfGod is that the new title also has a double meaning, since in this universe the Witchblade wearer is able to "switch" between the skills of previous wearers.
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10	''Switch'' is an interesting experiment in PlayingAgainstType, both for the ''Witchblade'' franchise (a LighterAndSofter all-ages book about kids, in contrast to the franchise's usual dark adult setting with erotic undertones), and Šejić himself (who's most well known for his work on the original ''ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}'' and his erotic webcomic ''Webcomic/{{Sunstone}}'').
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12	----
13	!!Examples:
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15	* AdaptationalModesty: Thankfully, the Witchblade doesn't destroy its wielder's clothing in this continuity.
16	* AgeLift: Tony is now a teenager rather than around the same age as Sara.
17	* AscendedMeme: The series started as nothing more than few random sketches poking fun out of ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}, initially barely even related with each other.
18	* BigSisterInstinct: In the first issue, Mary explains that she once saw a boy getting bullied but left pretending she hadn't seen anything. In contrast, when Krono throws a van against her little brother, she rushes to get him out of the way and gets crushed instead (luckily, the Witchblade saves her).
19	* BlindWithoutEm: [[http://nebezial.deviantart.com/art/damn-you-witchblade-i-hought-i-was-done-with-you-313279344 "Why do I wear glasses in battle? Because I need them, Einstein!"]] Once the series began to actually take off, Mary no longer wears glasses.
20	* TheChosenOne:
21	** Mary for the Witchblade.
22	** Tony Estacado for the Darkness, although he doesn't inherit real power until he turns twenty-one. For now he's something of TheLoad.
23	* TheCommissionerGordon: Sara Pezzini seems to fill the role.
24	* DeathByAdaptation: Although he had been killed by the time the series was released, Jackie Estacado (heavily implied to be the Darkness wielder before Tony) is more or less stated to have died impregnating a woman, rather than in combat.
25	* DecoyProtagonist: The first few pages of issue #1 mention that the Witchblade's modern user, like those before her, needs to be an exceptional and beautiful young woman with tons of courage and willpower. We're introduced to a shot of a beautiful, well dressed girl walking down the hall, who then moves out of the way to reveal Mary, the ''actual'' protagonist.
26	* HeroSecretService: Sandra Wilkins, the protege of Lord Sonatine and the elite warrior of the Brotherhood of Darkness, serves as the personal bodyguard to Tony. Justified in that Tony hasn't inherited his full powers yet, and needs protection.
27	* HighSchoolAU: While the heroes are original characters, this is essentially what ''Switch'' is. The original title was even an abbreviation of "'''T'''eenage '''Witch'''blade."
28	* ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: Again, Mary and Tony. As the artist summarized it, they're [[http://nebezial.deviantart.com/art/witchblade-i-would-like-to-draw-306544734 "just teenage dumbasses with regular problems having the world dropped on them every now and then."]]
29	* MutualMasquerade: Aaron and Mary, though they find out about it when they go into battle.
30	* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: How Mary and everyone else starts off.
31	* RazorWings: Mary's brothers description when Zala took control was "You turned into knives and destroyed the street".
32	* RefusedTheCall: Zigzagged. Mary accepts the Witchblade reasonably quickly, until the past bearers explain to her that she can expect it to regularly attract ''oddities'', meaning humungous monsters and anthropomorphic personifications of primordial forces, most of them unfriendly. At that point, she [[IJustWantToBeNormal wanted nothing more to do with it]] until it was explained to her that the Witchblade arrived "from the stars".
33	-->'''Mary:''' Light and Dark, my ass! I HAVE AN ACTUAL ALIEN WEAPON!!!
34	* SparedByTheAdaptation: In the comics at the time when Switch was released, the Darkness had been destroyed through an occult ritual after the decapitation of Jackie Estacado, due to the combined forces of early wielder Aram and the then-current wielder of the Witchblade. In this continuity, it survived long enough for Jackie to pass on the power to a son, Tony Estacado.
35	* SpiritAdvisor: In a divergence from the original {{Comicbook/Witchblade}} series, here past wielders can communicate with the current one. Their advice is sometimes overly enthusiastic and not especially helpful to Mary. Also, when she channels any specific predecessor's ability -- like expertly shooting a bow and arrow -- Mary's body takes on physical attributes of that predecessor's appearance, like her Witchblade armor reflecting theirs or her normally straight hair kinking out.
36	* SuperpoweredEvilSide: Mary can channel a lot of benevolent former bearers... and she can channel Zala, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Twilight Empress]], who in her first appearance apparently eviscerated a creature that used an armored truck as a missile weapon. To quote her:
37	-->'''Zala:''' I am the one you will call when all others fail you.
38	* {{Stripperriffic}}: Averted, due to the book's LighterAndSofter style and school setting. The Witchblade doesn't rip off Mary's clothes when its powers are activated. The difference is notable considering the original series was one of the prominent 90s examples of "bad girl art" genre, which combined erotic imagery with antiheroics.
39	* {{Transplant}}: Aaron the Dragon Prince, the [[CharacterTitle Titular Character]] from a series some years ago from Image Comics, appears here.
40	* UltimateUniverse: One for the ''Witchblade'' franchise.
41	* {{Unperson}}: According to Zala, her name was erased from history out of fear that other Witchblade bearers would follow her example.
42	* WeUsedToBeFriends: Mary and Tony, though it's not entirely clear if it was by his choice. They were ChildhoodFriends but after a period where he was taken away somewhere by his family (possibly something related to the Darkness), he came back, became popular, and barely acknowledges Mary anymore.

Context ComicBook / Switch2015