Top Cow Tomb Raider Witchblade

Witchblade / Tomb Raider Issue #1

Cover: Michael Turner, Joe Weems V, Jonathan D. Smith
Writer: Michael Turner, Bill O'Neil
Pencils: Michael Turner
Inks: Joe Weems V, Jason Gorder
Colouring: Jonathan D. Smith
Letterings: Dennis Heisler
Release: December 1998
Original Price: US $2.95 | CAN $4.70

Sara Pezzini receives an invitation from Lara Croft to visit the British Museum in London as she had some interesting information about the Witchblade for her. However, when she gets there, there is something more important for her to deal with first.

Allies:

Sara Pezzini
In 1998, Sara received an invitation from Lara to visit the British Museum in London in the hope of learning some interesting information about the Witchblade. When she got there, she was pulled into trying to stop a robbery regarding a stolen idol of Bastet, and helped Lara to find a way to return the goddess Bastet into the idol after Genvieve LeCarvlier had released her.

Artefacts:

The Idol of Bastet
The idol was unearthed from the Giza region of Egypt and believed to be a talisman of worship to the goddess of cats, and it also contains the spirit of Bastet, who had been trapped inside of it since 1000 B.C. after Bastet was caught romancing Prince Sallah by his fiancé Raquel. Raquel asked Anubis for help, and he directed her to a cave containing the Witchblade. Raquel used the Witchblade to trap Bastet. In present day, a cat-obsessed woman called Genvieve LeCarvlier wanted to possess the idol that Lara and Buck Ogden had found. Lara wouldn't sell it to her and instead gave it to the British Museum. As the Museum presented it to the public, LeCarvlier and her guards stole the statue. Lara and Sara Pezzini gave chase and found her in an old castle, casting a spell. Bastet was set free, not embodied in LeCarvlier but as a separate body. Lara and Sara worked together and Sara used the Witchblade to put Bastet
back into the idol. Lara decided to lock the idol away rather than give it to any museum.

Enemies:

Genvieve LeCarvlier
(? - 1998)
Genvieve was a wealthy perfumer from the continent, and a widow who was obsessed with cats. She wanted to buy the Idol of Bastet that Lara Croft and Buck Ogden had found, however Lara wouldn't sell it to her and instead gave it to the British Museum. As the Museum presented it to the public, LeCarvlier and her guards stole the statue. She knew that the idol contained the soul of Bastet and she wanted to call a spell to release Bastet and have her embody her. However Bastet took on a separate body and when Genvieve got angry at her, Bastet sent her guardian Manares, a giant lion to kill her.

Bastet
The goddess' soul was trapped in the idol of a cat by Raquel, a woman wielding the Witchblade after Raquel found out that her fiancé Prince Sallah was having an affair with her. In 1998, Genvieve LeCarvlier released Bastet and after the goddess killed her, Bastet recognised the Witchblade. She was angry at it for destroying her life, but Sara had no recognition of this, and she used the Witchblade to trap her back into the idol.

Location:

UK – England - London – The British Museum
UK – England - London – Surrey - Croft Manor

Other Characters:

Buck Ogden
Buck was an archaeologist and a friend of Lara's. He contacted her for help to retrieve the Idol of Bastet. Whilst in the pyramid, Lara grabbed the idol and the pair fled. However the statues came alive and one grabbed hold of Buck. He told Lara to escape, which she did and she tried to head back in but the doors were jammed shut. Later, Lara reminisced about him, hoping that he is resting well, wherever he is. Unbeknownst to her, he was still alive, but changed.

Manares
Manares is Bastet's guardian and a large lion, and he emerged with her when Genvieve LeCarvlier released them from the idol. Bastet orders him to attack her. When Lara and Sara are able to return the goddess back into the idol, Manares remained but he was now a lion cub. Lara decided to take him with her, and she names him after her friend Buck, who she believes died when they tried to retrieve the Idol of Bastet.