RICHARDSON, Texas – Yancy Butler, who starred as NYPD detective Sara Pezzini on the TNT drama “Witchblade,” will take on another comic-book role, in an upcoming film based on a comic book by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.

Butler appeared at the Dallas Comic-Con in Richardson, Texas, last weekend, and appeared on a panel hosted by Devin Pike of redcarpetcrash.com. She talked about her career and current projects with the gathered fans.

“I was asked to do a small cameo in a Nicolas Cage film called ‘Kick-Ass,’ that a lot of you might know.” Butler said. “It’s based on a comic book, at the time we did it there were only four of those comics … the nemesis to Nicolas Cage is a gangster, and I played the moll, his wife.”

The movie features children who want to become superheroes, even though they have no superpowers. It’s a dark comedy which is extremely violent.

The film was directed by Matthew Vaughn and was picked up this week for distribution by Lionsgate. Butler described a scene shown to her by Vaughn while she was working on the film.

“Nicolas Cage’s daughter (in the film), who wants to be a superhero basically, climbs up this gangster’s back … shoots him from below, and it turns into a comic book, where you see this blood splat like you would, but in pink,” Butler said. “And you could see through the hole in his head. It’s completely fascinating.”

Also upcoming for Butler is a Syfy channel film currently titled “Wolvesbayne.” She plays Lilith, who according to some legends was the first wife of Adam.

“They got rid of her, because she was just horrible and really corrupt,” Butler said. “And (in this film) they made Lilith the queen vampire.”

Butler compared working in film and television, as she has experience with both.

“You have a lot more time to prepare everything for a film. The role, the script, the costumes,” she said. “In television, I liken it to the ‘I Love Lucy’ episode with the chocolate conveyor belt, and they’re shoving chocolate in their mouth as quickly as they can … that’s television. It can’t go fast enough, it’s just this beast that goes so quickly because if you don’t have something you can put on the air, you’re looking at dead air space.”

“Witchblade” was originally planned to be a TV movie, but it was so successful, that it was expanded to a series, which ran for two seasons. The entire series is now available on DVD. Butler said she was aware of trying to keep two different fan bases entertained with the property.

“It was hard to straddle that line making sure we were making fans of the comic book happy … and also establishing a fanbase of people who were unfamiliar with the comic book,” she said.

Butler said she enjoyed her time as Sara Pezzini, and would enjoy a return to the character if such a project came together.

“I had a blast. It was a character that I really felt like the writers and producers and I were all collaborating,” she said.

By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

(From Friday’s The Oklahoman)

“Witchblade,” based on the Top Cow comic book, came to cable television in 2000. The complete series has been released on DVD.

“Witchblade” is about a New York City police detective, Sara Pezzini, who encounters the Witchblade, an ancient and powerful artifact. The Witchblade is a gauntlet that’s been passed down from woman to woman throughout time and serves as a balance between the forces of dark and light. In the pilot, it’s implied that it was once worn by Joan of Arc.

Yancy Butler (“Mann and Machine,” “Hard Target”) starred as Pezzini, and she’s believable as a hard-bitten detective. Billionaire Kenneth Irons (Anthony Cistaro) and his right-hand man Ian Nottingham (Eric Etebari) both seek control of the blade. Will Yun Lee and David Chohachi make appearances as partners of Pezzini.

Some changes were made from the comic book. The costuming of the heroine was considerably more demure than the comics. And, given the TV show’s budget, some of the elements that would have been costly to create in the early 2000s were scrapped. Despite some elements changed from the comic books (originally written by Christina Z., drawn by Michael Turner, and edited by David Wohl), comic-book fans were generally pleased with the adaptation. The presence of co-creator and Top Cow founder Marc Silvestri as a series writer helped keep the show true to the concept of Witchblade, even as particulars shifted. While the program can be slow in parts, it’s a solid police drama with interesting supernatural elements.

The DVD set contains all 24 episodes (the movie pilot plus two seasons) and bonus features.

— Matthew Price

From Friday’s The Oklahoman: 

By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor

WORD BALLOONS

The tale of the Witchblade, an ancient weapon first seen in comics, blazed the path for original cable TV programming, says the publisher of the “Witchblade” comic books. “Witchblade,” the television series, will be released on DVD on Tuesday.

“When “Witchblade” debuted on TNT back in 2000 there weren’t that many comic adaptations particularly on television,” said Top Cow publisher Filip Sablik. “In fact in the era of ‘The Shield,’ ‘Monk’ and ‘Rescue Me’ it’s funny to remember that there wasn’t much original cable television programming.”

“Witchblade” is about a New York City police detective, Sara Pezzini, who encounters the Witchblade, an ancient and powerful artifact. The Witchblade is a gauntlet that’s been passed down from woman to woman throughout time and serves as a balance between the forces of dark and light. Yancy Butler starred as Pezzini in the 23 episodes which aired over two seasons.

Sablik said the “Witchblade” series stayed mostly faithful to the comic book.

“They were limited by budget as far as what they could do, but the key characters … were all there,” he said. “The Witchblade is still an ancient powerful weapon, but instead of a organic like metal it took the form of a more traditional gauntlet with a sword that came out.”

“Witchblade” remains Top Cow’s most popular comic book. Sablik described “Witch Hunt,” the first story arc by writer Ron Marz, as a good jumping on point for “Witchblade.” Comic-book stores have a special edition of the story for $4.99, collecting six issues.

“It’s the entry arc for the modern era of ‘Witchblade,’” Sablik said.

“Witchblade” is currently in development for a 2009 feature film.

– Matt Price