In 1992 seven high-profile comic book artists, fed up with handing over the copyright to their creations, left Marvel to form their own publishing company Image Comics.  They included X-Men and Wolverine penciller Marc Silvestri who later went on to found Top Cow comics and co-create Witchblade.

Top Cow were responsible for bringing Tomb Raider's Lara Croft to comics for the first time and more interestingly for Anime fans, producing a Battle Of The Planets comic book with covers by esteemed artist Alex Ross (Marvels, Kingdom Come).

The Witchblade comic book was so popular that in 2006  it was reintepreted for a Japanese audience in a 24 episode animated TV series. The series broke new ground by being available on download to American Xbox owners  from Xbox LIVE's Video Marketplace.

Now it is available in the UK on DVD with a collection of the first 3 discs (12 episodes) in shops on June 9th.

The story is relocated to a post-earthquake Tokyo in the near future, where skyscrapers and the Tokyo Tower poke through the surface of the ocean and single mother Masane Amaha fights to recover her memory and regain custody of her 6 year old daughter.

Found at the epicentre of the disaster, she discovers that she is the owner of the Witchblade, a fearsome symbiotic weapon that transforms the wearer into a bloodthirsty warrior of unbelievable power.

Coveted by men but only ever possesed by women, the shady Douji corporation try to unlock the weapon's secrets by forcing Masane to fight for them and studying her remotely. While their rivals, the sinister NSWF who run the Child Welfare Department (go figure), pursue the same aim through genetic experimentation.

In true Japanese style, can it lead to anything other than a tragic conclusion for the good guys?

One way the Anime version remained true to Silvestri's vision however, was to follow his inclination for drawing scantily clad unfeasibly busty women.

It's great stuff but I wouldn't say subtlety was its strong point. The soundtrack has more panting than a Fleetwood Mac record and at one point a robot serial killer changes into a giant drill, so he can literally screw his victims into a bloody pulp.

The almost naked Witchblade character was toned down for TV thanks to some strategically placed re-colouring. For the DVD, most viewers will be pleased to hear, the series has been restored to its original glory, hence its 15 certificate.... well it's only animation right?!

DVD extras centre on the comic book. There's a video tour of Top Cow with Marc Silvestri and a short on How To Make A Comic Book The Top Cow Way.