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Witchblade Creator Michael Turner Dies

Michael Turner, one of the creators of the American comic Witchblade which was the source of the Witchblade anime series and Witchblade: Takeru manga, passed away on June 27. He was 37. He was diagnosed with bone cancer eight years ago.

The Witchblade comic has been published by Image Comics' Top Cow Productions since 1995. In 2004, Japan's Gonzo studio announced plans to adapt it into a 24-episode television series, which was then aired in Japan. FUNimation Entertainment licensed the anime for North American distribution. Separately, Top Cow also sold the rights for a Witchblade manga. Veteran screenwriter Yasuko Kobayashi, who co-wrote the scripts for the anime series, created the spin-off story for the manga. Witchblade: Takeru was serialized in Akita Shoten's Champion RED magazine and exported back to the United States in two separate editions: as a set of flipped, full-color 32-page comics from Top Cow, and as more traditional unflipped manga-style volumes from Bandai Entertainment.