Vampirella x Witchblade Special #1: Release Date, Story and Covers

Vampirella x Witchblade Special #1 brings Vampirella and Detective Sara Pezzini together for an extra-sized crossover one-shot, due in comic shops on September 30, 2026. The premise puts the two characters on a collision course after an ancient curse reaches New York City and infects the Witchblade itself.

Erica Schultz writes the special, while Valentina Pinti provides interior art. The project is a collaboration between Dynamite Entertainment and Top Cow Productions, built around an immediate reversal for Sara: the detective who investigates the supernatural threat becomes entangled in it herself. Vampirella, portrayed here as a veteran opponent of evil forces across millennia, is positioned as the person who must confront the transformed Witchblade wielder.

That setup makes the issue more than a straightforward team-up. The advertised conflict is rooted in the question of whether Sara can be saved when the power she carries is the thing placing the city in danger. Vampirella may arrive as an ally, but the central action appears to demand that she treat Witchblade as an adversary first.

A curse turns the Witchblade into the problem

The Witchblade is described as an ancient relic of immense power, and its infection is the driving complication of this one-shot. In practical story terms, a cursed artifact is an object whose supernatural power has been corrupted or redirected. Instead of serving its bearer as intended, it becomes a conduit for the threat. Here, that puts a particularly difficult burden on Sara Pezzini because the Witchblade is not simply a weapon she can casually set aside; it is the source of the danger and the defining element of the crossover.

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The setting is New York City, where the curse’s effects include vampire attacks. Preview material points to a sequence at the Diavolo Goth Club, with victims on a checkerboard dance floor and a looming vampiric threat. The issue therefore appears to start at street level, giving Detective Pezzini a case to investigate before the supernatural crisis becomes personal.

Vampirella’s role introduces a contrasting kind of expertise. She is presented as someone who has battled evil for millennia, giving her experience with the sort of menace now affecting the city. But the solicitation does not frame the encounter as an easy solution. The infected Witchblade is described as a foe that will not be easily defeated, keeping the tension on both the curse and the possibility that Sara’s formidable abilities may be directed against Vampirella.

Why the crossover premise has stakes

Crossover specials can sometimes rely on the appeal of two recognizable characters sharing a cover. This one uses its premise to establish a direct, personal dilemma instead. Sara is both investigator and victim of the curse, while Vampirella is tasked with stopping a crisis without a simple, consequence-free answer. If the Witchblade’s infection has altered Sara into the kind of evil she ordinarily hunts, then stopping the immediate threat and protecting Sara may not be the same objective.

That distinction matters for readers considering a one-shot. An extra-sized one-shot is a self-contained special issue with more pages than a standard single issue, rather than the opening chapter of an announced miniseries. The supplied details establish the larger format but do not specify a page count. Likewise, the premise clearly promises a clash, but it does not reveal the curse’s origin, its exact rules, or how the confrontation ends.

Keeping those unknowns intact is part of the appeal. The story has room for supernatural investigation, body-horror imagery around a weapon changing into claws and blades, and a confrontation between two heroes with very different relationships to monsters. The available material describes vampires as equally strong and lethal, but it does not establish their role in the larger curse beyond the attacks shown around the city.

Schultz and Pinti lead the creative team

Schultz is credited as writer and Pinti as artist. Their prior credits listed for the project include Daredevil and Rat City for Schultz, and Daredevil and Sabretooth for Pinti.

The visual component appears central to the issue’s pitch. The Witchblade is shown shifting from its gauntlet form into pronounced claws, reinforcing the idea that its power has become threatening and unstable. Vampirella is likewise presented through direct, visceral vampire imagery. These are not incidental flourishes: the title’s two halves suggest a deliberate contrast between fangs and an enchanted blade, with each heroine associated with a different kind of physical danger.

Several cover artists are attached to the release: Lucio Parrillo, Francesco Mattina, Carla Cohen, Joseph Michael Linsner, John Royle, and Stjepan Sejic. Their participation gives readers multiple cover options without changing the underlying story. A blank Authentix cover is also listed, offering a cover variant without a preprinted character illustration.

The regular listed editions carry a suggested retail price of $5.99. Those include the Lucio Parrillo, Francesco Mattina, Joseph Michael Linsner, Carla Cohen, and Blank Authentix covers, while a John Royle cover is also listed at $5.99. Two additional Francesco Mattina editions are listed at $11.99 and $29.99.

Collectors should distinguish between a cover variant and the Premium Mystery Blind Bag. A variant cover is an edition of the same comic that uses alternate cover art. The supplied listing does not indicate that the interior story changes among the ordinary covers. A blind bag, meanwhile, is packaging in which the purchaser does not know the exact included edition or editions before opening it.

For this release, the Premium Mystery Blind Bag is advertised as containing three limited editions selected at random from a range of covers exclusive to that offering. Supply is limited, and allocations may occur. In comics distribution, an allocation means orders can be reduced because demand exceeds the copies available to fulfill them. That makes the blind bag a different proposition from choosing a known cover off the shelf: it emphasizes chance and exclusivity rather than a buyer selecting a particular piece of artwork.

Anyone primarily interested in reading the story can look at the standard $5.99 editions, while readers who care about a specific cover should confirm which one their preferred shop expects to have. Buyers considering the blind bag should note the key uncertainty built into its format: its limited-edition contents are randomized. The available information does not identify the full exclusive-cover range or promise a particular cover inside a given bag.

What is confirmed ahead of release

Title: Vampirella x Witchblade Special #1
Release date: September 30, 2026
Publishers: Dynamite Entertainment and Top Cow Productions
Format: Extra-sized one-shot
Writer: Erica Schultz
Artist: Valentina Pinti
Story setup: An ancient curse infects the Witchblade in New York City, placing Detective Sara Pezzini in conflict with Vampirella.
Standard listed price: $5.99 for several cover editions
Premium option: A limited Premium Mystery Blind Bag with three randomly selected limited editions.

The special’s core promise is clear: a supernatural New York emergency escalates into a battle between Vampirella and an infected Sara Pezzini. Its open questions are equally important. Readers will need to pick up the one-shot to learn what the curse wants, whether the Witchblade can be separated from that corruption, and what form a victory can take when the threat is bound to one of the protagonists.