The Darkness: Darkness/Batman Darkness/Superman 20th Anniversary Collection TPB Comic Review
Summary: The Darkness comes across both Batman and Superman in this collection that also dips into the origin of The Darkness and how Jackie came to possess the new power.
4
Costly Power
If you’ve never encountered The Darkness before (not the band of “I believe in a thing called Love” fame) then this is a great introduction. Not only do you get the story of how Jackie Estacado came to possess The Darkness but you also get his brushes with both Batman and Superman.
Writing
It can be tricky having one hero meet another (or an anti-hero as the case may be). But both of the cross over stories work quite well here. Batman uses his superior intelligence to figure out how to tackled dealing with The Darkness and Superman essentially deals with The Darkness the way only Superman can. But the far more interesting story is the origin story… the story of how Jackie Estacado came to be the next Darkness host and what that means for him… and it’s not all fun and games… in fact in one specific way it’s no more fun of a given sort… not without a lot of protection anyway. How Jackie comes to terms with who and what he is… and his dealings with those who would control or destroy him also sets up his future longevity. He’s not a stupid man… he’s got a fire within him that looks set to keep him going for a long time yet.
Artwork
The artwork all has a gritty dark edge to it… through use of shadows and lighting you do get the distinct impression that the majority of the action is taking place at night. The ability of the artists to evoke those scenarios goes a long way to selling the story because there are some panels where just the look of them sets you in the frame of mind that this a gangster story with a difference… this is the underworld but this underworld goes much deeper than the usual one.
Final Thoughts
I wasn’t overly familiar with The Darkness before… I have a feeling I’ve seen him before but I don’t think I’ve read any dedicated stories. After reading these stories not only do I have a very clear idea of who he is… I also have an interest in seeing just what else he gets up to
Comic Details
Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Garth Ennis, Jeph Loeb, Ron Marz, Scott Lobdell
Artist: Clarence Lansang, David Finch, Marc Silvestri, Tyler Kirkham
Cover Artist: Marc Silvestri
Genre: Superhero, Horror
Format: 282 pgs, FC, TPB
Release Date: 5th July, 2017
About the Author
Chris O'Connor Father of four, husband of one and all round oddity. Gaming at home since about 1982 with a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Moving on to the more traditional PC genre in the years that followed with the classic Jump Joe and Alley Cat. CGA, EGA, VGA and beyond PC's have been central to my gaming but I've also enjoyed consoles and hand helds along the way (who remembers the Atari Lynx?). Would have been actor/film maker, jack of many trades master of none.
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