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A review by aceinit
The Darkness: Origins, Volume 1 by Garth Ennis
5.0
I’ve been a huge fan of The Darkness since its earliest issues. It’s my favorite Top Cow property, and one of the few ongoing series I still eagerly await the newest issue of. Since Top Cow has recently rebooted their universe with the Artifacts and “Rebirth” arcs, I figured now was a good time for a re-read from the beginning.
There was a period when The Darkness lost its way (Jackie as a South American drug lord, anyone?) and became too depressing for its own good (quite a few of the post-drug lord arcs), but the opening volume of the series, collecting the first six issues, is filled with dark humor, college humor, sex, guns, good old-fashioned horror. (And the above-average offering of scantily clad women that seems to be a Top Cow staple, but that's besides the point.)
It is, in short, what made The Darkness fun, and great, and instantly addictive. Writer Garth Ennis (of Preacher fame, another of my favorites) and artist Marc Silvestri team up for a dynamic opening arc, introducing us to mafia hitman Jackie Estacado and a vast and varied cast of characters who will shape his life and destiny for years to come. The story, in which Jackie is introduced to the Darkness, a supernatural power that is rooted in, well, darkness, runs the gauntlet from sexy (the Angelus and Jackie’s harem of nameless bimbos), to crassly funny (the darklings in all their frat boy glory…especially Darkus) to morbidly funny (Jackie bringing a woman home for the night only to find Butcher Joyce in his bathroom, messily disposing of the remains of some celestial warriors…and warning Jackie to stay out of the bedroom due to the body count), to lots and lots of gore (ripping someone’s skeleton out of their body, to name one), to melodrama (Jackie’s multi-page angst-fest when confronted with a lifetime of celibacy), to heartbreaking (Jenny saying goodbye to Jackie, her unrequited love since childhood, in the closing pages). Reading Jackie and Jenny’s origins, especially given how Jackie has altered his reality for the “Rebirth” arc that has just kicked off, is especially poignant.
Ennis’s words and Silvestri’s art are perfect compliments to one another, and I would really love to see these two reteam in the future. Though there has been a lot of fun and interesting storytelling in the past 100 issues, the original creative team will always be my favorite.
Going back and starting from the beginning, it’s interesting to see how The Darkness mythos has evolved over the past 100 issues. Jackie has definitely grown and matured, and the Darkness itself has become a darker, more malevolent entity with a will of it’s own. But reading this arc really reminded me how much I missed that cocky twenty-one year old kid from New York, and how much I miss the humor that seems to have largely faded from the series of late.
There was a period when The Darkness lost its way (Jackie as a South American drug lord, anyone?) and became too depressing for its own good (quite a few of the post-drug lord arcs), but the opening volume of the series, collecting the first six issues, is filled with dark humor, college humor, sex, guns, good old-fashioned horror. (And the above-average offering of scantily clad women that seems to be a Top Cow staple, but that's besides the point.)
It is, in short, what made The Darkness fun, and great, and instantly addictive. Writer Garth Ennis (of Preacher fame, another of my favorites) and artist Marc Silvestri team up for a dynamic opening arc, introducing us to mafia hitman Jackie Estacado and a vast and varied cast of characters who will shape his life and destiny for years to come. The story, in which Jackie is introduced to the Darkness, a supernatural power that is rooted in, well, darkness, runs the gauntlet from sexy (the Angelus and Jackie’s harem of nameless bimbos), to crassly funny (the darklings in all their frat boy glory…especially Darkus) to morbidly funny (Jackie bringing a woman home for the night only to find Butcher Joyce in his bathroom, messily disposing of the remains of some celestial warriors…and warning Jackie to stay out of the bedroom due to the body count), to lots and lots of gore (ripping someone’s skeleton out of their body, to name one), to melodrama (Jackie’s multi-page angst-fest when confronted with a lifetime of celibacy), to heartbreaking (Jenny saying goodbye to Jackie, her unrequited love since childhood, in the closing pages). Reading Jackie and Jenny’s origins, especially given how Jackie has altered his reality for the “Rebirth” arc that has just kicked off, is especially poignant.
Ennis’s words and Silvestri’s art are perfect compliments to one another, and I would really love to see these two reteam in the future. Though there has been a lot of fun and interesting storytelling in the past 100 issues, the original creative team will always be my favorite.
Going back and starting from the beginning, it’s interesting to see how The Darkness mythos has evolved over the past 100 issues. Jackie has definitely grown and matured, and the Darkness itself has become a darker, more malevolent entity with a will of it’s own. But reading this arc really reminded me how much I missed that cocky twenty-one year old kid from New York, and how much I miss the humor that seems to have largely faded from the series of late.