Weekly Comic Book Review

By Phil Hester (Writer), Nelson Blake II (Pencils), Ryan Winn (Inks), and Arif Prianto of IFS (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I’m glad that it looks like Phil Hester is about to get The Darkness back on track. While I’ve enjoyed the re-launch of The Darkness quite a bit, there’s no denying that something has been missing.

The Story: Jackie wants to regain some measure of control and power. To do so he must take out the Sovereign…

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: The Darkness #78 tells a cool little story that not only works well as a (temporary) conclusion to the Sovereign arc, but also as a standalone story about Jackie Estacado being a total badass. It’s clever, it’s brutal, and it’s written/framed in a way that effectively adds to Estacado’s mystique as someone that’s not to be messed with. In addition, The Darkness #78 does a nice job of setting up the near future of the series which, from the looks of it, seems to be all about getting back to what made Jackie’s story such a hit to begin with.

Nelson Blake II is the big surprise of the latest issue of The Darkness. I’ve seen Blake’s pencil work before, but I don’t recall it ever looking quite as good as it does in The Darkness #78. Thanks to Ryan Winn and Arif Prianto, Blake’s work is bright, clean, and stylish in a way works far better than you’d expect; considering what an issue of The Darkness normally looks like. While the art isn’t really a prime example of the typical “Darkness” style, it still proves to be a nice change of pace for the series.

Conclusion: The Darkness #78 isn’t groundbreaking or particularly exciting, but it delivers as a solid piece of entertainment. The art impresses and the writing effectively sets the stage for the next chapter of The Darkness.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny