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by **LOLtron** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 5:58 pm

Hine and Haun take the reins of the iconic title at issue #101!

Top Cow Productions and Image Comics are excited to welcome DAVID HINE (THE DARKNESS: FOUR HORSEMEN, THE BULLETPROOF COFFIN) and JEREMY HAUN (ARTIFACTS, BATTLE HYMN, Detective Comics) as the new ongoing team on THE DARKNESS, debuting with issue 101.

Hine takes the reins from long-time writer Phil Hester (Green Hornet, Wonder Woman), who has written the series since 2007, when the series relaunched following the events of FIRST BORN and the release of THE DARKNESS video game. Hine has previously written Jackie Estacado in 2010's limited series THE DARKNESS: FOUR HORSEMEN, which garnered rave reviews. Hester concluded his run on the series with the over-sized landmark issue #100, released hot on the heels of The Darkness II video game from 2K Games and Digital Extremes.

"The Darkness is one of Image's longest running books and Jackie Estacado is one of the few truly classic characters in independent comics. That makes it a genuine honor to be entrusted with taking the book into its next phase," explained Hine. "Issue 101 is the start of a roller coaster ride into some dark and scary places. Our intention is to mess with your heads. You have been warned..."

"It isn't often that you are invited to really put your stamp on a character," Haun added. "Top Cow has really given David and me the chance to let go and tell the next chapter of Jackie Estacado's life. We're staying true to everything that's come before in the 100-issue span of the book and adding a new twisted layer to things. I'm having the time of my life drawing each page of twisted madness. The Darkness is something we're really proud of. "

The team of Hine and Haun picks up the story of Jackie Estacado after the events of ARTIFACTS #13 and in the wake of Top Cow's REBIRTH initiative. Joining the already-announced teams of Tim Seeley (HACK/SLASH) and Diego Bernard (The Man With No Name) on WITCHBLADE and Ron Marz (MAGDALENA, Voodoo) and Stjepan Sejic (WITCHBLADE) on the ARTIFACTS ongoing series, the two will help guide one of Top Cow's flagship franchises into a new era perfect for long-time, lapsed, and new readers alike.

On the surface, Jackie Estacado has everything he ever wanted — control of the Darkness, a successful career, wealth and, most importantly, a happy family life. However, his desire to make his life truly perfect will be his undoing. What happens when all of it begins to slip through the cracks?

The debut issue will feature covers by Jeremy Haun and THE DARKNESS co-creator MARC SILVESTRI (Incredible Hulk).

THE DARKNESS #101 "THE CRACK IN EVERYTHING", PART 1, a 32-page full-color comic book for $2.99, will be on sale in stores and digital platforms, including THE DARKNESS app, March 21st, 2012.

ABOUT IMAGE COMICS
Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.

Source: Press Release
Written or Contributed by: Jude Terror

http://www.theouthousers.com/index.php/news/comics-news/18718-a-new-team-for-the-darkness.html/

by **bkthomson** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:11 am

I'll pick this up for Hine alone, but I have not much interest in the character.

by **Miracloman** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:53 pm

bkthomson wrote:I'll pick this up for Hine alone, but I have not much interest in the character.

You see,the thing is that on itself this should be a more successful comic series.The main character has a rather interesting power set,exist in the dark and gritty world of organized crime,have an edgy attitude and a complicated set of morals.However, for some reason no writer had ever been able to truly capitalize on any of that,and despite having had from decent to fairly good writers it had never really broke thru.

by **Marius665** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:27 pm

what happened to his sister?

by **bkthomson** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:01 pm

Well there is a lot of swearing, an F-bomb or two in the issue.

did not see the mature readers label on it.

oops. found in it really, really tiny print on the bar-code.

by **Greg** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 11:12 pm

Miracloman wrote:
You see,the thing is that on itself this should be a more successful comic series.The main character has a rather interesting power set,exist in the dark and gritty world of organized crime,have an edgy attitude and a complicated set of morals.However, for some reason no writer had ever been able to truly capitalize on any of that,and despite having had from decent to fairly good writers it had never really broke thru.

I thought Hester was doing a fine job. :smt102

by **doombug** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:47 am

Greg wrote:
I thought Hester was doing a fine job.

I don't think he was reading the Hester wrote book if those are the complaints he has about the character. :smt102

by **bkthomson** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:44 am

doombug wrote:I don't think he was reading the Hester wrote book if those are the complaints he has about the character.

I read the first few issues of Hesters run and did not stuck with it. I'm very hit and miss with Hester so that was going against the book as well as not a true fan of the darkness, but I always come back to try it out with new creative teams.

by **Greg** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 11:12 am

bkthomson wrote:I read the first few issues of Hesters run and did not stuck with it. I'm very hit and miss with Hester so that was going against the book as well as not a true fan of the darkness, but I always come back to try it out with new creative teams.

I've yet to pick up my copy. But Hine and horror has always been legit. And I'm excited he's with Haun on this. Their Batman stories were great.

by **doombug** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 2:27 am

I have it on my phone right now, looking forward to reading it. When I talked with the guys at NYCC, they had me very excited for their run.

by **Greg** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 6:56 pm

bk, what you think of the issue? I really enjoyed it and can't wait to see where it comes. I actually laughed at the ending. :lol:

Loved the art too. The vomit scene was awesome!

by **Marius665** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:31 pm

they need to do The Darkness/Spawn not all those DC character in-continuity crossovers

by **Greg** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:37 pm

Marius665 wrote:they need to do The Darkness/Spawn not all those DC character in-continuity crossovers

Hine was gonna do one when he was writing the Spawn books, but McFarlane I believe didn't go for it. Hine ended up doing the Darkness mini without the Spawn character in it.

by **Miracloman** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 11:23 pm

doombug wrote:I don't think he was reading the Hester wrote book if those are the complaints he has about the character.

As a matter of fact, no I wasn't.Had not bought or read a single comic in two years or so. But if indeed it had a writer of Hester caliber then I am more surprised this comic is not more well known.This comic should be a least The Walking Dead,Hell Boy or so popular and yet the game seems to be more popular that the comic it is based on.