The Darkness #80 – Review

By Phil Hester (Writer & Artist), Andre Parks (Inks), and Sakti Yuwono, Arif Prianto, and Admira Wijaya of IFS (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: The last issue of The Darkness brought the familiar “team building” storyline to the series. And you know what? It worked really well. I look forward to seeing Jackie’s team in action now that everyone has been introduced.

The Story: Jackie’s got interest in some swampy land. Unfortunately for him, the Sovereign has some business interests in the same area. Oh yea, and there’s an ancient bog monster in the swamp that both may have to deal with in some way.

What’s Good: It’s not often that I get to review a comic that’s both written and drawn by the same person. It can’t be an easy task and I give all the credit in the world to Phil Hester for taking on the challenge. The Darkness #80 proves that he was definitely up to the task.

The first chapter of “Bog” has all the trappings of a classic swamp monster story. There’s shady businessmen, a reluctant lady who knows of the areas secret, and a likeable rogue that isn’t going to be dissuaded from getting what he wants. Hester’s story is simple, effective, and just plain entertaining. It’s also got personality to spare (though some of it is delivered in a heavy-handed way) and that goes a long way towards making up for how odd the story feels following The Darkness #79. But I’ll get to that in a bit.

Hester’s artwork in the latest issue of The Darkness is solid and gets the job done. It’s stylish and delivers in the areas that matter the most. While a few panels look a little awkward, for the most part the action’s exciting, the storytelling compliments the dialogue, and the color work/heavy inking keeps things clear and uncluttered.

What’s Not So Good: This may sound something like a nitpick, but, simply put, “Bog” is a strange way to follow up the team building stuff that’s taken place over the last few issues of The Darkness. It’s particularly strange considering that “Bog” sort of seems like a filler story that could almost be told at any point in the series. Yeah, the Sovereign character is involved so you could argue there’s some sort of storytelling window “Bog” must take place in, but the monster comes first and foremost. Jackie Estacado’s people seem to completely disappear in The Darkness #80 and it leaves me wondering why Hester didn’t decide to let the team establish itself more first before moving ahead with the “Bog” arc.

Conclusion: It isn’t perfect, but you really can’t go wrong with The Darkness #80. If you like The Darkness, monster stories, and entertaining dialogue, be sure to pick it up.

Grade: C+

-Kyle Posluszny