Broken Frontier

Top Cow Productions, Inc. proudly announced today that Phil Hester, the current writer for The Darkness, will take over artistic duties on the series for “Bog,” a special two-part story which he has also written.  “Bog” begins in The Darkness #80 which is solicited for a September 2009 release and will conclude the following month in The Darkness #81. 

Phil Hester, whose previous art credits for Top Cow include the Daredevil/Magdalena one-shot, has been the sole writer for the third volume of The Darkness since its launch in 2007.  The Darkness #80 marks the first time that his art will accompany his writing in the series.

The story follows current Darkness bearer Jackie Estacado and his recently formed crew of criminals as they head to the swamp on their quest to destroy every representation of The Sovereign in the world.  But they soon find that the swamp they are in has a monstrous protector.

In a recent interview with Comic Book Resources, Top Cow Publisher Filip Sablik said, “Phil has really revived and reinvigorated ‘The Darkness’ during his tenure as writer. He's taking Jackie places he's never been before and making him a much more fleshed out, three-dimensional character…  Phil mentioned had a secret ‘swamp monster’ story he'd been itching to tell and draw since he wrapped up his run on ‘Swamp Thing’ years ago. Phil has a great affinity for classic archetypes and stories and this one just seemed like too much fun to pass up. We found a way to incorporate it into Jackie's larger story and away we went!”
 
“Although I'm not a ‘typical’ Top Cow artist, the story line in Bog allows me to really play to my dark, angular, twisted strengths,” explained writer/artist Hester, “Plus, with Parks on inks, Darkness readers will get to see my vision for a truly menacing swamp monster in all its glory.”
 
Two cover variants will be offered for The Darkness #80, one by Hester and another by artist Michal Ivan (City of Dust).  Issue #81 will feature a cover by regular series artist Michael Broussard, who returns to the The Darkness with issue #82.

Both The Darkness #80 and #81 will be priced at $2.99 as part of Top Cow Productions ongoing promotion to maintain the low cover price of $2.99 in 2009 for all of their regular comic books.