Broken Frontier

Top Cow is celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of The Darkness. They have invited Romano Molenaar to help Jackie Estacado blow out the candles, as the artist takes control of the artistic reigns with October’s The Darkness #96.

Molenaar joins longtime series writer Phil Hester for a five-issue ride straight to The Darkness #100, which marks the end of Hester’s four-year run. Hester and Molenaar will set Jackie on mission to take down the Darkness force itself, which is bound to lead to a few scenes that are too violent for your mommy’s eyes.

“It’s going to be an interesting ride towards issue #100. Top Cow has some special things in mind!” assures Molenaar. The artist is not a complete newbie to the world of Jackie Estacado, as he previously penciled The Darkness II: Confession. “With The Darkness  there's always something about the character and the world of the Darkness that gets the best out of me. Maybe it's the way the Darkness moves – very fast and dynamic – which directly affects my approach, because I can really feel his power and try to capture that on paper.”

One of the things he loves most about drawing Darkness stories are the darklings. “While I haven’t drawn any darklings yet for my first issue (#96), hands down they’re the most fun to draw: they come in lots of shapes and forms and add a sense of humor to the dark world of the comic. I’m sure I’ll get to come up with some cool darklings shots in upcoming issues.

“But what I like even more are the emotions within the character. Jackie is a guy you like right away but has a dark feel all over him. He’s the guy you see where you go, ‘Hmmm. There's more to him than meets the eye.’ He can be a good guy and turn into the baddest mother****** you will face in a blink of an eye. To put that on paper is the best!”

It’s a sweet moment for Romano to be contributing to the 15th anniversary of the book, since he grew up on The Darkness many, many moons ago. “I started penciling stories when the Darkness set foot into the comics world,” he confirms. “Being able to take Jackie to issue #100 is a privilege I never expected, not even in my wildest dreams!”

The Darkness #96 ships on October 19 from Image Comics/Top Cow.