The Darkness (Jackie Estacado) is a fictional superhero created by Marc Silvestri, Garth Ennis and David Wohl, who first appeared in an American comic series published by Top Cow Productions in 1996. The character first appeared in Witchblade #10 (Nov. 1996), set in the Image Universe. Jackie Estacado is a New York mafioso who, after turning 21, inherited the curse of the Darkness.
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The Darkness | |
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![]() The Darkness issue #1. Art by Marc Silvestri | |
Publication information | |
Publisher | Top Cow Productions |
First appearance | Witchblade #10 (Nov. 1996) |
Created by | David Wohl Marc Silvestri Garth Ennis |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Jackie Estacado |
Team affiliations | Franchetti Mafia Darklings Sierra Muñoz |
Abilities | Access to an otherworldly dimension and control over the demons that dwell there. Can teleport through the shadows and manifest armor to increase his strength and enable shapeshifting. His body heals supernaturally. A skilled marksman and physical combatant. Trained in chemistry. |
Top Cow relaunched The Darkness comic title in 2019 with Matt Hawkins as writer and Tom Grindberg as artist, featuring Jackie Estacado and Sara Pezzini in supporting roles.[1]
![]() | This section describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. (March 2016) |
In the Top Cow Universe, the Darkness is depicted as a cosmic entity predating recorded history. It is the embodiment of the empty void of chaos which existed prior to the coming of God's light – embodied as the Angelus. As the cosmos formed in its place, the now-usurped Darkness grew to resent God and His creation. Growing powerful enough to manifest itself and conjure a legion of demons, the Darkness declared war upon the Angelus and her host. This lasted for eons until a truce was found to prevent mutual destruction. To seal the covenant, the two powers mated and conceived the Witchblade.
Sometime after this, the Darkness began inhabiting human vessels – inherited through the sons of its chosen bloodline; the father passing the curse to his child at the moment of conception, expiring as the force leaves his body. The power then awakens on the son's 21st birthday. A wielder of the Darkness has been present in every major time period and continental power in history. These hosts have usually been of a violent predisposition, such as dictators and warlords. Many have also been of a criminal background, namely murderers, thieves, and abusers.
Later in the story, the writers invented other cosmic powers, so far 13, known as "Artifacts".
Jackie Estacado was the vessel of the Darkness for the first run of the series. He is depicted as a brutalized version of the classical anti-hero; oft-aligned with evil, but sometimes fighting with remorse and wanting to do good. The key to his personality the writers give is "My whole life I've been kicked around, you know? I don't know how to do anything but kick back".[2]
Raised as a hit-man for the Franchetti Family Mob, Jackie's defining quality was his penchant for murder as well as womanizing. Despite his criminal lifestyle, Jackie followed a strict code of morals. Chief among his beliefs was a trust in those who earned it and a fierce loyalty to family and allies. Early in the series, his main love interest was his childhood friend Jenny Romano. He later developed a romance with Sara Pezzini after the birth of their daughter, Hope Pezzini.
The son of notorious Mob associate Danny Estacado and an unnamed prostitute, Jackie was taken in by Saint Gerald's Orphanage where he was frequently abused by the orderlies. Despite his antisocial nature even as a boy, Jackie protected his friend Jenny from their cruel treatment. At the age of six, Jackie was adopted by upcoming Mob boss Frankie "Kill-The-Children-Too" Franchetti, claiming to be his uncle. He only did so after being persuaded by Sonatine of the Brotherhood of Darkness that bringing Jackie into his inner circle would make Frankie powerful.
Life in the Mob provided Jackie both with a home as well as a sense of safety and family, but also made him more violent and prone to illegal activity. Losing his virginity at age fourteen to a female officer during interrogation, he disregarded the law and developed a sex habit. Making his first hit at age sixteen, Jackie soon became Frankie's chief enforcer; skyrocketing the Franchettis into one of the top Mob families in New York City and fulfilling Sonatine's prophecy. Living a playboy lifestyle, Jackie would often visit Jenny's club to keep in touch.
Both the Angelus and Sonatine kept vigil over the course of Jackie's life; both of them waiting for him to manifest the Darkness - the Brotherhood wishing to exploit his power for their own ends while the Angelus wished only to annihilate the wielder while at his most vulnerable. Jackie was also being watched by followers of the Church of the Angelus which had infiltrated various criminal operations in opposition to Franchetti's. Among them was Regis Tyne, a Mob accountant who would associate with Jackie and attempt to assassinate him over a decade later.
When he turned 21, his dark powers awakened and he learned of his evil heritage. Jackie spent much of his time escaping from or fighting the Angelus, Sonatine, and the Brotherhood of the Darkness. Jackie tried to quit the mob, but Frankie kidnapped and killed Jenny, a childhood friend of Jackie's. Jackie, in a warehouse showdown with Franchetti's crew, blew up the warehouse, killing Frankie and burning Jackie alive.[3]
Jackie spent two days afterward wandering around Hell while searching for Jenny until the former priest Tom Judge, bearer of another artifact called "the Rapture", came and gave him hope, a gift that allows men to exit Hell.[4] Jackie's body was then reconstructed by the Darkness.[5]
Jackie returned to find the Franchetti mob taken over by Frankie's cousin, Paulie. Paulie was able to discover Jackie's secret, and Paulie blackmailed Jackie into doing hits for him. Along the way, Jackie learned how to construct a gun out of the Darkness. Later, Jackie turns on Paulie and takes control of the Franchetti family, eventually taking on the Triads, and fighting the Russian Mafia in Atlantic City, where he is seduced by a woman created by his own unconscious. Siding with the Magdalena (the bearer of another artifact, the Spear of Destiny), he confronts the Angelus.[6]
After a devastating attack of the Angelus army on the Franchetti family, Jackie learns from an Angelus warrior, that detective Sara Pezzini, former bearer of the Witchblade, is pregnant and that he is the father of the unborn baby. The reason is that the Darkness, getting tired of the truce between the Light and the Darkness, mind-controlling Jackie to unknowingly having sex with Sara while she was in coma, using him in a way that he does not die fathering the baby. Calculating "whoever has the baby, wins the war", the Angelus tries to get the baby. Jackie and Danielle Baptiste, the new bearer of the Witchblade, defend Sara from an attack of the Angelus army and get her to a safe house in a cavern. The Angelus army attacks again, defeats Jackie and the Magdalena, but they buy Sara and Dani enough time to complete the birth of Saras daughter. Sara dies in the process, but her daughter (or the Witchblade) brings her to life again, giving her half of the power of the Witchblade, Dani keeping the other half. The Angelus defeats Sara and Dani, but is vanquished by the Baby. Sara names her daughter Hope.[7]
Some months before Jackie met the chemical engineer Professor Kirchner, who helped him to develop his darkness abilities through an improved focus and scientific knowledge. After the annihilation of the Franchetti Family, Jackie abandons the Mafia life and usurps the power in a South American country, the banana republic Sierra Muñoz, in hopes of establishing a new empire there. Jackie established a drug cartel in Sierra Muñoz with a Darkness-based narcotic made from his own bodily fluids, built an impenetrable fortress, formed an army of improved darklings and a lover, not knowing Kirchner controls her. The residents of Sierra Muñoz resisted Jackie's takeover with the help of the U.S. Department of Defense, which wanted to capture Jackie for experimentation and to learn about his armor and weapons. He defeats them, but Kirchner and his pregnant lover turn against him, and she takes control of the Darkness, taking it from him. Left dying, Jackie regains the Darkness by pure willforce. Confronting Kirchner, he learns that the "Baby" is already born, and that it is the incarnation of the Darkness on the earthly plane that the Darkness sought for generations, without human "flaws" like conscience. It attacks him, but Jackie defeats it.[8]
Having almost lost the connection to the Darkness at the end of this fight, Jackie heads back to the United States, surviving an encounter with a dream-stealing witch in Mexico. He is captured by a devil named the Sovereign. He tells Jackie that following the battle with his Darkness offspring, he died, and his soul was cast into Hell, leaving his body on Earth, reconstructed by the feeble rest of Darkness power he maintained. Jackie made a deal with the Sovereign, who promises, in return for several assassinations, to reunite Jackie's body and soul. Jackie fulfills the Sovereign's demands, including killing a demonically possessed nun, an immortal drug dealer, and a 10-year-old African warlord.
In between he finds time to visit New York, where he punishes some thugs of the Franchetti mob who caused the death of a 5-year-old girl,[9] visits Sara and his daughter, where two more artifacts are introduced, the antagonists Glacier Stone and Ember Stone, our heroes learn that there is a total of 13 artifacts, Jackie kills the current bearer of the Angelus[10] and has his first kiss with Sara.[11] The new bearer of the Glacier Stone, and also another artifact, the Sword of Blood, is Michael Finnigan, a small time Irish mobster Jackie hired to watch over Sara and Hope; some months after this he saves Jackie, who was captured by a revenge driven Egyptian mob.[12]
Eventually, while performing an assassination for the Sovereign in Egypt, Jackie comes across a mysterious woman wearing a red ribbon who seems to lure him. He also meets a past Darkness wielder named Aram, also known as the Foreigner, who explains that the Sovereign has been manipulating Jackie from the start and that both his soul and the Darkness are still within him, merely repressed by his will and desire to be free of the Darkness's influence. Ignoring the Foreigner, Jackie follows the woman and finds himself facing against a resurrected Djinn created by a shaman specifically to kill Darkness wielders. Finding the Djinn to be virtually invincible, Jackie is guided to strangle the woman to death with her own ribbon, breaking the curse of the Djinn and freeing the woman from her eternal servitude. Jackie is confronted by Aram, who further intimidates him into finally summoning the full power of the Darkness once again. Aram disappears, leaving Jackie with the realization of the Sovereign's manipulations and fully intent on revenge with full control of his powers.[13]
Seeking Revenge, Jackie attacks the Sovereign, chases him away from his base and conquers it for himself. He finds a list of statues of the Sovereign; to destroy all of them he gathers a crew of thieves, smugglers and fighters, beginning with Leonard Kim, one surviving member of the Sovereigns mercenaries. During this campaign he confronts a swamp monster guarding a temple. Later he has to deal with the US army guarding Fort Knox and escapes from a team of hunter killers of the government - with the help of an army officer who decides, that Jackies abilities should not be replicated. After that he walks in a trap a Russian mafioso build for him with the help of a traitor in his own team, luring him with images of his sister Capris; he escapes from a machine that feeds on his magic energy. Next he has to deal with a second traitor in his team, mob accountant Regis Tyne, a sleeper agent of a fanatical human Angelus army - who decides not to kill Jackie because there could be worse bearers to the Darkness, without the elements of conscience and loyalty he sees in Jackie, but is killed in the next instant by a surprised Jackie who thinks he has to react fast. He revives the agent with the help of the Darkness, now controlling him, hears his story and let him continue as part of the crew. In the last confrontation with the Sovereign, Jackie and his team, the letter ensnared in the illusion spells of the Sovereign, win because of Leonard Kims sensibility (he can shake of his illusion because there was only wealth, but no human relations) and sacrifice, destroying the last, but poisoning statue of the Sovereign. Leonard declines Jackies offer to heal him with the Darkness.[14]
Jackie held the powers of the Darkness, an elemental force of chaos and creation. The core of a Darkness wielder's abilities is their accessing of an otherworldly dimension through the shadows around them and exerting control over the countless demonic creatures that dwell there. These creatures – called Darklings – usually appear as serpentine or goblinoid fiends which cause mischief and murder on behalf of their host and can communicate with their master through telepathy. They possess supernatural strength and stamina as well as deadly claws and fangs.
In terms of individual prowess, Darklings are quite versatile in terms of their physique and purpose, emerging in different forms depending on the intentions or needs of their host. While they share the aforementioned traits, some Darklings have wings and others can breathe fire. Darklings have also exhibited the ability to easily adhere to sheer surfaces as well as teleporting through shadows with their bearer and even producing corrosive chemicals through their saliva or excrement. While beholden to their vessel, Darklings do exhibit their own autonomy.
When in a battle, Darkness wielders envelop their whole bodies in a mystical armor of shadowy metal. This gives them strength and durability beyond that of their creatures as well as razored fingers and bladed tendrils emerging from their shoulders which can transform into wings. With time and practice, the wielder can completely alter the visage of their armor in order to shapeshift their own appearance into someone else for a time. They can also instinctively fashion weapons and shields from their armor in a similar fashion as bearers of the Witchblade.
Wielders of the Darkness exhibit a potent healing factor when injured - the shadows surrounding them absorbed into their body to regenerate cells at unnatural rates, even to the extent of regrowing lost limbs and reconstructing whole portions of the body that have been destroyed. This renders the vessels effectively impervious to disease and poisons as well as resistance to supernatural afflictions such as the powers of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. This also allows them a degree of pseudo-immortality as the Darkness keeps them preserved over millennia.
Any other uses of the Darkness are limited only by the imagination of the wielder.
In addition to the curse, Darkness bearers are typically hardened individuals whose lives have endowed them with considerable fighting prowess and survival skills. Wielders from older time periods were usually skilled swordsmen while modern hosts like Jackie are skilled marksmen. Individual wielders might also have personal skills. Jackie was trained in chemistry by Kirchner - enabling him to convert Darkness-borne material into water, corrosives, or a narcotic. Ambitious hosts usually climb to positions of rank; overseeing armies, domains, or businesses.
![]() | This section describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. (March 2016) |
Angelus
Appolonia Franchetti
Aram
Capris Castiglione
Sonatine
Sovereign
Jenny Romano
Frankie Franchetti
Capris Castiglione
The Magdalena
Nino Wenders
Angelus Warriors
Elle
The Foreigner/Aman The Witch-King
Paulie Franchetti
The Brotherhood
Captain Eddie Shrote
The series has been collected into a series of trade paperbacks:
In December 2004, Dimension Films paid an undisclosed six-figure sum to develop a movie based on the comic, with a planned release for 2008.[15] The film rights were later sold to the Pang brothers in December 2005.[16]
At Comic-Con 2009, Top Cow president Matt Hawkins revealed that a live-action The Darkness film was in development, with Scott Stuber Productions attached as the producer for the project.[17] In 2012, Len Wiseman signed on to produce the movie.[18]
A game based on The Darkness was released for the PlayStation 3 on June 20, 2007, and for the Xbox 360 eight days later. Developed by Starbreeze Studios and published by 2K Games, the game follows a differing version of the story and gives more characterization to the Darkness.[19][20]
A sequel, titled The Darkness II, was released for the PC, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 on February 7, 2012, developed by Digital Extremes and published by 2K Games.[21]
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Garth Ennis bibliography | |
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Marc Silvestri | |
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