The Darkness #3 // Review
The underground complex beneath the U.N. building is massive. The cavern under that complex? IT is positively immense. Jackie Estacado is being shown to that cavern with a guest. There’s a small army of robed figures hanging out there. Jackie doesn’t know it et, but they recognize him as being their messiah. They could be forgiven for thinking that a Mafia hitman is their messaih. The man has great powers and he’s about to put them to use in The Darkness #3. Writer Marc Silvestri and artist Raymond Gay continue an appealing supernatural horror/action/crime drama with colorist Arif Prianto.
Jackie’s having some trouble accepting that he’s anyoe’s messiah, but he’s getting acclimated to the power that he’s capable of wielding. He’s just not in complete control of it just yet. Night falls and Jackie’s got a little bit of business to deal with in Little Odessa. There’s a man there who has been a problem of Jackie’s family. Normally it would be a bit of a problem dealing with a mob of Russian Mafia types. Jackie’s got back-up, though. He’s got a while bunch of demons who are more than willing to help him wipe-out the Russians.
Silvestri puts together a few scenes that are solidly entertaining variations on traditional horror and crime drama tropes. It's actually a very clever fusion that is framed quite well for a single issue. And there's a generous amount of novelty in the fusion. Traditional demonic horror drama gets a bit of a twist as it's contrast against the personality of a mafia hitman. Traditional mob based crime drama gets a considerable tweak thanks to supernatural darkness and Demons and things. The writers pacing does a very good job of keeping the story moving without making it feel at all rushed.
Gay amplify the dramatic aspects of the story with an admirable degree of salty and nuance that goes beyond the clenched teeth and shouting that so often accompanies such things in it's heavily rendered, highly detailed style. There's a solid leak kinetic sense of movement in all of the action. There's more than a little bit of depth to the more subtle end of the drama. The overall mood may not have a whole lot of modulation with respect to the establishment of different atmospheres for different environments, but this is not as big deal as it might be worth it not for the fact that so much of what's happening in the issue is best shown dominating a panel. There isn't really much room for background. Prianto’s colors do a respectable job of lending a radiance and splatter and shadow and depth to the page.
There has been a respectable amount of progression from the first to the third issues. This is an origin story for this particular version of this particular character and it's been a lot of fun at seeing it develop. The protagonist is still learning exactly what it is that he's dealing with. He's not necessarily actively interested in all of the nuances. That makes it kind of a fun journey. It's not the traditional character would be deeply concerned and deeply interested in the nature of his curse. That makes it kind of fun as an action series.
