After reading this particular trade (Accursed Volume One) I shut off the lights, rolled over in The Darkness, and tried to sleep...
"And The Darkness? The Darkness resented it."
My mind resented it.
My sense of adventure resented it.
Every particle in my being screamed at me to instantly get online and find out if there was more, and to sit down and write this review. Instead, I yammered my husband's ear off, and Tweeted about a work of genius on the part of Phil Hester, who has by far been one of my favorite writers/artists since being introduced to the wonderful world of comic. I was not familiar with Michael Broussard's work, but I am looking forward to Google-Stalking him for a while.
Hester opens up with a simple five panel page, with few words, but words that as a Christian made me go, "That is the coolest spin off of Scripture I have ever read." As a writer myself, amateur but in the words of Michael Avon Oeming, writing makes you a writer, I screamed at myself for not thinking of something so... defining... first. The text on this first page is something that will forever stick in my mind as profound and freaking awesome. If nothing else about Phillip Hester stays with me, this page will. The artwork, Broussard, was stunning. It looks so simple, but I am willing to be a ton of work went behind it to achieve that. It illustrates the beginning of the world in a beautiful light, and at the same time, shows the underlying evil that comes with all that is good, and righteous.
I kept saying one more part, then I will be ready for bed, just one more. And then another, and another. The plot had me so hooked on it I could not put it down to sleep, or pay attention to the movie playing on the television, and I really was not all that ready to put the babies to sleep because there was no good stopping point!
Besides, to be perfectly honest, Jackie Estacado is not the sort of man you can just say "No" to. Everything about him draws you in, from the outward appearance of mystery business man meets badass biker dude, to the very-badboy attitude. He is the kind of bro you want to hang out with, but you won't, because who needs a friend you can't trust your best girl with? Except, in Jackie's case, you can. He's got Eve, and other issues. He might get her a little stoned though, he definitely makes some powerful drugs! You hate him, but you find yourself caring about what happens to him, and unable to stop yourself. Maybe caring isn't the right word. It's more like when you see a car crash on the interstate. It's brutal and terrible, yet, you can't look away. It's human nature. We are all fascinated with the morbid and the chaotic, and The Darkness delivers you that wrapped in a nice package with pretty hair.
I'm not sure where in the Hello Kitty Hester comes up with his plot lines, his ideas and all the details in between, but if you can somehow come up with a character (I think that's an okay term for her) like Eve, I salute you. I mean, what is going on his mind to think of this?! It's so hard not to be a spoiler!! In the introduction, Jason Aaron likens her to a blow-up doll, and that's an EXCELLENT description but there is so much more going on there. It's like Jackie truly found someone that completes him, his other half, if you will. She has some jealousy issues, but Jackie does try to mold her a bit, maybe a lot, and it seems like he may have a small thing for another woman, Marisole...
Who is part of the rebel group opposing his control, or supposed control, over their small country, and the drugs he uses to help further his cause. Of course, HE doesn't know they are addictive, but she doesn't know that...
Sex, drugs and creepy religious undertones? What's stopping y'all from going out right now and getting this?
Broussard did an amazing job on this. His drawings perfectly depicted The Darkness, the evil and the desperate hope to rise above a curse as old as time. The amount of detail in everything, even the parts most people aren't going to look, astounds me. There are some awesome leaves, and floors! Not to mention a gruesome birth scene, and a fiery explosion. You can feel the emotions rolling off the characters, and every nuance in their facial expression. It's so easy to hear the voices in your mind, because Broussard has made them so real. It's a simple feat to tense up, and hear the light ticking of the bomb, made louder in the hollow tunnels. Looking at Jackie, it makes you want to beg Marisole to just believe him, trust him and let him go. Ack. There are so many emotions poured into every panel, into every drawing and into every character, I felt like I was involved in the story, standing in the middle of the room, with it spinning around me and the plot unfurling before my eyes, helpless to do anything to stop it, and eager for more.
That is what The Darkness does to you. It draws you into the chaos, the treachery and the pain. And then it rubs your face in it until you can't breathe.
Hester and Broussard were unified in the perfect marriage of art and word, "and just wait'll you meet the bouncing, baby boy."
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