Video games based on comic books never used to be worth paying much attention to, but that has started to change this console generation thanks to a handful of great superhero games. One of the first to show what was possible was The Darkness -- a grim, supernatural shooter based on the long-running comic from Top Cow Productions.

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Now that The Darkness II is hitting stores, we thought it would be a good time to help fans of the game become acquainted with the source material. In this feature, we break down the major periods in Jackie Estacado's shelf life and tell you exactly what you need to read if you want to get caught up. As a bonus, we've included widgets from digital comics provider Graphicly that link you straight to the comics in question.Every comic book hero or villain needs an origin story. The fist 14 issues of The Darkness chronicle Jackie Estacado's rise to power and basic life story. Early issues establish that Jackie has inherited the Darkness as a family heirloom, but that the act of conceiving a child will pass the power on again and kill him in the process.These issues also establish the major players in Jackie's life – mob boss Frankie Franchetti, childhood friend Jenny, and enemies like the manipulative Sonatine and the light-powered Angelus.These issues are written largely by Garth Ennis and David Wohl, setting a grim, testosterone-fueled tone for the series that would persist for many years.





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Readers will want to seek out issues #1-8 and #11-14 of The Darkness Vol. 1 (9 and 10 were part of a crossover with Witchblade). In terms of what's currently in print, the easiest option is to pick up the first two volumes of The Darkness: Origins. These trades start at the beginning of the series, whereas the Darkness : Accursed trades focus on the current Vol. 3 series.Another option is to pick up the hefty Darkness Compendium book, which collects the entirety of The Darkness Vol. 1.After the initial origin storyline, The Darkness continued on for another 50 issues or so spread across two volumes. These comics saw Jackie continue to explore his powers, rise up in the New York criminal underworld, and battle against both Sonatine and Angelus. His growing relationship with Witchblade also became a frequent focus.Unfortunately, these issues also saw a number of writers and artists rotate through, and consistency was never a strong suit of the book during this period. Unless you consider yourself a completionist, it's probably easier to skip straight from the origin storyline to the more modern material.





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Top Cow had previously collected much of The Darkness Vol. 1 and 2 in trade paperback format, but those trades are now out of print. The current Origins trades, meanwhile, only cover partway through Vol. 1. Fans interested in this period of the franchise would be best served by picking up the two Darkness Compendium books, which together collect the majority of the franchise's near 100-issue run so far.Crossovers between Marvel and DC characters used to be fairly common in the '80s and '90s, but in recent years that well has dried up completely. However, Jackie Estacado isn't above hanging out with Marvel and DC's biggest icons now and again. Readers interested in seeing how well he plays with the likes of Wolverine, Batman, Superman, and Hulk can find out for themselves. Jackie has also crossed over with non-Marvel/DC characters like Lara Croft and Pitt.As with most inter-company crossovers, these stories don't have any real bearing on the overarching Darkness storyline. Interestingly, though, the Unholy Union crossover does set the stage for the First Born event storyline.





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Unholy Union is only available as a standalone one-shot issue. However, the majority of The Darkness crossover stories can be read via two trade paperbacks – Top Cow/Marvel: The Crossover Collection Vol. 1 and DC/Top Cow Crossovers.Marvel and DC readers are used to both companies releasing a number of event comics every year – books that bring together multiple characters or franchises to deal with a larger conflict. This approach has become increasingly common at Top Cow as well. Top Cow's characters all exist within a shared universe, and writers have been building a larger mythology that unites many of them together.Three Top Cow events have particular bearing on The Darkness. In First Born, writer Ron Marz reveals that former Witchblade Sara Pezzini is carrying Jackie's child, despite his apparent inability to have sex. Even as Sara is giving birth to the child, Jackie is forced to team up with the current Witchblade and Magdalena to defend her from the new Angelus.





First Born set a new status quo for all the characters involved, and also positioned The Darkness, Witchblade, and Angelus as the three core icons of the Top Cow Universe. This idea was further expanded upon in the mini-series Broken Trinity.





Finally, Top Cow's most recent event is Artifacts. This series establishes that both the Darkness and the Witchblade gauntlet are part of a collection 13 powerful artifacts that, when brought together, could potentially annihilate the universe. Naturally, Top Cow's heroes are forced to unite and stop that from happening. But for The Darkness and Witchblade, their primary goal is to rescue their kidnapped daughter.





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Both First Born and Broken Trinity are available in single trade paperback volumes, as well as larger deluxe hardcovers.Artifacts wrapped up its main conflict with issue #13, but the series is continuing as an ongoing book that focuses on some of the characters that don't have their own ongoing series. Darkness fans need only concern themselves with the original 13-issue storyline. That story is collected in the first three Artifacts trades.Top Cow launched The Darkness Vol. 3 in the aftermath of First Born. The series took on a radically different and more serious tone at this point as writer Phil Hester began his extended run on the book. As the new volume opened, Jackie had gone into hiding and secretly taken over a small South American nation. He began the book at the height of his powers, but much of Hester's run has been about Jackie's reluctance to embrace his full potential and his struggles against new heroes and villains who seek to manipulate him.The series has thrived since the relaunch because of Hester's more nuanced portrayal of Jackie and the generally more downplayed approach to his world. For readers interested in following The Darkness but not necessarily reading every single issue published over the last fifteen years, this series serves as an excellent entry point.





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Whereas the Darkness: Origins trades collect the series from the very beginning, the Darkness: Accursed trades start at the beginning of Hester's run. Five volumes have been released so far, with several more to follow in the coming months.The Darkness video games take place in a different continuity than the comics, with some of the flashier comic book elements removed and the tone kept a little more grounded. However, Top Cow has begun to publish comics set specifically within the world of the game, much as DC recently published an Arkham City prologue comic.The Darkness: Levels is a mini-series that adapts the events of the first game. The Darkness II: Confession features several stories that act as prequels to the new game. Readers interested specifically in this version of the Darkness mythology could do worse than hunt these books down, especially given that Confession is free.Levels was collected in a single-volume trade paperback. Confession was a standalone release for Free Comic Book Day 2011. If you can't find a print copy, it's available for free download on various digital comics providers (including at the Graphicly link above). Just as the First Born event brought about a radical overhaul of Top Cow's core books, Artifacts is having its own impact on books like The Darkness. The series is retaining its numbering, but it'll soon be gaining a new creative team when writer David Hine and artist Jeremy Haun come on board with issue #101.Hine's run looks to be another new reader-friendly point for the series. As it opens, Jackie has apparently settled down as a happy family man, but his desire to use The Darkness to perfect his life will bring about new hardships.For readers who prefer to jump into monthly books without having to catch up on older material, The Darkness #101 should be just what the doctor ordered.No trades exist yet, obviously. However, we'd bet that Top Cow will retire the "Darkness: Accursed" branding for its trades and start with a new system when it begins collecting Hine's material.