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vigneswara_prabhu's review against another edition
2.0
Rating 2 out of 5; Grade: D-, Batman cannot save this dumpster fire
Over the years, I'll be the first to admit, that my blind spot as a reader is Batman. If I see the caped crusader on the cover, no matter how trash the story might be, I'll still hold out hope that something good might come out of it.
And indeed, in this crossover of the Batman with The Darkness, the only saving grace is the brooding presence of the Dark Knight, if only barely.
There is little else to write about, plot wise or character wise. The whole endeavor at best serves as a background intro to the lesser known Garth Ennis character. The Darkness/ Jackie Estacado really is not an interesting character. Hell. he's not even that much of a likeable character. He's just there, doing shit for random reasons.
This, plus the lazy story telling which ends in an essential, every person back to the starting line approach, means that there is little for us as readers to grab onto.
The art style is the one saving grace of the whole affair, with some panels reminiscent of the 80s & 90s era, [b:Batman: Knightfall|51080|Batman Knightfall|Dennis O'Neil|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1331837586l/51080._SY75_.jpg|49855] style of panels, which do give the characters a larger than life feel. But that's it.
It's always a pleasure to read Bats, but that doesn't forgive this waste of pages. Do Not Recommend.
Over the years, I'll be the first to admit, that my blind spot as a reader is Batman. If I see the caped crusader on the cover, no matter how trash the story might be, I'll still hold out hope that something good might come out of it.
And indeed, in this crossover of the Batman with The Darkness, the only saving grace is the brooding presence of the Dark Knight, if only barely.
There is little else to write about, plot wise or character wise. The whole endeavor at best serves as a background intro to the lesser known Garth Ennis character. The Darkness/ Jackie Estacado really is not an interesting character. Hell. he's not even that much of a likeable character. He's just there, doing shit for random reasons.
This, plus the lazy story telling which ends in an essential, every person back to the starting line approach, means that there is little for us as readers to grab onto.
The art style is the one saving grace of the whole affair, with some panels reminiscent of the 80s & 90s era, [b:Batman: Knightfall|51080|Batman Knightfall|Dennis O'Neil|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1331837586l/51080._SY75_.jpg|49855] style of panels, which do give the characters a larger than life feel. But that's it.
It's always a pleasure to read Bats, but that doesn't forgive this waste of pages. Do Not Recommend.
anastasiaadamov's review against another edition
5.0
I love the concept of Darkness. I'm kinda irritated that this edition holds only the first volume of The Darkness Origins story. I would like to get the rest of it as well...
sfletcher26's review against another edition
3.0
A little light holiday reading.
I've known of the Darkness series ever since reading Top Cow's Rising Stars series in the 90's but never got round to reading any of them. For some reason it like its sister impressiin Witchblade never appealed to me.
I spotted this 25 year anniversary collection in a local bookshop and thought I'd give it a go. I have to say that it's a diverting read, not great by any means but enjoyable. That said I can't say I enjoyed the crossover Batman and Superman stories though. Neither worked well and Superman is the blandest character ever in this.
I've known of the Darkness series ever since reading Top Cow's Rising Stars series in the 90's but never got round to reading any of them. For some reason it like its sister impressiin Witchblade never appealed to me.
I spotted this 25 year anniversary collection in a local bookshop and thought I'd give it a go. I have to say that it's a diverting read, not great by any means but enjoyable. That said I can't say I enjoyed the crossover Batman and Superman stories though. Neither worked well and Superman is the blandest character ever in this.
crookedtreehouse's review against another edition
2.0
I never delved too heavily into the Top Cow Universe. I've always been curious to see if there was anything to The Darkness or Witchblade but never came across any of the early stuff.
I got a good deal on this anniversary collection, and was excited to see what it had to offer.
Editorially, they made a smart decision to place the Batman story and the Superman stories up front, and then go back and tell the character's origin and first storyarc.
Unfortunately, the whole concept is pretty dull, and Ennis, Marz, Loeb, and Lobdell have a script just rife with trifling dialogue that they heard in 80s action films. It's a little surprising to see that this was a 2000s era book, given just how late 80s/early 90s both the concept and the storytelling are.
The Batman story is ... fine, it's a mediocre but not terrible Batman story with an additional orphan, who happens to also be a hit man for the mafia because he was raised by his uncle who's a don .... ehh. The ending is Awful. Poorly conceived and written with a fist that I wouldn't say was made of ham because ham has to be cured and seasoned. The fists that pounded the computer keyboard for this ending were just rotting pig. It really soured how I felt about the story up until that point.
The Superman story seems entirely out of character for everyone involved, but it would be a perfectly fine story if you subbed out Superman, Lois, Jimmy Olson and Metallo for a bunch of new characters. It's just a mediocre Elseworld story, which is totally acceptable.
There is then a preview issue which is basically the elevator pitch for the series written in prose with illustrations by Marc Silvestri. It's hella boring.
The next six issues are not some of Garth Ennis's best work. Again, the premise is bad to begin with, and he just can't get away from the 80s action film quips no matter how dull and unfunny they are. I'm now very worried about what Witchblade has in store, as every woman in this story is either an evil demon or a helpless maiden hopelessly in love with this fairly reprehensible protagonist. It hasn't aged well At All.
If you're curious to see what a Darkness story is like, I'm guessing this is the one that will satisfy your curiosity. If you love the late 80s/early 90s action films but wish they had a bland and predictable sci-fi element with religious overtones, this might be your perfect book. I don't think I'm likely to come back to this series.
I got a good deal on this anniversary collection, and was excited to see what it had to offer.
Editorially, they made a smart decision to place the Batman story and the Superman stories up front, and then go back and tell the character's origin and first storyarc.
Unfortunately, the whole concept is pretty dull, and Ennis, Marz, Loeb, and Lobdell have a script just rife with trifling dialogue that they heard in 80s action films. It's a little surprising to see that this was a 2000s era book, given just how late 80s/early 90s both the concept and the storytelling are.
The Batman story is ... fine, it's a mediocre but not terrible Batman story with an additional orphan, who happens to also be a hit man for the mafia because he was raised by his uncle who's a don .... ehh. The ending is Awful. Poorly conceived and written with a fist that I wouldn't say was made of ham because ham has to be cured and seasoned. The fists that pounded the computer keyboard for this ending were just rotting pig. It really soured how I felt about the story up until that point.
The Superman story seems entirely out of character for everyone involved, but it would be a perfectly fine story if you subbed out Superman, Lois, Jimmy Olson and Metallo for a bunch of new characters. It's just a mediocre Elseworld story, which is totally acceptable.
There is then a preview issue which is basically the elevator pitch for the series written in prose with illustrations by Marc Silvestri. It's hella boring.
The next six issues are not some of Garth Ennis's best work. Again, the premise is bad to begin with, and he just can't get away from the 80s action film quips no matter how dull and unfunny they are. I'm now very worried about what Witchblade has in store, as every woman in this story is either an evil demon or a helpless maiden hopelessly in love with this fairly reprehensible protagonist. It hasn't aged well At All.
If you're curious to see what a Darkness story is like, I'm guessing this is the one that will satisfy your curiosity. If you love the late 80s/early 90s action films but wish they had a bland and predictable sci-fi element with religious overtones, this might be your perfect book. I don't think I'm likely to come back to this series.
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