Controlling the Darkness
Talking About Top Cow's The Darkness Writer Phil Hester
by Eric Ratcliffe
Welcome readers to the second edition of Controlling the Darkness with Phil hester. Issue 75 was a jam packed spectacular with a big art jam. It featured Jackie in a post apocalyptic future where everything seems to go terribly wrong and we see a few interesting new characters and a new twist on an old character. So let's jump right into things!
Eric: The first question I have about the issue is how did the idea for the apocalyptic future come up?
Phil: Remember that Viking Darkness one-shot that Oeming and I did? Well, it began with me asking Mike "what do you want to draw"? The first thing he requested was an apocalyptic cityscape and that got my mind churning. The story turned out to be too big for a normal sized one-shot, so we moved on to Mike's second favorite topic: Vikings.
Top Cow really, really liked the plot sketch I did for the apocalyptic story, so we decided to make that the anniversary issue. Top Cow really took the initiative in securing all the big shot artists to come aboard. It was like Christmas getting those pages!
Eric: Why no mention of Sarah or the child that they had?
Phil: It's a Darkness "What If?", and I felt to include Sara and Hope would tread too much into Ron Marz's territory. I didn't want him to feel like I was trying to map out his character's future. Of course, the whole exercise is speculation. There's nothing in stone saying this is what Jackie's future will be, but like X-Men's Days of Future Past, or DC's Kingdom Come, sometimes that future continuity starts to shape current continuity and I didn't want that to be the case with another title like Witchblade.
Eric: The mentioning of Jenni was definitely something incredibly strong in the issue. Did you feel like it was a character that needed to mentioned?
Phil: Yeah, I felt like we needed a call back to the earliest days of the Darkness. Like all that was left of his humanity is something from literally hundreds of years ago. Also, it shows that no matter how powerful he's become, he's still that orphan kid inside.
Eric: The magdalena now evolving into a group of people and being a thorn in jackies side, did you feel that was a good fit into the what if story?
Phil: It's my favorite part of the whole thing. I'm a huge fan of Dune, so the idea of creating a Bene Gesserit-like sisterhood was a lot of fun. It's already been established that the mantle of Magdalena can pass from one holder to another, so it seemed like the identity could become spread among many if the last holder died in an inspirational way.
Eric: Now one character that really stood out in the issue was the darkling that called himself Grey, was he supposed to be our "human" eyes in a way?
Phil: He's actually meant to reflect the lost humanity of Jackie. There's an exchange at the end where Grey tells Jackie that he maybe subconsciously made Grey to be a repository for the emotions he could no longer bear.
Eric: It seemed like classic horror in a sense where you have an undermining evil throughout the whole series, was that the intent all along?
Phil: Yeah. The horror in the current timeline is almost fun, and I wanted to show the logical outcome of indulging that kind of impulse in Jackie. If he ever gives himself over to that violent impulse completely the end results aren't - "Hey, cool. He cut that bad guy in half!", but something much more bleak and existentially terrifying.
Eric: Painting Jackie as a tragic yet benevolent dictator was interesting in a sense. Is this something we'll see played up in the long run while your on the title?
Phil: No. This was meant as a cautionary tale for Jackie, and combined with the results of Empire, I think he's putting his dictating days behind him.
Eric: Speaking of it being a bit of a cautionary tale, the soothsayer that jackie visits how did he come to see this man? Was it after our latest issue and he wanted to see if he kept going down this current road the way he has what his future would be like?
Phil: Throughout my run I'm going to ask the reader to take several jumps with me in and out of the story. Just like 6 didn't lead directly into 7, or even 9 into 10. The status quo didn't change for #75 in any way, so I assume a regular reader can fit it into their own sense of where the book is. I imagined this as taking plave between assignments from The Sovereign.
Eric: How exactly did the angelus destroy the earth and why? Just doesn't seem to click together for me. Was it because of how screwed up the dystopian future became?
Phil: I suppose I should have been clearer. One page thirty-one Jackie explains that he learned the Angelus was his opposite number and could never be fully destroyed, but he could entomb it and prevent it from reanimating. He also mentions that the Angelus power has been building for centuries, so when it finally finds release it's like matter (Angelus light) and anti-matter (Darkness world) colliding. I was hoping the psychic's narration on page thirty-four would spell it out for most readers. Alas...
Eric: Heh mind you some of these are asked for the very readers who usually miss these things. ;p
Phil: I hear you. I watched Poltergeist, a movie I love, probably ten times before I figured out a plot point just this year. Sometimes it just doesn't click, as you say.
Eric: How was it working with so many artists on the project?
Phil: A big thrill. I mean, there were some logistical problems, but Rob Levin and Filip Sablik really kept all that under control. Those guys did a great job of matching up artists' strengths with the scenes they were assigned. Even though the segments were just a few pages long, many of those guys turned in some of the best work of their careers. It was awesome
Eric: So what can we expect to be seeing coming up for Jackie in the rest of the Sovereign arc? A possible new status quo once again?
Phil: Yeah. It's all coming to a head in #78. We'll meet a new character in #76 that throws everything Jackie's known about both The Sovereign and The Darkness out the window.
Eric: So is this similar to something like Jackie's sister showing up all those years ago in the series? Or is this something that the character and the readers wont see coming at all? Obviously you don't have to spoil anything Phil, just more of a tease is cool.
Phil: Someone no one is expecting. I hope someone no one thought was possible. A game changer. And with that, another month of controlling the darkness ends. Phil sure knows how to tease the readers. If you ever have a question for phil use the email that will be linked at the bottom of my page and it will probably be used in the next edition unless we are already covering it that month.
See you guys back here next month for the next part of the sovereign arc.
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Eric Ratcliffe is a young writer/pop culture journalist/interviewer currently working on pitching a project named the Hunter chronicles. When not reading his weekly stack Eric can be found watching dvd's, playing on his 360 (gamertag: Zack Hunter) or just surfing online trying to find a scoop or two. Brand new to the Comic Related family, Eric is a fun new voice. Eric shops at TJ's Collectibles. Visit them on the web at www.tjcollect.com!
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