The cover that started The Darkness is coming back. The Darkness #10, out December 23, carries an updated reprint of the original #1 cover art by Marc Silvestri, Matt "Batt" Banning, Steve Firchow and Brian Haberlin, for the series' 30th anniversary. It closes out the month Top Cow built around the anniversary: three books, three FOC Mondays, November 9, 16 and 23.
The Darkness has been in my long boxes since the '90s, filed right next to Witchblade, so this is a month I've had circled. Here's what each book is, when it closes, and where to start if you've never read it.
The Darkness at 30, by the dates
On sale Wednesday, December 2, 16 and 23 · Top Cow / Image Comics
THE ANNIVERSARY BOOKS
The Darkness 30th Anniversary Art Gallery #1 (Image Comics, $5.99, FOC Mon 11/9, out 12/2). A 48-page one-shot of art from all 30 years: covers, sketches, process and promotional pieces, with commentary from Marc Silvestri and Joe Benitez on some of their favorite work. The artist list reads like a Top Cow history: Silvestri, Benitez, David Finch, Michael Turner, Stjepan Šejić, Raymond Gay and more. Silvestri has the cover. It's the first of the three to close, four days after this goes up.
The Darkness vs. The Magdalena #1 (Image Comics, $5.99, Silvestri/Hawkins/Cady, FOC Mon 11/16, out 12/16). An oversized one-shot, 48 pages. The Order of the Magdalena has tangled with Darkness wielders for centuries, and this one tells three stories of the Darkness and the Warriors of the Blood Divine, from 0 AD to the 1990s. The art is by Pat Boutin, David Lapham, Zul Kamarrudin and Gibran Ferdian, and one chapter showcases Kamarrudin, the winner of Top Cow's 2026 Talent Hunt. The two go back a long way: the Magdalena first appeared in The Darkness #15, in the original series. Björn Barends has Cover A; Joe Benitez and Richard Isanove have Cover B.
The Darkness #10 (Image Comics, $3.99, Silvestri/Gay, FOC Mon 11/23, out 12/23). This is the issue Top Cow put the anniversary on. Silvestri writes, with art by Raymond Gay, Agustin Padilla and Arif Prianto. Only the Angelus stands between Sonatine and the ultimate power, and the odds are against her; the solicit leaves Jackie Estacado's part in it an open question. Four covers: Raymond Gay and Arif Prianto on A, Laura Braga on B, the 30th anniversary original #1 art on C, and a 1:50 virgin version of that art with spot foil on D. C is the one longtime readers will know on sight.
One more on the way in: The Darkness #9, out November 25, sends Jackie down to the Heart of the Darkness ahead of #10.
HOW WE GOT HERE
Marc Silvestri and Garth Ennis created The Darkness in 1996. Ennis wrote the first issue and Silvestri drew it. Jackie Estacado is a mafia hitman who inherits the Darkness on his 21st birthday: access to an otherworldly dimension, and control over the demons who live there. He first showed up in Witchblade #10, then got his own book with The Darkness #1. Thirty years on, Image counts it among Top Cow's most popular properties, with spin-offs, crossovers and two video games behind it.
Silvestri came back to write it himself in 2025. The Darkness (2025) #1 came out December 10, 2025, drawn by Ed Benes, and Raymond Gay took over the art with #2. That's the run #10 continues.
START WITH THE COLLECTIONS
If you'd rather read your way in before #10, these are the Darkness collections on our list.
The Darkness (2025) Vol. 1 (Image Comics, $17.99, out 7/22/2026). The start of Silvestri's current run in one book: it collects The Darkness (2025) #1-6, The Darkness #1/2 from 2021 and The Darkness vs. Angelus #1 from 2025. It's on our list with two covers, one by Silvestri and Arif Prianto and one by Ed Benes.
The Complete Darkness Vol. 4 (Image Comics, hardcover $49.99 or paperback $29.99, out 11/25). The beginning of Phil Hester's run: The Darkness Vol. 3 #1-10 (Legacy #65-74) and #75-88, plus The Darkness: Butcher, The Darkness: Lodbrok's Hand and The Darkness: Shadow and Flame. It comes out the same Wednesday as #9.
If you want to go back to the very beginning, Image is offering The Complete Darkness Vols. 1-3 in hardcover again in its December catalog.
Every new book above is on our FOC list under the Monday it closes. Founding testers add books to their pull box right from the list. Not a tester yet? Applications are open through Sunday, November 8: click over to the Founding Testers page, sign in with a free Hero account, and join the waitlist. We'll email you if you're picked.
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