The Darkness (Jackie Estacado) is a fictional superhero created by Marc Silvestri, Garth Ennis and David Wohl, who first appeared in an American comic series published by Top Cow Productions in 1996. The character first appeared in Witchblade #10 (Nov. 1996), set in the Image Universe. Jackie Estacado is a New York mafioso who, after turning 21, inherited the curse of the Darkness. Top Cow relaunched The Darkness comic title in 2019 with Matt Hawkins as writer and Tom Grindberg as artist, featuring Jackie Estacado and Sara Pezzini in supporting roles. Fictional biography Darkness In the Top Cow Universe, the Darkness is depicted as a cosmic entity predating recorded history. It is the embodiment of the empty void of chaos which existed prior to the coming of God's light – embodied as the Angelus. As the cosmos formed in its place, the now-usurped Darkness grew to resent God and His creation. Growing powerful enough to manifest itself and conjure a legion of demons, the Darkness declared war upon the Angelus and her host. This lasted for eons until a truce was found to prevent mutual destruction. To seal the covenant, the two powers mated and conceived the Witchblade. Sometime after this, the Darkness began inhabiting human vessels – inherited through the sons of its chosen bloodline; the father passing the curse to his child at the moment of conception, expiring as the force leaves his body. The power then awakens on the son's 21st birthday. A wielder of the Darkness has been present in every major time period and continental power in history. These hosts have usually been of a violent predisposition, such as dictators and warlords. Many have also been of a criminal background, namely murderers, thieves, and abusers. Later in the story, the writers invented other cosmic powers, so far 13, known as "Artifacts". Jackie Estacado Jackie Estacado was the vessel of the Darkness for the first run of the series. He is depicted as a brutalized version of the classical anti-hero; oft-aligned with evil, but sometimes fighting with remorse and wanting to do good. The key to his personality the writers give is "My whole life I've been kicked around, you know? I don't know how to do anything but kick back". Raised as a hit-man for the Franchetti Family Mob, Jackie's defining quality was his penchant for murder as well as womanizing. Despite his criminal lifestyle,