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MattBrady
11-21-2004, 12:24 PM
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Top_Cow/DS17_cover.jpg" width="165" height="253" border="0" align="right">Top Cow has provided Newsarama with four pages of <b>Darkness #17</b>, the debut issue of David Lapham as writer on the series.

Top Cow’s solicitation for the issue reads:

<b>Darkness #17</b> "Hell House" Part 1 of 4

"Noir Master David Lapham (Stray Bullets) brings his own brand of horror and gritty realism to Top Cow, writing and doing layouts for visionary artist Brian Denham. Jackie Estacado checks into an Atlantic City casino gone horribly wrong, where he encounters mobster menaces aplenty, and the true depths of his powers...and his soul."

"Basically it's a deadly serious, darkly comic story involving an Atlantic City casino, a desperate woman, a gaggle of demons, the mob, a gun, a knife, a sword, a pair of dice, the beach, a boat, a hacksaw, two hookers, a Russian named Ivan, a yucky meal, and a really, really, long ear canal. The challenge is to make this the darkest, most twisted and sickest comic you've ever seen-yet still fun for the whole family."
-David Lapham

"There is no one, but no one in comics who does real-life horrow like David Lapham. His Stray Bullets is one of the most riveting reads in comics, and just as a fan, I love seeing him apply that same sensibility to The Darkness"
-Jim McLauchlin
Editor-in-Chief

Want to know what happened just before these pages? Click here (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=4456) for CBR’s four page preview of pages 6-9.

Click on the thumbnails for larger versions.

<center><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Top_Cow/DS17_Page_10.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Top_Cow/DS17_Page_10_t.jpg" alt="page 10" width="175" height="269" border="0"></a><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Top_Cow/DS17_Page_11.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Top_Cow/DS17_Page_11_t.jpg" alt="page 11" width="175" height="269" hspace="2" border="0"></a>

<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Top_Cow/DS17_Page_12.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Top_Cow/DS17_Page_12_t.jpg" alt="page 12" width="175" height="269" border="0"></a><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Top_Cow/DS17_Page_13.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Top_Cow/DS17_Page_13_t.jpg" alt="page 13" width="175" height="269" hspace="2" border="0"></a></center>
BuckySinister
11-21-2004, 01:46 PM
Wow. I really wasn't expecting too much from this, even though I love Stray Bullets. But wow. I may have to pick this one up after all...
Hannibal King
11-21-2004, 01:54 PM
David Lapham has always been a good storyteller in my opinion. From his days at Valiant and Defiant, I've seen him turn into one of comics leading craftsman. I hope this and Batman gets his Stray Bullets the wider recognition it deserves.
Bakema NL
11-21-2004, 03:02 PM
Hmmm, coming back into the comics reading it was clear to me I was not picking up the Darkness again. David Lapham is cool though, but I will not buy this I think. I saw Stray bullets is still around and was thinking about picking it up again, but I have missed so many issues................checking....I got the first 13 issues. And I'm afraid it is hard to get all the back issues I missed out on.
Poolboy
11-21-2004, 05:21 PM
EH, HAVEN'T READ THIS SINCE SINCE ISSUE 2... ART LOOKS GOOD THOUGH :p
Zadillo
11-21-2004, 07:40 PM
Originally posted by Bakema NL
Hmmm, coming back into the comics reading it was clear to me I was not picking up the Darkness again. David Lapham is cool though, but I will not buy this I think. I saw Stray bullets is still around and was thinking about picking it up again, but I have missed so many issues................checking....I got the first 13 issues. And I'm afraid it is hard to get all the back issues I missed out on.

Not sure how hard it is to get the back issues you've missed out on, but the TPB's are pretty easy to get, as are the hardcovers. I highly recommend it. Stray Bullets got even better and better after those first 13 issues, and it really is pretty remarkable.

-Zadillo
Zadillo
11-21-2004, 07:43 PM
I've never bought the Darkness before, but I'm buying this because of Lapham. Not sure exactly what's going on, but I'm looking forward to this.

-Zadillo
Bullwinkle
11-22-2004, 07:36 AM
Actually, I'm more excited about seeing Brian Denham on art. This is the same Brian Denham who produced the excellent KILLBOX series from Antarctic Press, right?! I enjoyed that series to no end and will be glad to see some more work from him again .... Hopefully it's the beginning of a higher profile for Brian. :)

Still, David Lapham on writing chores is also a good thing - although I miss his art as well. His Plasm, Harbinger and Hard Corps work with Jim Shooter was really stellar stuff that I remember fondly - especially that Defiant stuff. Ah, memories .... :cool:

- Chris
Vyper
11-22-2004, 09:02 AM
I don't know if people realize this, but when Brian Denham was described as visionary, that wasn't just a marketing ploy - the entirety of this issue (art-wise) was done in Adobe Illustrator, if I'm not mistaken - pencils, inks, colors, the works. This is one artist with total control of his art, from start to finish. Truly inspiring stuff.
Tinnitus Tim
11-22-2004, 11:20 AM
Originally posted by Vyper
I don't know if people realize this, but when Brian Denham was described as visionary, that wasn't just a marketing ploy - the entirety of this issue (art-wise) was done in Adobe Illustrator, if I'm not mistaken - pencils, inks, colors, the works. This is one artist with total control of his art, from start to finish. Truly inspiring stuff.

You can see there is work behind the art and I acknowledge it, but I dunno, the art leaves me cold.


I do wish success tough to Lapham on this project as well as Detective (which I am very anxious to read).

:)
stlfan79
11-22-2004, 12:34 PM
Really looking forward to reading this first when I get my stack. Darkness is such a cool character and I can't wait to see what Lapham puts him through.
Solamon
11-22-2004, 12:43 PM
Sounds to me like the perfect jumping on point. I think I'll check this one out.
jayleisten
11-22-2004, 02:25 PM
I don't know if people realize this, but when Brian Denham was described as visionary, that wasn't just a marketing ploy - the entirety of this issue (art-wise) was done in Adobe Illustrator, if I'm not mistaken - pencils, inks, colors, the works. This is one artist with total control of his art, from start to finish. Truly inspiring stuff.

I think you got it 1/2 right. Brian was working on a way to do this when we were interns in 2k. He is doing the line art (most likely in illustrator) but Matt Milla is the coloring genious on this one. I have yet to see him work over anyone & not see it come out for the better. Brian is a good artist but I am more interested in Lapham & Millas contributions.
elfin27
11-29-2004, 12:54 AM
I used to like Top Cow products ... but these days they are an embarassment. Every so often new creative teams. And inspite of the hype, nothing lasts like this relaunch of Darkness. I mean, they roped in Keown ... who is fantastic on action and they got him to do Darkness minus the action. No doubt his artwork was still decent but characters were so stiff. I gave up after 3 issues.

But the current team looks promising. Hopefully they will last a full 12-issues ... hopefully ... :D
Zadillo
11-29-2004, 02:12 AM
Originally posted by elfin27
I used to like Top Cow products ... but these days they are an embarassment. Every so often new creative teams. And inspite of the hype, nothing lasts like this relaunch of Darkness. I mean, they roped in Keown ... who is fantastic on action and they got him to do Darkness minus the action. No doubt his artwork was still decent but characters were so stiff. I gave up after 3 issues.

But the current team looks promising. Hopefully they will last a full 12-issues ... hopefully ... :D

What do you mean by a full 12-issues? I'm pretty sure it's already been said this is just a 4-issue run for Lapham at least.

-Zadillo