The Darkness #22

In The Darkness #22 (1999), Jackie Estacado confronts a chilling revelation: a long-dead ancestor of his helped forge Wyrmwood, a town that exists beyond reality. As its current inhabitants beg him to free them into the world to spread chaos, Jackie makes a desperate choice—swallowing the entire town back into himself with the power of the Darkness to protect Jenny. Written by Malachy Coney and illustrated by Clarence Lansang, with inks by Jonathan Sibal, Ken Lashley, Victor Llamas, John Livesay, Marco Galli, and colors by Matt Nelson, Jimmy Yu, and John Starr, this issue deepens the series’ mythos with a haunting, self-contained threat. The cover by Joe Benitez and Joe Weems V captures the story’s grim intensity.