Newsarama: For Queen & Comics: Darkchylde's Randy & Sarah Queen

For artist Randy Queen, comics have been a passion that has consumed his life for the past 14 years. He’s one of the few creators in mainstream comics to work almost exclusively on his own creator-owned characters, and his work has garnered a significant fanbase that follows his every release.

Queen burst onto the comics scene in 1996 with his series Darkchylde. Queen had done some small formulaic work at Top Cow up to that point, but Darkchylde was his first full-length comic and proved to be so popular that it’s been his calling card ever since. The series has been published in many different iterations, including a manga version at Dark Horse a couple years, and most recently re-appeared in a crossover with Top Cow’s the Darkness in a one-shot written & illustrated by Queen. In recent months, Queen has teased a new sci-fi project entitled Starfall, with several teaser comics being realized during conventions... but the big news as of late has been the release of test footage from a live action Darkchylde movie put together by famed special effects house Weta Workshop.

Read the full interview here.
Source: Newsarama

Broken Frontier Exclusive: The Darkness/Darkchylde SDCC Exclusive

Top Cow showed BF an Exclusive today of The Darkness/Darkchylde/Witchblade: Kingdom of Pain one-shot comic book Variant Cover for San Diego Comic-Con 2010.

Source: Broken Frontier

Jazma Online Forum Interviews Sarah Queen

Richard Vasseur inerviews Sara Queen, and they talk shop on the Darkness/ Darkchylde crossover, Kindom of Pain.

Read the interview here.
Source: forums.jazmaonline.com

Forever Geek: Darkchylde Returns

Reading last weeks team up has made me reconsider Ariel Chylde as a valid character, demonstrating elements of teenage vulnerability combined with a slightly battle-hardened view, she is still obviously in recovery in coming to terms with her role. The Darkness was an excellent choice to balance her with, allowing Randy Queen to highlight the contrasts in a manner not too pretentious, and following on the back of the Darkchylde/Witchblade crossover, it seems he may be establishing her in the Top Cow-er-verse. I wonder what happened to the promised movie deal?

Read the full review here.
Source: forevergeek.com

SciFi Pulse Reviews Darkness/Darkchylde: Kingdom of Pain #1

This is a book that I have been waiting for since I first learned about in late 2009. In the 90s I remember reading Darkchylde, loving every issue, and always felt that this title was an underappreciated series. So I was beyond ecstatic when I found out Randy Queen was going to brink her back.

Read the full review here.
Source: scifipulse.net

Broken Frontier Reviews Darkness/Darkchylde: Kingdom of Pain #1

The Darkness/Darkchylde: Kingdom Pain offers fans something we haven’t seen in a long time. I’m not sure if there’s an official term for it, but this comic mixes violence, horror, fantasy, and humor in just the right proportions. It’s very much like early Spawn or Darkness comics, before they started leaning heavily on the serious noir and graphic horror aspects of the characters. Randy Queen’s art and writing keep true to the mischievous nature of the characters, which makes for a dark but humorous story.

Read the full review here.
Source: brokenfrontier.com

Nfamous Gamers Reviews Darkness/Darkchylde

Like life for the current Darkness bearer Jackie Estacado couldn’t possibly get any weirder right? Uh-huh, suddenly he is drawn into a world where everything is just about as ass backwards as you can get. It is a sort of living dreamscape that has been created by the unconscious mind of Ariel Chylde, also known as the Darkchylde. So why has Jackie been drawn here? And why is Ariel unconscious to begin with? The Darkness/Darkchylde: Kingdom Pain one-shot answers those questions.

Read the full review here.
Source: nfamousgamers.com

SciFiPulse.net Reviews Darkness/Darkchylde: Kingdom of Pain

This is a book that I have been waiting for since I first learned about in late 2009. In the 90s I remember reading Darkchylde, loving every issue, and always felt that this title was an underappreciated series. So I was beyond ecstatic when I found out Randy Queen was going to brink her back.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Darkchylde, the series was first launched in 1996 and centers on Ariel Darkchylde, a teen cursed with the ability to transform in monsters, but once she becomes herself again, the monster is set free to wreck havoc. As the story progressed she battled other monsters, learned more about the nature of her powers, and struggled with her place in the world. But enough with the past.

Read the full review here.
Source: scifipulse.net

Broken Frontier Reviews Darkness/Darkchylde: Kingdom of Pain

Art-wise, the Queens make a great team. With Randy on pencils, and Sarah on inks, color, lettering, and design, the book comes together very well. The majority of this issue takes place in an icy nightmare world where it rains blood, and the reader is definitely made aware of this. The contrast between cold blue ice and flowing red blood is explored in depth both through color and design. The sky and the ground stand apart like fire and ice, as do the Darkness and Darkchylde’s costumes. Randy Queen is a master at designing details on monsters, and we see that throughout this issue.

Read the full review here.
Source: brokenfrontier.com

Hollywood Jesus Reviews Darkness/Darkchylde

I can see why Randy and Sara became such huge hits. The writing and artwork here is tremendous. They do a great job capturing the essence of the characters, even if you know nothing about them.

Two things that sticks out here: Ariel telling Jackie “This isn’t about what we want, it’s about the GOOD in us being able to prevent a BAD that is coming” and “Things get cracked and broken, it happens. But they can still be beautiful again.” I think those lines really sum up the story. No matter how dark the world is, there is always a light that shines brighter.

Read the full review here.
Source: live.hollywoodjesus.com

Player Affinity Reviews Darkness/Darkchylde

Darkchylde's mind is under attack by an alien parasite. Fortunately, a sliver of her psyche breaks off in the form of a smart mouth little girl named Miss Happy. She sends out a distress call to Sara Pezzini, the Witchblade. But the signal gets crossed and Jackie Estacado, the Darkness ends up helping instead.

Read the full review here.
Source: playeraffinity.com

Cosmic Book News Reviews Darkness/Darkchylde

Now we finally know what happened to Ariel Chylde after the last issue of Darkchylde: Redemption. As seen on the last page of the last issue of Darkchylde: Redemption, Kauldron was preparing to attack Ariel. Apparently he did attack and Ariel was left for dead. She has been unconscious in a coma unit of a small hospital for the past seven years. In Kingdom of Pain we see that in response to a new danger, a small part of Ariel’s consciousness awakens and in her dream calls out for help to Witchblade. Instead, she mistakenly contacts The Darkness who responds to her call for help and frees her from her coma just in time to face the danger.

Read the full review here.
Source: cosmicbooknews.com

Blogcritics Books Reviews Darkness/Darkchylde

The one-shot sees the return of Darkchylde after an eight year hiatus and the first artist, Queen, outside of Marc Silvestri drawing The Darkness since the character was first designed ten years ago. That alone will please fans of both characters, but some great dialogue and artwork really make this one-shot an enjoyable read.

Read more: http://blogcritics.org/books/article/comic-book-review-the-darknessdarkchylde-kingdom1/#ixzz0qDtFjIF8


Read the full review here.
Source: blogcritics.org

Comic Vine Reviews Darkness/Darkchylde

if you ever wanted to learn about The Darkness and Darkchylde and were always skeptical of where to begin reading, then you need to look no further. This book not only acts as a perfect springboard into the Top Cow Universe, but it introduces both Jackie Estacado as well Ariel Chylde to new readers while simultaneously providing an intriguing story for longtime fans of the characters to follow and enjoy.

Read the full review here.
Source: comicvine.com

Comic Vine Reviews Darkness/Darkchylde

In my opinion, Top Cow has managed to create a very unique universe using elements of horror and the concept of light and darkness as themes to connect stories and characters. All this being said, if you ever wanted to learn about The Darkness and Darkchylde and were always skeptical of where to begin reading, then you need to look no further. This book not only acts as a perfect springboard into the Top Cow Universe, but it introduces both Jackie Estacado as well Ariel Chylde to new readers while simultaneously providing an intriguing story for longtime fans of the characters to follow and enjoy. The one-shot is a complete story that is interesting enough to keep you reading. The art, of course, is provocative (it is, afterall, Top Cow).

Read the full review here.

Source: Comic Vine

Graphic Policy Reviews Darkness/Darkchylde

The story is in a very interesting style coming from Ariel Chylde’s perspective and relying heavily on her narration. Darkchylde and the Darkness battle for half the comic and the ending is very interesting. The art is pretty impressive and that alone makes worth checking out the one shot.

Read the full review here.
Source: graphicpolicy.com

Playback:stl Previews Darkness/Darkchylde: Kingdom of Pain One Shot

A new armor for Jackie Estacado, the bearer of The Darkness, and a new beginning for Ariel Chylde, the girl who can become creatures from her nightmares! Jackie intercepts a physic plea for help, and frees Ariel from a self imposed, seven-year exile. But what happens when these fan favorite monster makers encounter a new threat that can create anything? Guest starring Witchblade!

Read the full article here.
Source: playbackstl.com

CBR Exclusive Preview: Select Pages from Darkness/Darkchylde: Kingdom of Pain

STORY BY: Randy Queen
ART BY: Randy Queen, Sarah Queen
COVER BY: Randy Queen, Sarah Queen
PUBLISHER: Top Cow Productions
COVER PRICE: $4.99
RELEASE DATE: Wed, May 26th, 2010

The Return of Randy Queen’s Darkchylde!

A new armor for Jackie Estacado, the bearer of The Darkness, and a new beginning for Ariel Chylde, the girl who can become creatures from her nightmares! Jackie intercepts a physic plea for help, and frees Ariel from a self imposed, seven-year exile. But what happens when these fan favorite monster makers encounter a new threat that can create anything? Guest starring Witchblade!

Also includes a bonus 8 page never-before-seen preview of Starfall, the highly anticipated sci-fi horror title from Randy and Sarah Queen!

See more preview pages here.

Source: CBR

Newsarama Exclusive Preview: Darkness/Darkchylde: Kingdom of Pain

The Return of Randy Queen’s Darkchylde!
A new armor for Jackie Estacado, the bearer of The Darkness, and a new beginning for Ariel Chylde, the girl who can become creatures from her nightmares! Jackie intercepts a physic plea for help, and frees Ariel from a self imposed, seven-year exile. But what happens when these fan favorite monster makers encounter a new threat that can create anything? Find out this Christmas, when things get dark! Guest starring Witchblade!

Read the full preview here.
Source: newsarama.com

Newsarama: May is Darkchylde Month with Top Cow & PopCultureShock

May is Darkchylde Month

Darkchylde Ent. proudly announces May as Darkchylde Month. With the triumphant release of the highly anticipated crossover with Top Cow's The Darkness, and her first ever statue release through Jerry Macaluso's PopCutureShock Collectibles, fans of Randy Queen's nightmare haunted beauty, Ariel Chylde, will be in for some happy surprises this May. Darkchylde excitement should hit a fever pitch when test footage for a Darkchylde film created by the Academy award winning Weta Workshop hits the net around the same time.

"The tale of a beautiful but cursed southern teen who can become any of the creatures from her many recurring nightmares was a bonafide late 90's, early 2000's sensation, seeing the character realized in comics, trading cards, action figures, skateboards, apparel, mini busts, and more", says creator and writer, Randy Queen, "and it is with great joy that all these exciting new elements are congealing at this time, with the Top Cow Crossover, the Statue from PopCultureShock Collectibles and the release of the Weta Test Footage. This is a concept fans have shown they love and there aren't many comic characters created post 1960's with any real staying power. I'm delighted the plight of Ariel Chylde has endured and proved so memorable for fans around the world and it'll be terrific to see where her wings carry her from here."

Source: Newsarama