Thicker Than the Phonebook

I like to use the phrase "thicker than the phonebook" because I think it's funny and a delightful exaggeration. This time, however, that phrase is true.

You might know that I had been interested in getting The Darkness Compendium for a while, and I almost got it over a year ago or so. I didn't, though, and just when I was considering it again, Top Cow announced they were re-releasing it in a rebranded edition that matched their new trade paperback collection. (And much prettier than the horrible yellow on black they used to have.) So I thought I would go ahead and buy it this time, and I did. And that's when I realized that The Darkness Compendium is indeed thicker than the phonebook. And if you don't believe me, look at the picture accompanying this post.

TDC collects everything you'd possibly want, and then some: the preview issue of The Darkness, The Darkness #1/2, the complete volume 1 of the series (issues 1-40), the complete Tales of the Darkness (issues 1/2-4), issue 1/2 of The Darkness/Witchblade crossover, the one-shot The Darkness: Wanted Dead, and the one thing that aggravates me: the first issue of volume 2 of the series. And the reason why this aggravates me is because this way, somebody who is only interested in getting Volume Two has to suck it up and buy this collection to get the first issue. I understand this is done for marketing reasons, but come on! What's going to happen when they release the collected volume 2? Will they include issue 1 as well? I hope so, because otherwise, it would be a poor collection if the first issue is missing from it. (Now: I understand that probably nobody would want to buy the second volume without having the first one, so maybe the point is moot.)

At any rate, I bought TDC for the artwork, and I can always choose not to read the first issue of volume 2, or not buy the second volume when it is released. That will depend on how much I like the story. I read the first five or six issues back in the day, when they first came out, and I've also read the Darkness/Witchblade Family Ties crossover that I have on trade. Other than that, I know the character and I follow Witchblade, but I've never been all that interested in Jackie Estacado. Still, the artwork is great, the wealth of material this Compendium offers is mindboggling, and the price, as it's usually the case with Top Cow, is more than reasonable. So here's to hoping I will enjoy the thousands of pages awaiting me!