Sample file ®

writers: Phil Hester & Joshua Hale Fialkov pencilers: Sheldon Mitchell & Romano Molenaar : Joe Weems, Ryan Winn, Rick Basaldua, Sal Regla, & Jason Gorder colors: Arif Prianto of IFS & Michael Atiyeh letters: Troy Peteri

Jackie’s caption font by David Lanphear

for Inc. Marc Silvestri - CEO Matt Hawkins - President and COO Filip Sablik - Publisher BryanSample Rountree – Assistant file to Publisher Elena SalcedoIMAGE –COMICS, Sales Assistant INC. - chief operating officer - chief financial officer Todd McFarlane - president Marc Silvestri - chief executive officer - vice-president IMAGEIMAGE COMICS, COMICS, INC. INC. Eric Stephenson - publisher Robert Kirkman - chief operating officer Todd Martinez - sales & licensing coordinator ErikRobert Larsen Kirkman- chief financial - chiefofficer operating officer Todd McFarlane - president Sarah deLaine - pr & marketing coordinator MarcErik Silvestri Larsen - chief - chief executive financial officer officer Branwyn Bigglestone - accounts manager JimTodd Valentino McFarlane - vice-president - president Emily Miller - administrative assistant EricMarc Stephenson Silvestri - publisher - chief executive officer Todd Martinez - sales & licensing coordinator Jamie Parreno - marketing assistant SarahJim deLaineValentino - pr & marketing- vice-president coordinator Kevin Yuen - digital rights coordinator Branwyn Bigglestone - accounts manager EmilyEric Miller Stephenson - administrative - publisherassistant Tyler Shainline - production manager JamieTodd Parreno Martinez - marketing - sales assistant & licensing coordinator Drew Gill - art director Kevin Yuen - digital rights coordinator Jonathan Chan - senior production artist TylerSarah Shainline deLaine - production - pr manager& marketing coordinator DrewBranwyn Gill - art Bigglestonedirector - accounts manager Monica Garcia - production artist JonathanEmily MillerChan - senior - administrative production artist assistant Vincent Kukua - production artist Monica Garcia - production artist VincentJamie Kukua Parreno - production - marketing artist assistant Jana Cook - production artist JanaKevin Cook Yuen - production - digital artist rights coordinator www.imagecomics.comTyler Shainline - production manager www.imagecomics.com Drew Gill - art director Jonathan Chan - senior production artist Monica Garcia - production artist Vincent Kukua - production artist to findJana the Cook comic - production shop artist nearest Want more info? check out: www.imagecomics.comyou call: www.topcow.com and www.topcowstore.com 1-888-COMICBOOK for news and exclusive Top Cow merchandise!

For this edition Cover art by: For this edition Original editions Michael Broussard, Book Design and Layout by: edited by: Steve Firchow Phil Smith Filip Sablik & Phil Smith

The Darkness: Accursed Volume 5 Trade Paperback November 2011. FIRST PRINTING. Direct Market Edition. ISBN: 978-1-60706-080-2 Published by Inc. Office of Publication: 2134 Allston Way, Second Floor Berkeley, CA 94704. $16.99 U.S.D. Originally published in single magazine form as #85-89. © 2009 Top Cow Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. “The Darkness,”“Top Cow,” the Top Cow logo and the Darkness logos are registered trademarks of Top Cow Productions, Inc.. The likeness of all characters (human or otherwise) featured herein are trademarks of Top Cow Productions, Inc. Image Comics and the Image Comics logo are trademarks of Image Comics, Inc. The characters, events, and stories in this publication are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, institutions, or locales, without satiric intent, is coincidental. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the express written permission of Top Cow Productions, Inc. Printed in the U.S.A. For information regarding the CPSIA on this printed material call: 203-595-3636 and provide reference # EAST – 388933 TableTable ofof ContentsContents

“Alkonost” page part 1 6

“ALKONOST” page part 2 28

“THE APOSTATE” page 50

“REGICIDE:TERMINUS” page 72 Sample file “HIGH NOON” page 94

“COVER GALLERY” page 118

“SKETCH GALLERY” page 126

SCRIPT BOOK page 130 Previously in

®

With a resume as a former hitman, Mafia Don, and third-world dictator, Jackie Estacado is a man nobody would want to double-cross.

On top of that, Jackie is the latest bearer of the Darkness, an ancient power that allows its host to create constructs and summon otherworldly demons limited only by his imagination.

And he has been royally pissed off lately. Sample file

Recently, he and the Darkness have had trouble staying on speaking terms with each other. But that’s not all that’s been chapping his ass.

Enter the powerful and mysterious Sovereign, a fallen king cursed to forever live in the sculpted idols made in his image during his reign.

An ancient Darkness wielder delivered the Sovereign’s downfall, so over the millennia he has exacted revenge by making a sport of tormenting subsequent Darkness bearers. And thus Jackie found Tricked into believing himself at the shit-end of his body and soul were the stick. separated, the Sovereign deployed Jackie as his “bag boy” to settle old scores and bad debts with others who had betrayed the Sovereign.

On one of these errands, a shadowy figure claiming to have been a former wielder of the Darkness approached Jackie.

Known only as the Foreigner, the strange man bonked Jackie on the head with his walking stick and in a wise voice spoke, “If you do not control the Darkness, the Darkness will control you.”

With his full powers back in order, Jackie gathered a motley crew of thieves, smugglers, and weapons specialists to track down and destroySample each file and every one of the Sovereign’s host bodies.

And he promised each one of them two millions bucks to do it, too.

Their quest to eradicate that stony bastard has taken them all over Europe, to the Florida Everglades, and even Fort Knox.

With no end in sight to his mission and the Foreigner’s words that one can conquer and rid himself of the Darkness ringing inside his head, Jackie is left to wonder, “what’s next?” ®

Sample file

Alkonost Part One

written by: Phil Hester pencils by: Sheldon Mitchell inks by: Joe Weems, Ryan Winn, & Rick Basaldua colors by: Arif Prianto of IFS letters by: Troy Peteri

6