Review by Frank Plowright
In the Marvel universe the Darkhold is a book of ancient evil knowledge, and therefore coveted by some for just that purpose. It’s also the passageway though which a demon named Chthon can manifest on Earth, which is certainly undesirable for humanity’s sake. However, a cursory glance of the opening pages reveals to Doctor Doom and the Scarlet Witch that a group of five people with specific talents were previously able to defeat Chthon. A few pages later these are revealed in the modern day to be Black Bolt, Blade, Iron Man, Spider-Man and the Wasp.
Steve Orlando and Cian Tormey provide the set-up chapter, and Darkhold then cycles though assorted creators individually spotlighting the chosen five before Orlando and Tormey supply closure. The format has frequently been an excuse for padding at Marvel, and the mix of superheroes and supernatural is rarely an unqualified success, but Darkhold bucks the trend via the procedure being that each hero has read from the Darkhold and is exposed to a horrific alternative past. Blade experiences a world where the majority of humans have become vampires; festering resentment plagues the Wasp; and Black Bolt puzzles about his recent past. They’re all readable.
At opposite ends of the scale are the Iron Man and Spider-Man chapters. Under Alex Paknadel and Dio Neves Spider-Man’s task starts well as he inhabits a world where his webbing is literally the only thing holding people and places together, but the focus slips away and the ending doesn’t make much sense. By contrast Ryan North’s plot for Iron Man is excellent, heading back to Tony Stark’s earliest days in the armour, but with a gruesome twist. The horror is seen through the eyes of Pepper Potts, and is further elevated by Guillermo Sanna’s great art. There’s something of Francesco Francavilla about the look, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
The experiences of the heroes have exploited a weakness enabling their transformation into servants of the Darkhold, to be dealt with by Doctor Doom and Scarlet Witch at the conclusion. Tormey’s sample art shows a facility for over-exaggeration, but that’s accompanied by solid storytelling and a dynamism befitting the occasion, although his pages are better when inking his own art on the opening chapter than when inked by others on the closer.
Orlando delivers a solid finale with some clever twists, at the same time setting up his subsequent Scarlet Witch series and the return of an obscure and long unseen hero. As crossovers by multiple creative teams go, this ranks highly.
