The Darkness (comics) - Jackie Estacado

Jackie Estacado

Jackie Estacado is the current wielder of The Darkness and a former hitman for the Franchetti Family mob. He is a very violent and sexual man who, until gaining the powers of The Darkness, lived life in the fast lane, though he lives life on the wrong side of the law and can kill without remorse, he has a strict set of morals and a fierce loyalty to those that earn it. Yet the only thing keeping him from being purely evil is his true love Jenny Romano as well as his love for his daughter Hope and others.

Jackie joined the Mafia at the very early age of 6, after being adopted by Mafia don Frankie "Kill-the-children-too" Franchetti, who was told by a mysterious stranger named Sonatine that Jackie's presence in his mob would make Frankie powerful. Jackie came to the Mafia life easily, losing his virginity to a female officer during interrogation at age 14, and making his first hit at 16. He matured very quickly, and soon enjoyed the life of sex and violence. His actions within the mob caused Franchetti to become the most powerful don in the city, fulfilling Sonatine's prophecy.

However, when he turned 21, his dark powers awakened and he learned of his evil heritage as well as about the Brotherhood of The Darkness, The Witchblade, and The Angelus, whom he subsequently weakened and left hostless. Early on, Jackie spent much of his time escaping from or fighting The Angelus (who wants to kill him), and Sonatine and his Brotherhood of The Darkness (who wish to capture him and either control him or steal his powers). Eventually, Jackie chose to quit the mob, but found it easier said than done. Jackie had turned on his adoptive uncle, Don Frankie Franchetti, to get a clean slate and exit from his life of crime after a meeting with Batman (Batman/Darkness crossover). However, after Frankie kidnapped Jenny, a childhood friend of Jackie's, Frankie killed her and sent a videotape to Jackie in revenge. Jackie could not take this and called out Franchetti's mob, leading them to an abandoned warehouse covered in gasoline. When the crew arrived to kill Estacado, Jackie and the darklings threw down their lighters and blew the place, and all its occupants, to bits, killing Frankie and burning Jackie alive. Over the course of this series, Jackie makes uneasy and often flirtatious alliances with Sara Pezzini, the current user of The Witchblade.

Jackie spent two days (or what seemed to him like 'a million years') afterward wandering around Hell, searching for Jenny, until Tom Judge came and gave him hope, a gift that allows men to exit Hell. Jackie's body was then reconstructed by The Darkness.

Jackie returned to find the Franchetti mob taken over by Frankie's amateur cousin, Paulie. Paulie was able to discover Jackie's secret as well as a long-lost sister of Jenny's. Using this information, Paulie blackmailed Jackie into doing hits for him. Along the way, Jackie learned how to construct a gun out of The Darkness. Later, Jackie discovered the identity of the hitman following Jenny's sister, killed him, and took his revenge on Paulie as well. This led to Jackie taking control of the Franchetti family. With control of the Franchetti family, Jackie vastly expanded his mafia, taking on the Triads, and fought the Russian Mafia in Atlantic City.

Being the Don of the Italian Mafia in New York did not last long however. In searching for revenge, the new Angelus once again confronts Jackie, and with the help of Patience the Magdalena and Witchblade wielder Danielle Baptiste, Estacado manages to crush her, losing everything he had gained. He flees to Sierra Muñoz in hope of establishing a new empire there.

Jackie Estacado is also the biological father of Hope Pezzini, Sara Pezzini's mystical child. He himself could not explain it properly apart from saying that it had to do with 'Darkness wanting to tip the balance'. The Darkness entity itself confirms this to Patience (Witchblade #110) by saying that it used Jackie as the raw material to settle the matter with The Angelus once and for all. Recently, Jackie has established a drug cartel in Sierra Muñoz with a Darkness-based narcotic made from his own bodily fluids thanks to the help of a demented, but brilliant, scientist named Professor Kirchner. With The Darkness, Jackie is able to take control of the small tropical republic, build himself an impenetrable fortress, an army and, eventually, even a lover he calls 'Elle'.

Most of these come at a price since the residents of Sierra Muñoz do not take very kindly to him. To express their distaste, they perform various acts of guerrilla warfare and suicide bombing in their struggle for liberation. They manage to find themselves a sponsor in their struggle: the United States military, who have been assigned by the Department of Defense to capture Jackie for both experimentation and to learn about his armor. Jackie went to fight the army head-on and, using The Darkness, he was able to take out the entire fleet. Returning to his fortress, he is betrayed by Kirchner and loses control of all of his power, with his darklings turning on him. Jackie is left for dead after being shot in the neck and falling down a waterfall. Upon his capture he makes a deal with the local rebels agreeing to rid the island of the drug he created. In doing so he crosses paths with Elle and she reveals to Jackie that she is pregnant with his baby: a spawn of The Darkness itself.

The Darkness, however, killed Elle upon birth, grew to full maturity and killed Professor Kirchner. A fight between Jackie and The Darkness ended when Jackie left the creature in the upper atmosphere just as dawn was breaking. The Darkness was then destroyed by the rays of the morning sun.

After crashing to Earth following this battle, Jackie was weakened and battered. He flees Sierra Munoz and heads back to the States. But the road home is no easy journey as he runs afoul of Mexican witches and wannabe gangsters. During one such fight, he was knocked out and soon discovers his battle with The Darkness cast his soul into Hell while leaving his body and mind on Earth after he meets and makes a deal with a devil who calls himself The Sovereign, an arch-demon who promises, in return for a number of assassinations, to reunite Jackie's body and soul.