The Darkness #1 and Carmen Red Claw: Belly of the Beast #1 | Fantastic Forum

Fantastic Forum is back with another week of sharp takes, wild worlds, and comics worth talking about. This episode we’re unpacking The Darkness #1 (2025) from Image Comics/Top Cow and Carmen Red Claw: Belly of the Beast #1 from Dark Horse Comics. In The Darkness #1, original co-creator Marc Silvestri returns to the shadowy saga of Jackie Estacado, the mafia hitman whose curse grants him dominion over demonic forces. With pencils by Ed Benes, inks from Matt “Batt!” Banning, Sal Regla, and John Livesay, colors by Arif Prianto, and letters by Troy Peteri, this relaunch blends noir-style crime and supernatural warfare as Jackie is pulled into a brutal conflict where the lines between good and evil blur into darkness itself.  Meanwhile, Carmen Red Claw: Belly of the Beast #1 introduces a paranormal Western twist to the Hellboy Universe. Created and illustrated by Rae Allen (with co-writing contributions credited alongside Mike Mignola, colors by Michelle Madsen, and letters by Clem Robins), this four-issue miniseries follows supernatural gun-for-hire Carmen Red Claw as she investigates mysterious cattle deaths on cursed ranch land in 1870s New Mexico. Two very different corners of genre storytelling: one steeped in shadowy bloodlines and cosmic menace, the other rooted in folkloric grit and frontier mystery. We’ve read the books and now it’s time to talk about what worked, what surprised us, and why these launches resonate beyond their covers. Watch tonight at 6:30 pm PT and call in live at www.fantasticforum.live to share your thoughts. Fantastic Forum, assemble!   Subscribe –  www.youtube.com/fantasticforum   Call In – www.fantasticforum.live #TheDarkness #CarmenRedClaw #Image #DarkHorse #NewComicBookDay