Being a fan of serial comics and fantasy comics in general, it was a real treat to stumble upon Darken when I first came to Comic Genesis. Darken tells the story of a world where evil outnumbers the good guys, and in a significant manner. Don't be fooled by the main characters; every single one of them is evil at heart, from the near-sighted drow to the happy-go-lucky thief.

That is actually one of the things that made Darken stand out; literally NO ONE in the world is good, except for a few souls that hole themselves up in cities with other good folks. Evil is rampant in the world of Darken, and it's only a matter of time before someone strong enough takes over the world. Or takes over the world from the underworld...

Kate, or Komiyan as she prefers herself to be called on the forums and online, has a true knack for telling stories. The story in Darken is an interesting one about a man who's brought back from hell to assemble the pieces that the devil himself has lost around the face of the world. He is returned to the world via a summoning spell, and Komiyan is brought along almost by accident to aid in his quest (destroying most, if not all, of the town that summoned him in the first place).

The storyline is intermingled with amusing bits here and there, but her strength is in the storytelling. It's a very intriguing idea and she's executed it very well from the beginning. Also, since she joined the Lazy Grind (a semi-unofficial competition amongst fellow comic creators) she's updated faithfully three times a week, speeding through the story faster than a large majority of serial comics on the web today.

The artwork for Darken is very nice and fits the mood of the comic well. Most of the time it is done in what looks to be a mix of pen and pencil (some for detail work, some for shading) though occasionally she graces the web with a full-color page. Her artwork is fairly well done and the characters are easily recognizable from each other. Also, her monsters are done well and pull heavily from her D&D roots…

Overall, Darken will easily pull you into its world. It updates quite quickly for a serial comic, and it is really fun to see the world through a bad guy's eyes for once. Plus, the longer she stays in the Grind, the more comics we all get to see from her; definitely not a bad thing in my book at all.

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