DC COMICS – @DCComics
WRITER: Simon Oliver
ARTIST: Moritat
COLORS: Andre Szymanowicz
LETTERS: Sal Cipriano
COVER: Moritat
VARIANT COVER: John Cassaday with Paul Mounts
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (November 2016)
Rated “T+” for “Teen Plus”
John Constantine created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben and Jamie Delano & John Ridgway
“The Poison Truth” Part 2
DC Comic's new publishing event/initiative (entitled “Rebirth”) offers the fourth John Constantine comic book series, The Hellblazer. It is written by Simon Oliver; drawn by Moritat; colored by Andre Szymanowicz; and lettered by Sal Cipriano.
The Hellblazer #2 (“The Poison Truth” Part 2) opens with two old friends discussing the good, bad, and awful in the box of deplorable that is John Constantine. Speaking of the devil, Constantine is being kicked out of his “temporary” shelter, but he has other things on his mind. He is back in London, and his welcome-me-home gift to the city was bringing it to the edge of destruction. So why hasn't anyone from the London Underworld contacted him any in manner? He hopes to get answers from an old (old) friend, Clarice Sackville, but she is speaking the language of English romantic poets.
First, I have to admit that I was and still am a big fan of Constantine: The Hellblazer simply because the 13-issue series brought John back to form, but had him hell-raising and -blazing in the good old U.S. of A. So, it is not as if The Hellblazer is the return to some lost form, but returning John to his original stomping grounds makes The Hellblazer quite formidable.
I did read the one-shot The Hellblazer: Rebirth, and I pretended to like it a lot more than I really did. I did not read The Hellblazer #1, but even reading only issue #2, it is clear to me that this could be a damn good read. I say that because The Hellblazer #2 is a damn fine read. Writer John Oliver's script recalls the best years of John, and artist Moritat's eclectic line work and Andre Szymanowicz's watercolor-like hues infuse the story with supernatural atmospherics.
I think The Hellblazer will cast some old black magic on comic book readers.
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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