Review: CONSTANTINE: The Hellblazer #13

CONSTANTINE: THE HELLBLAZER No. 13
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITERS: Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV
ARTIST: Eryk Donovan
COLORS: Kelly Fitzpatrick
LETTERS: Tom Napolitano
COVER: Riley Rossmo
40pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (August 2016)

Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

John Constantine created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben and Jamie Delano & John Ridgway

“Worthless”

The original John Constantine comic book series, Hellblazer, ran for 300 issues.  Then, DC Comics folded Constantine into the mainstream DC Universe with The New 52, and started a new series, simply entitled Constantine.  Our favorite comic book occult detective, magus, con man and troubleshooter was not the same.

Last summer, DC Comics launched the publishing initiative/event known as “DCYou.”  One of the new series that came out of that was the third John Constantine comic book, Constantine: The Hellblazer, which was written by Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV, drawn by Riley Rossmo, colored by Ivan Plascensia, and lettered by Tom Napolitano.

Constantine: The Hellblazer was a good thing, as it found John getting back to his old self, albeit in a new city, New York City.  Now, with DC in the midst of a new initiative, entitled “Rebirth,” we will see John Constantine in his fourth comic book series, The Hellblazer.  I am kind of disappointed (and I was not impressed with The Hellblazer: Rebirth one-shot).  Constantine: The Hellblazer is still good, and stayed good even after series artist, Riley Rossmo, moved on, although he continued providing lovely cover art for this series

We say goodbye with Constantine: The Hellblazer #13 (“Worthless”).  The Donald Trump-esque demon, Lord Neron, and his partners, Papa Midnight and Blythe (a demoness), have Constantine in a bad position.  He cannot break his contract with them, or can he?  You can't keep a good/bad magus down.  This time, however, John will win one of his most hollow victories.

Ah!  What a delightful run.  I think that Constantine: The Hellblazer is an imaginative dark fantasy comic book, one of DC Comics' best recent efforts in this vein.  This series is a fresh take on a character, John Constantine, that occasionally needs an injection of lemony fresh.  The ending of this issue is chilling and heartbreaking.

Through no fault of its own, Constantine: The Hellblazer is connected to sour reboot, Constantine, The New 52 effort to bring Constantine back into the DC Universe proper.  I would not be surprised if Constantine: The Hellblazer ends up being the last sustained run of quality John Constantine comic books for a few years.  I hope I'm wrong, but I think I'm right...

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: CONSTANTINE: The Hellblazer #1

CONSTANTINE: THE HELLBLAZER #1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally published on Patreon. ]

WRITERS: Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV
ARTIST: Riley Rossmo
COLORS: Ivan Plascensia
LETTERS: Tom Napolitano
COVER: Riley Rossmo
VARIANT COVERS: Ming Doyle
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (August 2015)

Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

“Going Down”

The original John Constantine comic book series, Hellblazer, ran for 300 issues.  Then, DC Comics folded Constantine into the mainstream DC Universe with The New 52, and started a new series, simply entitled Constantine.  Our favorite comic book occult detective, magus, and troubleshooter was not the same.

DC's latest publishing initiative/event is “DCYou,” which is being launched with 25 new #1 issues.  One of them is Constantine: The Hellblazer, which is written by Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV, drawn by Riley Rossmo, colored by Ivan Plascensia, and lettered by Tom Napolitano.  I must say that, at least with this first issue, John seems to be getting back to his old self.

Constantine: The Hellblazer #1 (“Going Down”) opens with John trying to clean up after his latest bloody mess.  Another thing that is the same-old-same-old is the ghost of Gary Lester, one of John's many friends who have paid the ultimate cost for being a friend of Constantine's.

It's reunion central when yet another... acquaintance reappears; she is Blythe, an ex-patriot from Hell who has also been an occasional shag-buddy of John's.  Blythe has an ownership interest in “Inferno,” a club slash lounge slash art-house theater of some sort.  She says that the place has an imp infestation that only John can solve, and, no, it won't be that easy.

I like Constantine: The Hellblazer #1 and have better feelings about it than I did about Constantine #1.  Of course, neither one thrilled me as much as Hellblazer #1 did almost three decades ago.  Still, there is something about this new series – something upon which I cannot put my finger – that makes it... alluring.  For one thing, Riley Rossmo's scratchy compositions strikes an odd tone, making Constantine: The Hellblazer #1 at least visually different from all other DC Comics.

Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV strike the right tone by recalling John's troubled past while offering to take John and their readers to new and imaginative places.  I gave up on Constantine after about four issues.  I plan on giving Constantine: The Hellblazer at least one entire story arc.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.