Constantine #6 - A Review

The cover of Constantine #6 is a load of bollocks.  While the plot does find John Constantine trapped outside of his body with only a thin silver cord connecting him to the world of the living, he does not face the spirits of every friend he's ever sacrificed.  Merely the surly spirit of Chris, the psychic whom died back in Constantine #1.


Despite this, Ray Fawkes does deliver another exciting script and there's nothing at all wrong with this story save that it doesn't match up to the cover.  The drama builds beautifully as John's many enemies begin closing in to finish him off.  There's also a set-up for two new mysteries for John and the readers to explore in the coming issues.


The art of Renato Guedes seems to be getting better with every issue.  John Constantine hasn't had an artist who could depict the inhuman horrors of the world of magic with such detail and clarity in quite some time.  Of particular note is a two-page splash sequence in the center of this story that, for once, justifies taking up so much space. 

Constantine #5 - A Review

You really have to hand it to Ray Fawkes.  At a time when most monthly comics are "written for the trade", he still takes the effort to make every issue of the books he writes accessible to new readers on the off-chance it might be someone's first.  This is especially notable - and important - with a comic like Constantine #5, where the odds are particularly high that the issue will be picked up by readers who only bought it because it's a tie-in to the Trinity War storyline.


Those hypothetical new readers are in for a treat, for Fawkes is a skillful writer as well as a generous one.  The story is vintage John Constantine, as everyone's favorite magical conman steals the power of Shazam on the grounds that a teenager like Billy Batson running around with that much unchecked magic is dangerous with everything else going on in the world at the moment.  By sheer dumb luck, one of John's many enemies chooses this moment to attack him with a demonically-empowered minion and hilarity ensues.


Artist Renato Guedes has shown his skill in depicting the gore and horror of a typical Constantine story in earlier issues.  This book gives him the chance to show he's no slouch when it comes to drawing the usual superhero shenanigans.  Despite this, Guedes' typical shadowy mystique remains unchanged and the aura of mystery that usually shrouds this book remains even as John is forced into a pair of tights and reduced to punching monsters. 

Constantine #3 - A Review

 There is much to admire about the new Constantine title.  The writing by Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes is stellar, of course.  The artwork by Renato Guedes is among the finest you'll find on the shelf today.  But it's the little things about this book that I like the most.  Small touches like how the first page of every issue so far recaps the action of the story thus far while still giving us some of the ol' Constantine snark.


A nice touch specific to this issue is the writers subtly addressing one of the more frequent complaints about John Constantine in The New 52 and doing so in a way that makes perfect sense while opening up avenues for future stories down the road.  In this case, we finally learn why John has been globe-trotting so much and not spending any time in London.  It seems a curse lain by some unspecified baddie in the past has left John with a severe allergy to his adopted hometown.  Even if John can find a way to temporarily shield himself from the city literally sucking the life out of him (as he does in this issue) he still has to contend with synchronicity finding a way to kill him through a traffic accident or some other random disaster.  


If you're a fan of Hellblazer who has resisted the enchantment of Constantine thus far, I urge you to give this book a shot.  Let it work its' magic on you.  I'll think you'll find it as enchanting as I do.  No bollocks. 

Constantine #2 - A Review

It's a rare thing in these days of writing-for-the-trade for a comic book to feature a title page recapping the action of the story so far.  It's even rarer for a writer to summarize the earlier chapters as a part of the story in a way that flows naturally.  And rarest of all is the writer who does this in the second issue of a comic, for the benefit of new readers who might not have been able to find a copy of the first issue.  Constantine #2 is one of this rarest breed of book, with a second page that neatly summarizes the series to date.


Such is the level of fine detail that Jeff Lemire brings to every series he writes.  Were that the end of it, it would be enough to earn my admiration.  But Lemire is a creative author as well, presenting ideas so novel I find myself amazed that nobody has considered exploring them in a story before.  Such is the case for the centerpiece of this issue - Why hasn't The Spectre sought to bring John Constantine to justice for his many crimes?  Lord knows John deserves it - literally.  And John's earned the attention of equally powerful supernatural beings before.  So why is it only now that God's Wrath has fallen upon The Laughing Magician?  Because Lemire is a chess-master of prose and only one such as he could play the pieces in such a manner.


Lemire's script is matched in detail and quality by the art of Renato Guedes.  I have a hard time picking favorites among artists but I'd easily rank Guedes as one of the top 5 working at DC Comics today.  Another few issues like this one and he might make my personal Top 5.

Bottom Line - if you haven't been reading Constantine, there's still time to catch-up.

Constantine #1 - A Review

There was a great deal of nay-saying when it was announced that Vertigo Comics would bring Hellblazer to an end in favor of a new John Constantine title set in the main DC Comics universe.  Breasts were beaten and teeth were gnashed as comic fans took to the message boards to howl about how this was the end.  Surely DC Comics would make John give up the Silk Cut and Guinness in favor of nicotine gum and a glass of milk!  He'll be palling around with Superman instead of hanging around with the dregs of the magical world!  Why, he'll probably even be telling kids to do their homework and eat their vegetables instead of summoning demons and tinkering with things best left untouched!

Naturally this was a load of bollocks to any of us who had seen John's appearances in Justice League Dark, I Vampire and Sword of Sorcery.  Nothing so petty as an T + rating can contain the sheer awesome that is John Constantine.  Besides, if there's anyone who knows how to work around the rules to do the unexpected, it's ol' Con Job and any writer worthy of writing him should be of a similar mindset when it comes to pushing boundaries.

Writer Jeff Lemire is such a writer and this first issue of Constantine should do much to calm the frayed nerves of many a Hellblazer fan.  In fact, this first issue of Constantine - with excellent artwork by Renato Guedes - features John Constantine smoking... 


... John Constantine drinking...


... John Constantine being involved in some gloriously gory deaths...


... and John Constantine sacrificing his friends to save his own hide.


Take it from the man who read damn near every Constantine story there is and wrote the episode guide - this book is vintage Constantine.  You're a bloody fool to pass on it because it's a little toned down.  Trust me - this is the same Laughing Magician we all know and love even if he can't drop the F-Bomb or strut around naked.  The world of John Constantine is as horribly messed up as you remember and this book is a damned good sign of things to come.

Green Lantern: Prelude To The Third Army

Having little to say about this past month's Green Lantern comics that I have not said before, I thought perhaps it might be best to look at each issue and how it is contributing to the upcoming Rise of The Third Army crossover.



The main contribution of Green Lantern #12 is a rehash of the events of Blackest Night and The Guardians discussing their recent revelation that the greatest problem facing universal order is free will and how they will cope with everyone who has a decent chance of stopping them. It also establishes that Black Hand will have a role to play in the coming action and that Hal Jordan may soon be wearing another color ring yet again.




Green Lantern Corps #12 is primarily concerned with continuing the action sequence involving the jail break that became a prison riot in the wake of John Stewart's conviction of murdering a fellow Lantern several issues ago. Good stuff, as always. There's a lot of good action here and Tomasi does a good job balancing the protagonist time between Guy Gardner and John Sewart.



Our primary interest here lies in two points. First, the Green Lanterns all getting the same distress call through their rings from some being saying "Let Me Out!" The other is a scene toward the end, where The Guardians congratulate themselves on eliminating all of the Alpha Lanterns without having to get their own hands dirty, thus eliminating the one body in the Green Lantern Corps devoted toward rooting out corruption from within.


As usual, Green Lantern New Guardians #12 is the weakest of the pack. The plotline involving the need to stop the being Inviticus from destroying the Vega system is concluded and we finally get an explanation for how these "new Guardians" were brought together and who was responsible for stealing the various rings and manipulating everyone from the start.

It turns out to have been the enslaved Guardian Sayd, who now claims that Ganthet foresaw that one day they would need someone capable of channeling all the various Lantern energies and THAT was why he chose Kyle Rayner to become the last Green Lantern when Hal Jordan went nuts. My response to this is best summed up by the collected contents of the bull pens at the Fort Worth Stockyard.


As in Green Lantern Corps, all the various lanterns assembled receive the same distress call from someone demanding to be let out. Based on some dialogue from War Of The Green Lanterns, I believe this call to have been from the imprisoned First Lantern.



The issue concludes with The Guardians breaking up, but the preview ads for the upcoming storyline suggest that some of them will return and that Carol Ferris will be replacing Fatality, in a new costume that actually covers her body!