Review: Constantine: The Hellblazer 01
I have been a fan of John Constantine for as long as I can remember. Even my earliest comic book experiences seem to have been haunted by that damn curmudgeon Constantine and his backstabbing bag of tricks. I couldn't get enough. From his appearances in first Swamp Thing all the way Justice League Dark and now the DC You relaunch of Constantine: The Hellblazer. He has always been a staple in my fandom and I have consistently enjoyed his books.
Issue #1 is no exception: In the first panel John has wandered into a clothes store naked covered in blood and guts, casting a hex on a poor girl who is just trying to do her job. This is classic Constantine: Making bad decisions, acting like an ass, and paying the price in the end. And that's why I love him. Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV seem to have captured the voice of John Constantine perfectly and haven't missed a beat going from Vertigo Comics to DC Comics: The New 52 and finally DC You all in about 3 years time. (and two #1s to boot). In this iteration, John is well aware that superheroes exist and is mingling in a world among them. He hits on a guy in a diner and shags a demon before dispatching two of them in a Dante's Inferno-themed nightclub and then $%&!ing off like nothing ever happened. All the while being followed by his entourage of ghosts (The people who've died trying to help John along the way).
The artwork is a huge throwback to the original style of the Vertigo books done clearly in pencils and inks without the use of photoshop color and correction. A big success and Riley Rossmo does an extremely tasteful job at copying a well known style. This is John Constantine at his best. This story has all the tropes you'd expect in a Constantine story and some flair of originality to round out a really solid first issue. I'm really excited to see where this story goes.