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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
magnificent and stomach-churningly grotesque in equal measure
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Aspects are dated, but overall I can’t believe it took me so long to read this. Great writing, plotting and artwork.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Joyously political. We've got literal demon Tories and skinheads defeated by football team allegiance. Hellblazer is relentlessly about the (mostly-white) working class and unafraid to alienate anyone who would vote to make hard lives harder. Something modern progressives could take from Hellblazer however is that despite our hero being socially progressive (for the time), he is an asshole! A lot of the dark shit he instigates is up in the air whether it was the lesser evil or a failing but sometimes he's just selfish too. The two flavours of assholery feed off each other, creating an moral ecosystem you wouldn't get from a character under pressure from the modern world to be the perfect representation of one thing or another. Ugly is interesting!
Will return to bump up the rating if future issues demonstrate awareness that L'Adoration de la Terre was a rape story*. One of the perpatrators has even been the victim of a similar bodysnatchy rape and mentions it, and so really should know better. Infernal Triangles, right after, is charming and sweet and all the more dissonant for it. Unpleasant aftertaste to what was otherwise a riot.
*He gets a line showing he feels used by this in volume 4, but not enough to bump up the rating.
Will return to bump up the rating if future issues demonstrate awareness that L'Adoration de la Terre was a rape story*. One of the perpatrators has even been the victim of a similar bodysnatchy rape and mentions it, and so really should know better. Infernal Triangles, right after, is charming and sweet and all the more dissonant for it. Unpleasant aftertaste to what was otherwise a riot.
*He gets a line showing he feels used by this in volume 4, but not enough to bump up the rating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Rape
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism
dark
funny
fast-paced
I was first exposed to John Constantine in The Sandman, later in the Keanu Reeves film (I actually quite enjoyed it), and the ill-fated TV show (killed off just when it was hitting its stride). I decided to see what of Hellblazer there was on Hoopla and it seems like all of it, so I decided to start at the beginning. These stories were pretty interesting but I think I might jump ahead to the 2000s era ones. I just do not like the comic art of the 80's. Ugly. Also the zeitgeist from when I was 5 or so doesn't really resonate. Still, I love the simile and metaphor rich language though it can be a little melodramatic.
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A nice jump back into Constantine. The Swamp Thing 'tie in' issues ended up feeling tacked on and lacked context though. All that said, was nice to meet back up with the world's biggest selfish asshole who will throw anyone under the bus to keep breathing. Almost makes me feel human.
Reading Challenge 2015: A book based on or turned into a TV show
http://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading-Challenge-2015-36071458
http://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading-Challenge-2015-36071458
Ridgway is spot on with his gritty, sketchy inks... I'm on volume 2, and instantly noticed the absence.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes