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nbramanti's review
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
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
4.5
matt4hire's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Rated entirely on the merits of the Dangerous Habits arc, which are the last six issues of this collection.
So...this isn't bad, but the Garth Ennis here is still evolving into the master we see later. Will Simpson's art is serviceable, never moving beyond it. Ennis's rendition of Constantine is similar to others, in that he understands his flaws but can't help them, but Ennis absolutely shines at writing that sort of character. There's the typical Ennis bit of simultaneous embrace and critique of machismo, and everything works as an Ennis comic should.
And it's still great, because the way Ennis writes is about 5000x better than the way anybody else writes. His characters are human, fallible, foibled, yet ones whom you understand. They're your brother or sister or friend or whoever. I mean, I don't know any conman magicians, but I definitely know people like the Constantine that Ennis writes.
UPDATE: I’ve been working my way through Hellblazer from start to finish now, so I can comment on the Delano end of this collection, too. It’s solid stuff, though Delano feels like he’s always on the verge of figuring out what makes a Hellblazer story work, but never quite hitting it. It’s quite clear, just in what’s present here, that Delano walked so Ennis and others could run. There’s nothing bad about the Delano stuff, but it’s a bit slower than other writers would eventually write it.
So...this isn't bad, but the Garth Ennis here is still evolving into the master we see later. Will Simpson's art is serviceable, never moving beyond it. Ennis's rendition of Constantine is similar to others, in that he understands his flaws but can't help them, but Ennis absolutely shines at writing that sort of character. There's the typical Ennis bit of simultaneous embrace and critique of machismo, and everything works as an Ennis comic should.
And it's still great, because the way Ennis writes is about 5000x better than the way anybody else writes. His characters are human, fallible, foibled, yet ones whom you understand. They're your brother or sister or friend or whoever. I mean, I don't know any conman magicians, but I definitely know people like the Constantine that Ennis writes.
UPDATE: I’ve been working my way through Hellblazer from start to finish now, so I can comment on the Delano end of this collection, too. It’s solid stuff, though Delano feels like he’s always on the verge of figuring out what makes a Hellblazer story work, but never quite hitting it. It’s quite clear, just in what’s present here, that Delano walked so Ennis and others could run. There’s nothing bad about the Delano stuff, but it’s a bit slower than other writers would eventually write it.
pidgevorg's review
4.0
The individual ratings:
The Bogeyman + Dead-Boy's Heart
story - 5
art - 4
The Undiscover'd Country
story - 4
art - 4
Man's Work + Boy's Games
story - 3
art - 3
The Hanged Man
story - 5
art - 3
The Magus
story - 5
art - 5
Dangerous Habits (1-6)
story - 5
art - 4
The Bogeyman + Dead-Boy's Heart
story - 5
art - 4
The Undiscover'd Country
story - 4
art - 4
Man's Work + Boy's Games
story - 3
art - 3
The Hanged Man
story - 5
art - 3
The Magus
story - 5
art - 5
Dangerous Habits (1-6)
story - 5
art - 4
keahiinfra's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
crookedtreehouse's review
3.0
This is a tough collection to rate, as it's a weirdly collected set of stories. The first 2/3rds of this book is the end of the original author, Jamie Delano's, run on the book. While inconsistent, some of his run was excellent, and he did a phenomenal job of character work, when he wasn't competely derailing his stories to make political statements. I don't recall ever disagreeing with his political points, I just found the ways he expressed them to be tedious, and not on par with the rest of his writing.
Unfortunately, the end of his series tries to be really circular with the beginning, and it Does Not Work. After a perfectly interesting story where he reunites Constantine with Marj and Merc from [b:Hellblazer: The Fear Machine|2382804|Hellblazer The Fear Machine|Jamie Delano|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309221271l/2382804._SX50_.jpg|2389816] (easilyu the high water mark of Delano's run), he ... well, I'll put a spoiler point below, and then discuss what's wrong with the end of the Delano run.
The last third of the book is Ennis's first storyarc. It isn't my favorite of all-time Ennis stories, but it might be his best. He takes Delano's winding premise of Constantine being a terrible friend who tries to do better and distills it into a story full of heart. And demons. And then he does The Same Things that Delano did in his early stories but makes it feel much more natural. Naming this giant collection after the Ennis portion was a wise decision by DC Editorial.
I would reccomend this entire collection only to die-hard Hellblazer continuity buffs, but the last third is perfect for anyone who enjoys Sandman, Lucifer, or any of the Top Level Vertigo series of the 90s and early 2000s. It's solid storytelling and it definitely fits in with [a:Neil Gaiman|1221698|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1234150163p2/1221698.jpg] plotting in The Vertigo Universe.
************************SPOILER******************************
The ending of the Delano run is a retcon of Constantine's origin where he is a twin who survives when his mother and other twin die during childbirth. And he's The Evil Twin! And so he decides to take mushrooms and ... kill himself ... ? showing us an alternate universe where he is The Good Twin and survives and starts a cult with all the recurring characters, none of whom ended up dying, but it is not a perfect universe, and so we come back to this one where Constantine is....
It's just awful. Dave McKean does the art, but I couldn't force myself to keep reading the story. IT was so Self-Indulgent and Over-The-Top. And it comes mostly out of nowhere, and features the return of a character who hasn't been important to the story for so many issues that I just didn't care about their return.
Unfortunately, the end of his series tries to be really circular with the beginning, and it Does Not Work. After a perfectly interesting story where he reunites Constantine with Marj and Merc from [b:Hellblazer: The Fear Machine|2382804|Hellblazer The Fear Machine|Jamie Delano|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309221271l/2382804._SX50_.jpg|2389816] (easilyu the high water mark of Delano's run), he ... well, I'll put a spoiler point below, and then discuss what's wrong with the end of the Delano run.
The last third of the book is Ennis's first storyarc. It isn't my favorite of all-time Ennis stories, but it might be his best. He takes Delano's winding premise of Constantine being a terrible friend who tries to do better and distills it into a story full of heart. And demons. And then he does The Same Things that Delano did in his early stories but makes it feel much more natural. Naming this giant collection after the Ennis portion was a wise decision by DC Editorial.
I would reccomend this entire collection only to die-hard Hellblazer continuity buffs, but the last third is perfect for anyone who enjoys Sandman, Lucifer, or any of the Top Level Vertigo series of the 90s and early 2000s. It's solid storytelling and it definitely fits in with [a:Neil Gaiman|1221698|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1234150163p2/1221698.jpg] plotting in The Vertigo Universe.
************************SPOILER******************************
The ending of the Delano run is a retcon of Constantine's origin where he is a twin who survives when his mother and other twin die during childbirth. And he's The Evil Twin! And so he decides to take mushrooms and ... kill himself ... ? showing us an alternate universe where he is The Good Twin and survives and starts a cult with all the recurring characters, none of whom ended up dying, but it is not a perfect universe, and so we come back to this one where Constantine is....
It's just awful. Dave McKean does the art, but I couldn't force myself to keep reading the story. IT was so Self-Indulgent and Over-The-Top. And it comes mostly out of nowhere, and features the return of a character who hasn't been important to the story for so many issues that I just didn't care about their return.
inferiorwit's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
joanarcherknight's review
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
heavensdark's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0