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fangsfirst's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
After finishing Dangerous Habits and thinking I'd found an Ennis showing shades of his future (a foul-mouthed veteran as companion) without delving into excess, I thought I'd be underwhelmed by Ennis's Hellblazer, but wasn't prepared for him to so fundamentally alter the character in such a...boring way.
We've now got a long-time (hard-drinking and Irish: ah yes, it is definitely Ennis after all) friend of John's re-appearing, who John hasn't done anything shitty to ever (!), and who he finds a way to help as his last action. He then picks up a girlfriend (his late friend's ex, at that) and...what the actual fuck is this book now?
Before John was inevitably out of his depth because it was a horror book, and he was just a man with some knowledge, occasionally able to eke out a pyrrhic victory at the cost of some friend and or acquaintance's life, but now he's Ennis-stamped righteous anger and violence, capable of tricking anyone and everyone with no sense of threat or risk or, well...horror.
I'm aware that for many this was the first exposure to Constantine, and I can appreciate it being more "readable" (I'm not going to lie: The Fear Machine completely lost me when I first read it around 20 years ago), but it turns out the thing I hate happening to the interesting, damaged, flawed, truly and actually bad characters I enjoy as "can we even call these anti-heroes?!" characters like John, Mike Carey's Lucifer Morningstar, Jeff Lindsay's Dexter Morgan, or Jim Starlin's Thanos---it happened to John under his most famous and perhaps best-regarded scribe.
I said it before, but it continues to blow my mind: Ennis hates superheroes deeply, but his characters have a similarly simplistic morality, all shored up with excessive gore and "potty humor" (oh, it's not as bad as it would get with Ennis, but we've already seen a man in 'goofy BDSM gear' by this volume, to say nothing of how many references there are to people shitting themselves), and a tendency to be pricks in mannerism, and occasionally callous or self-centered.
Every time Kit shows up, and especially when John then worries about how he gets his friends killed, or he makes a snide remark to or about a demon that could rend him in the blink of an eye, I can only think: who the fuck is this character?!
I don't sense any threat to his friends: none are killed, and many stories serve to explicitly "realize" Ennis's sense of morality, with the comeuppance coming specifically to the worst characters who've done the most heinous things, often at the hands of John "suddenly a lot more heroic" Constantine. His one-liners and attitude are now undeservedly brazen in the context of the past, but fully earned in the context of a book that now sees him as more definitively capable and powerful, prone to idiotic, puerile pranks (more undeniably Ennis-born material), and rarely truly out of his league or, in a fit of mild irony, in a position of actual pants-shitting terror.
I really don't enjoy Ennis writing this book at all. I didn't expect to be so desperate for his run to end as soon as humanly possible, but here we are.
The only bright spot in this book of the otherwise mediocre was the fill-on one-shot by John Smith in #51: another actual horror story where John's smirk can be erased by the realty of the hideous powers and images he finds around him, and where it won't culminate in some sort of revenge fantasy with a moral core where 'the good guys win', horrors of the world that led to any conflict aside.
Man, what a fucking disappointment this has been.
We've now got a long-time (hard-drinking and Irish: ah yes, it is definitely Ennis after all) friend of John's re-appearing, who John hasn't done anything shitty to ever (!), and who he finds a way to help as his last action. He then picks up a girlfriend (his late friend's ex, at that) and...what the actual fuck is this book now?
Before John was inevitably out of his depth because it was a horror book, and he was just a man with some knowledge, occasionally able to eke out a pyrrhic victory at the cost of some friend and or acquaintance's life, but now he's Ennis-stamped righteous anger and violence, capable of tricking anyone and everyone with no sense of threat or risk or, well...horror.
I'm aware that for many this was the first exposure to Constantine, and I can appreciate it being more "readable" (I'm not going to lie: The Fear Machine completely lost me when I first read it around 20 years ago), but it turns out the thing I hate happening to the interesting, damaged, flawed, truly and actually bad characters I enjoy as "can we even call these anti-heroes?!" characters like John, Mike Carey's Lucifer Morningstar, Jeff Lindsay's Dexter Morgan, or Jim Starlin's Thanos---it happened to John under his most famous and perhaps best-regarded scribe.
I said it before, but it continues to blow my mind: Ennis hates superheroes deeply, but his characters have a similarly simplistic morality, all shored up with excessive gore and "potty humor" (oh, it's not as bad as it would get with Ennis, but we've already seen a man in 'goofy BDSM gear' by this volume, to say nothing of how many references there are to people shitting themselves), and a tendency to be pricks in mannerism, and occasionally callous or self-centered.
Every time Kit shows up, and especially when John then worries about how he gets his friends killed, or he makes a snide remark to or about a demon that could rend him in the blink of an eye, I can only think: who the fuck is this character?!
I don't sense any threat to his friends: none are killed, and many stories serve to explicitly "realize" Ennis's sense of morality, with the comeuppance coming specifically to the worst characters who've done the most heinous things, often at the hands of John "suddenly a lot more heroic" Constantine. His one-liners and attitude are now undeservedly brazen in the context of the past, but fully earned in the context of a book that now sees him as more definitively capable and powerful, prone to idiotic, puerile pranks (more undeniably Ennis-born material), and rarely truly out of his league or, in a fit of mild irony, in a position of actual pants-shitting terror.
I really don't enjoy Ennis writing this book at all. I didn't expect to be so desperate for his run to end as soon as humanly possible, but here we are.
The only bright spot in this book of the otherwise mediocre was the fill-on one-shot by John Smith in #51: another actual horror story where John's smirk can be erased by the realty of the hideous powers and images he finds around him, and where it won't culminate in some sort of revenge fantasy with a moral core where 'the good guys win', horrors of the world that led to any conflict aside.
Man, what a fucking disappointment this has been.
arf88's review against another edition
3.0
The most notable thing about this collection is that it contains the issue that first established Constantine as bisexual. The issue itself is pretty weird and reminded me a lot of Delano's work.
As for the other stories, some are better than others. The longest, "Royal Blood", was also my least favourite. Which is unfortunate, but that's how it goes sometime.
As for the stories I enjoyed, "The Diary of Danny Drake" and "Guys and Dolls" are probably the stand outs. And they both come towards the end, so the collection ends on a high note.
As for the other stories, some are better than others. The longest, "Royal Blood", was also my least favourite. Which is unfortunate, but that's how it goes sometime.
As for the stories I enjoyed, "The Diary of Danny Drake" and "Guys and Dolls" are probably the stand outs. And they both come towards the end, so the collection ends on a high note.
spacephilosopher's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
scheu's review against another edition
3.0
Part of me feels as though the "John in his prime" run ended, and this is getting into stories that were surely edgy in 1992 but come off at corny now, the way that 1990s horror has that particular vibe. Then again, I also feel that more good runs are coming. Just not this one for the most part.
mboyette252's review against another edition
5.0
Ennis completely understands how to write Constantine and it shows. This collection saw the ever cunning Constantine take on quite a challenge that will pay off in upcoming volumes. I can’t wait to read more.
golembutch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
inferiorwit's review
challenging
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
pidgevorg's review against another edition
3.0
Individual ratings:
The Pub Where I Was Born + Love Kills
story - 3
art - 3
Lord of the Dance
story - 2
art - 4
Remarkable Lives
story - 4
art - 4
Counting to Ten
story - 4
art - 3
Royal Blood (1-4)
story - 3
art - 4
This Is the Diary of Danny Drake
story - 5
art - 5
Mortal Clay + Body & Soul
story - 3
art - 4
Guys & Dolls (parts 1 & 2)
story - 5
art - 4
The Pub Where I Was Born + Love Kills
story - 3
art - 3
Lord of the Dance
story - 2
art - 4
Remarkable Lives
story - 4
art - 4
Counting to Ten
story - 4
art - 3
Royal Blood (1-4)
story - 3
art - 4
This Is the Diary of Danny Drake
story - 5
art - 5
Mortal Clay + Body & Soul
story - 3
art - 4
Guys & Dolls (parts 1 & 2)
story - 5
art - 4