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crookedtreehouse's review
3.0
For me, this was a diminishing return Hellblazer book.
I was surprised to find myself enjoying the return of the vampires to the Hellblazer plot. It was brief, and excellent. And Constantine's descent into homelessness and ill-health was initially well-handled. I even enjoyed the story focusing on Kit as she returned home. But when the story returned to Constantine, I found myself caring less and less about the story. I usually love Ennis writing about World War Two, but it was so out of place in this narrative, and the Constantine Gets His Shit Together issue just felt forced and unearned, which was a huge let-down. I was also unimpressed by Constantine confronting a priest who'd molested him as a youth. It may have been groundbreaking when it came out almost thirty years ago, but it's a tiresome plot now, unless it's done extraordinarily well, and this wasn't. It also seemed like such a shame to delve so far back in his life at this point, when his current storyline is so rich.
It's not terrible or unreadable. If you're loving Ennis's Hellblazer run, I don't think this will put you off the story. I just didn't find it as universal and tightly written as previous volumes.
I was surprised to find myself enjoying the return of the vampires to the Hellblazer plot. It was brief, and excellent. And Constantine's descent into homelessness and ill-health was initially well-handled. I even enjoyed the story focusing on Kit as she returned home. But when the story returned to Constantine, I found myself caring less and less about the story. I usually love Ennis writing about World War Two, but it was so out of place in this narrative, and the Constantine Gets His Shit Together issue just felt forced and unearned, which was a huge let-down. I was also unimpressed by Constantine confronting a priest who'd molested him as a youth. It may have been groundbreaking when it came out almost thirty years ago, but it's a tiresome plot now, unless it's done extraordinarily well, and this wasn't. It also seemed like such a shame to delve so far back in his life at this point, when his current storyline is so rich.
It's not terrible or unreadable. If you're loving Ennis's Hellblazer run, I don't think this will put you off the story. I just didn't find it as universal and tightly written as previous volumes.
sisteray's review
4.0
John is down in the dumps and he becomes a homeless wino. It is a good exploration of character, but I'm really glad that it didn't last long. This was about all that I could take. I'm more a fan of Constantine firing on full cylinders. It does have one of my favorite Hellblazer stories in it, Finest Hour (the ghost pilot one).
devon_marie's review
3.0
The first half is pretty slow, but when it picks up pace it flies. Ennis is a fab writer for this series.
crowyhead's review
4.0
After losing his girlfriend, Kit, in the previous collection, John Constantine has hit a new low and is living on the street. This collection is longer on character development and shorter on action than some of the other collections, but I still loved it. Plus Constantine's drunken confrontation with the King of the Vampires is brilliant! You definitely need to at least read Dangerous Habits and Fear & Loathing before you read this one, though.
lavenderspark's review
There wasn't much supernatural going on in this one, just John being super depressed. But I liked what it added to his story/motivations.
strikingthirteen's review
3.0
Not a bad volume. More recollections and flashbacks as we see John Constantine brought to his lowest after the end of his relationship with Kit. The encounter with the king of the vampires and the final story were the standout ones for me but all in all still enjoyable.
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