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A review by matt4hire
Hellblazer, Vol. 5: Dangerous Habits by Garth Ennis, Jamie Delano
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.