chicafrom3 's review for:

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

4.75

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Fifth Hellblazer graphic novel, collecting issues 34 through 46 of the original series. Covers the Golden Boy arc by Jamie Delano and the titular Dangerous Habits arc by Garth Ennis. Well, I call the first half the Golden Boy arc; I have no idea if it has an official name or not. Following the events of the Family Man arc, John reconnects with Marj and Mercury (and, eventually, the rest of the Pagan Nation); they rescue an abused kid and John confronts the truth of his birth and the world that might have been. In the second half, one of the most iconic Hellblazer arcs ever, John deals with the revelation that he has terminal lung cancer. 

This is, sincerely, Hellblazer at its finest. There's plenty of horror and supernatural antics to go around, but at the heart of it all is character: Mercury recognizing that her desire to protect Martin is a reflection of her mother's protectiveness of John; John reaching out for comfort and pushing it away with the same gesture; Marj's defensive anger trying to protect her fragile heart; Brendan and John drinking away their fear of oblivion; Matt laughing in the face of death; the goodbye letter to Chas and Cheryl's quiet knowledge of who her brother really is.

And flipping off the devil. That, too.