crookedtreehouse's review against another edition
5.0
I feel like I've been reading a rut of comics where not a lot happened but conversations. Plot is pushed to the side, in favor of characters examining why the plot has gone/is about to go to certain places. Yet, this comic is almost all conversations, as opposed to plot-focused action, and I loved every page.
The trick of having a run of comics with conversation-focus, as opposed to action-focus is to give us a better feel for the characters and their motivations, not to drown the reader in exposition. Ennis nails this in this volume. We get a feel for every character still alive in Constantine's orbit (from Ennis's run, there are a few Delano-era characters who don't appear). And while the plot appears slender, every recurring villain or neutral character's action expose a major flaw in Constantine that affects his relationships with his surviving friends.
This is a masterstroke, and perhaps my favorite volume of Hellblazer yet. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys Sandman but haven't yet read a Hellblazer volume that really spoke to them. If this one doesn't, then Hellblazer may not be for you.
The trick of having a run of comics with conversation-focus, as opposed to action-focus is to give us a better feel for the characters and their motivations, not to drown the reader in exposition. Ennis nails this in this volume. We get a feel for every character still alive in Constantine's orbit (from Ennis's run, there are a few Delano-era characters who don't appear). And while the plot appears slender, every recurring villain or neutral character's action expose a major flaw in Constantine that affects his relationships with his surviving friends.
This is a masterstroke, and perhaps my favorite volume of Hellblazer yet. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys Sandman but haven't yet read a Hellblazer volume that really spoke to them. If this one doesn't, then Hellblazer may not be for you.
sisteray's review against another edition
5.0
Gemma is a great character, and John's relationship has always been a wonderful counterpoint to his life and lifestyle. Plus, it has the Birthday Party issue. This is one of my favorite collections.
crowyhead's review against another edition
4.0
Is John Constantine going domestic? He's turning forty, settling in with his girlfriend Kit, and advising his niece Gemma to stay far, far away from ritual magic. Peace is always shortlived in the Hellblazer universe, however, and figures from his past are threatening to encroach on his happiness with Kit.
vylotte's review against another edition
4.0
I have long wanted to read my way through the Hellblazer series, John Constantine is one of my favorite comic characters, up there with Spider Jerusalem. But I'd read him in all sorts of other formats and series: Sandman, Lucifer, Swamp Thing, the movie and more, only once in his own books, the very first one. I know enough about the world and stories to feel comfortable picking one at random. I chose this one because of the Hunter S Thompson reference, and because it's Constantine struggling with his 40th birthday and the inevitable tick of the clock and accumulation of time.
I thought it was fantastic. I didn't know half the characters, the 80s art and sensibilities make me grit my teeth at times, and John sure does know how to feel sorry for himself. But still, it was a story of a man with good friends and a complicated history, and a darn fine party. One of those parties with just the right people and just the right inebriates, one that stands out in your mind as one of the best nights of your life. And if anyone deserves that, it's Constantine.
I thought it was fantastic. I didn't know half the characters, the 80s art and sensibilities make me grit my teeth at times, and John sure does know how to feel sorry for himself. But still, it was a story of a man with good friends and a complicated history, and a darn fine party. One of those parties with just the right people and just the right inebriates, one that stands out in your mind as one of the best nights of your life. And if anyone deserves that, it's Constantine.
booknooknoggin's review against another edition
3.0
Forty,fallen angels and love. Seems no one can get too close to Constantine.
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