A review by vanessakm
The Hellblazer Vol. 1: The Poison Truth by Simon Oliver
3.0
Ok, I didn't dislike this as much as everyone else, but this Rebirth storyline was a little all over the map for me.
The main plot-something about the Djinn plotting their return muahaha-goes off in several directions, and not all of them were ones that I could follow. It felt like I was supposed to know who people were and what they were referring to, but there was too much random. I mean, I don't read Hellblazer on the reg, but who the Hell is Mercury?
The story simultaneously felt like it had too much filler AND not enough explanation. Half-written but also over-written.
Also, even before I checked the credits it was very apparent that the entire artistic team had been replaced between parts 4 and 5. Constantine is suddenly clean-shaven, Mercury (no really, WHO is Mercury??) looks like a completely different person. The entire color palette is different.
For example, before:
.
(Oh by the way, Swamp Thing is in this too. I'm also not sure why.....)
After:
And, yes, the second team is better (what is going on with the shape of Constantine's cranium in that first panel?), although the first team made better visual jokes. I think that is partly why this landed at three stars for me. Enough witty moments and a good story are in here somewhere.
It's not a great starting point for those new to Hellblazer, however.
The main plot-something about the Djinn plotting their return muahaha-goes off in several directions, and not all of them were ones that I could follow. It felt like I was supposed to know who people were and what they were referring to, but there was too much random. I mean, I don't read Hellblazer on the reg, but who the Hell is Mercury?
The story simultaneously felt like it had too much filler AND not enough explanation. Half-written but also over-written.
Also, even before I checked the credits it was very apparent that the entire artistic team had been replaced between parts 4 and 5. Constantine is suddenly clean-shaven, Mercury (no really, WHO is Mercury??) looks like a completely different person. The entire color palette is different.
For example, before:
.(Oh by the way, Swamp Thing is in this too. I'm also not sure why.....)
After:
And, yes, the second team is better (what is going on with the shape of Constantine's cranium in that first panel?), although the first team made better visual jokes. I think that is partly why this landed at three stars for me. Enough witty moments and a good story are in here somewhere.
It's not a great starting point for those new to Hellblazer, however.