A review by saif42
Hellblazer, Vol. 8: Rake at the Gates of Hell by Garth Ennis
3.0
This will be a combined review of both Delano's and Ennis's runs on Constantine.
Delano is Alan Moore-lite. If you liked Swamp Thing but wanted it set in England and with more magic and demons, Constantine is the story for you.
Ennis's run is.. a disappointment. After reading Preacher and coming back to read Constantine, it feels like the exact same story elements were used in both but were perfected in Preacher, and given a lot more depth. If you want to read the main plot of preacher but worse and set in England starring Constantine, Ennis's run is for you.
As a whole, I felt like a lot of Constantine is a soapbox for the author to talk about his political views. Twice Ennis has had whole 50 page issues centered around Constantine's love interest Kit and her family in Belfast doing nothing but talking about Belfast. Perhaps just a smidgen of character development and a lot of political commentary. It's terriffically boring but if you're interested in that kind of stuff then you're in for a treat.
Both Delano and Ennis runs have Constantine arcs that are fun. Very little high magic and lots of magic con artistry which I thought was cool. Both have one or two 'weak' arcs but for the most part they are all excellent. The self contained one issue stories aren't as good as say Preacher or Swamp Thing on neither Delano's or Ennis's runs.
The art on Delano's run is similar to Swamp Thing, dirty and dark, so much so that when Ennis and partner Dillion take over the brighter colours and clean looking panels are a welcome change of pace.
So yeah to sum it up: read Preacher and Swamp Thing unless you've got a serious hankering for similar stories.
Delano is Alan Moore-lite. If you liked Swamp Thing but wanted it set in England and with more magic and demons, Constantine is the story for you.
Ennis's run is.. a disappointment. After reading Preacher and coming back to read Constantine, it feels like the exact same story elements were used in both but were perfected in Preacher, and given a lot more depth. If you want to read the main plot of preacher but worse and set in England starring Constantine, Ennis's run is for you.
As a whole, I felt like a lot of Constantine is a soapbox for the author to talk about his political views. Twice Ennis has had whole 50 page issues centered around Constantine's love interest Kit and her family in Belfast doing nothing but talking about Belfast. Perhaps just a smidgen of character development and a lot of political commentary. It's terriffically boring but if you're interested in that kind of stuff then you're in for a treat.
Both Delano and Ennis runs have Constantine arcs that are fun. Very little high magic and lots of magic con artistry which I thought was cool. Both have one or two 'weak' arcs but for the most part they are all excellent. The self contained one issue stories aren't as good as say Preacher or Swamp Thing on neither Delano's or Ennis's runs.
The art on Delano's run is similar to Swamp Thing, dirty and dark, so much so that when Ennis and partner Dillion take over the brighter colours and clean looking panels are a welcome change of pace.
So yeah to sum it up: read Preacher and Swamp Thing unless you've got a serious hankering for similar stories.