So, John Constantine walks into a tailors, completely naked except for his socks and covered in blood and says…
Written by Ming Doyle & James Tynion IV
Illustrated by Riley Rossmo
The dark adventures of DC’s foremost occult detective continue in an all-new series as he investigates the cruelest case he’s ever come across—his own dark history!
Way back when, in the before times, when DC announced that “Hellblazer” would be ending and the character of John Constantine would be taken from the world of Vertigo and folded into the DC Universe, there was quite the outcry. Gone would be the foul mouthed, chain smoking, Scouser-living-in-London con man exorcist who aged in real time and shagged men and women indiscriminantly and many feared that having to coexist in a universe with superheroes would tame the character. Now, while John has shown up in “Justice League Dark” and his own self-titled series prior to “Convergence” as well as a false start of a TV show on NBC, it’s time for him to dust off the trench coat and break open a new pack of cigarettes as writers Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV and artist Riley Rossmo revitalise the character in “Constantine: The Hellblazer” #1.
As a first issue, this book manages to appeal both to new readers interested in the character as well as established fans not just of his appearances in the New 52 before now, but also of “Hellblazer”. That word being in the title is no mistake and in the writing, Doyle and Tynion come off as huge fans of the character’s original home. This leads to things like Gary Lester actively haunting Constantine as well as the book having a much more mature slant that many of DC’s books before now and fans of “Hellblazer” should surely appreciate this.
For those aren’t fans of “Hellblazer”, though, this issue provides the perfect introduction to the character as the first third of the book is dedicated to having John show up literally stripped of all of his baggage and reassembling his image before the reader. This allows Tynion and Doyle to use Constantine’s internal monologue as well as pretty one-sided conversations with his entourage of ghosts to establish the character’s quirks for new readers.
The issue then takes a swerve and kicks the actual plot into high gear as an old flame re-enters John’s life and we get to see a bit of the bastard we all know and love emerge as he’s roped into a situation he wants no part of. It was nice to see that this book remaining firmly part of the DC Universe – there’s a monologue John has near the beginning about co-existing in a world with superheroes that will surely become a new character defining quote – did not mean the moral ambiguity of the character would be lessened nor would the mature world the character lives in. Sure, there’s blood and cigarettes and a mild level of British-centric swearing that flew under the American censors’ radar, but there’s also a rather risque sex scene that I’m surprised they were allowed to get away with in a DC Universe book. Be sure, while this isn’t the explicit world of Vertigo’s “Hellblazer”, it’s also most definitely not a comic for kids.
While the writing blends the familiar quirks of John Constantine with a new direction for the character, it’s the art that makes this book stand out as something new entirely. Riley Rossmo is an artist whose style is completely unique and perfectly suited to this world. There’s a certain level of cartoonish exaggeration to Rossmo’s characters with sketchy, rough lines and heavily shaded and cross-hatched inks building a murky and rough world that isn’t like what you would usually expect to find in the DC Universe. Let me be clear, this isn’t murky and rough in the style of Gotham’s grand gothic architecture, but more like the back alleys and sidestreets of Manhattan on an overcast afternoon.
Rossmo places Constantine in a world that feels real and grounded for the first half of the book, while colourist Ivan Plascencia takes the setting of the city and dressing it in drab earth tones and filtering the saturation of the colours to wash out the punch of the shadows and lay over that a subtle, unnerving purple. This all changes when Blythe, the aforementioned old flame of John’s, walks in and suddenly the world of Constantine is full of sickly purples and cyans and neon red hues as he enters the world of demons and imps. While Rossmo’s style of art doesn’t change, the drastic change in colour scheme by Plascensia really illustrates that this world that exists just on the fringes of our own is weird and more than a tad dangerous and it is a simply gorgeous effect on the page.
Continued belowA special mention should also go to a page near the end of this issue that really stands out as one of the most inventive layouts I’ve seen in a DC comic in years. To explain the context of the layout would be spoiling it and I don’t want to do that, but suffice it to say when you see it you’ll know the page I’m talking about. The page really illustrates the turning point in DC allowing their creators to be inventive and experimental with their characters.
All in all, this is exactly the issue Constantine needed to relight the spark of the character. Ming Doyle, James Tynion IV and Riley Rossmo have breathed new life into the character and world of John Constantine by being respectful of what came before in both the New 52 and “Hellblazer” and using that as a basis to chart a new course for the character. Combining that with excellent writing and a unique, inventive art style and you have a book that you don’t want to miss.
Final Verdict: 9.7 – A fantastic first issue that has the potential to go amazing places.
