Hellblazer: Empathy is the Enemy

Hellblazer by Denise Mina #1

by Denise Mina, Leonardo Manco (Illustrator), Ian Rankin (Introduction)

Collecting award-winning novelist Denise Mina's (Garnethill, Deception, Field of Blood) take on the hard-drinking master of bad-luck magic from HELLBLAZER #216-222. When an ordinary man innocently uses an incantation, he turns to Constantine for help. But when an infamous Scottish occultist gets involved, Constantine discovers he has been cursed with empathy for his fellow man and realizes that the nightmare has just begun.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fiction, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

168 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2006

About the author

Denise Mina was born in Glasgow in 1966. Because of her father's job as an Engineer, the family followed the north sea oil boom of the seventies around Europe
She left school at sixteen and did a number of poorly paid jobs, including working in a meat factory, as a bar maid, kitchen porter and cook.
Eventually she settled in auxiliary nursing for geriatric and terminal care patients.
At twenty one she passed exams, got into study Law at Glasgow University and went on to research a PhD thesis at Strathclyde University on the ascription of mental illness to female offenders, teaching criminology and criminal law in the mean time.
Misusing her grant she stayed at home and wrote a novel, 'Garnethill' when she was supposed to be studying instead.

Reviews

[Paul Briggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

The start of Denise Mina's run on Hellblazer follow John Constantine (and it rhymes with fine) in a seven part story plunge into a strange journey to Scotland when he tried to save a new friend who dabbled into a little bit of black magic.

Along with the acclaimed author is Leonardo Manco on art, continuing and in essence, bridging the previous run of Mike Carey with this one. Mina's Constantine is less cynic compared to his characterization from previous writer as seen from his dialogue and action, trying to save a new lad in his life but the changes aren't jarring or noticeable. His journey with Cole into Glasgow was the story in of itself or at least the highlight of the arc, as each chapter, while building of and on the previous one, does have an episodic-like/self-contained nature.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of two Hellblazer titles written by Denise Mina, after Mike Carey left the driver's seat. I am a huge fan of the series. John Constantine will always be one of my favorite characters. I also think that for every writer who takes over the series, they have been given a difficult thing to mess up, especially now since the run has been around for so long. Constantine practically writes himself. Everyone knows his character, his quirks, abilities, problems, and attitude. Above all else, new writers to the series must think of something original, something Constantine hasn't yet dealt with, and I think Mina did a great job.

I wish more of Constantine had been present. Maybe it is partially due to me not reading anything in the series for awhile but I did think his character was slightly short in appearance. The story stuttered a bit at the beginning but everything tied together nicely towards the end. The art was good, with some truly amazing and darkly beautiful pages in between the chapters. I am looking forward to reading the next Hellblazer by Mina and I will not wait too long to do so.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Brilliant story, great dialogue and devious set-up.

Denise Mina's JC voice is impeccable. Who knew that a volume entirely devoid of JC's use of magic would be so delectable. It's a cool thing to witness JC use only his wits and badboy charm to dig himself out of this sticky situation. Very riveting stuff.

[Salty Turtle · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best! Much more like the Constantine of the early days :)

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Denise Mina has taken Mike Carey's place as the writer for this series. I'm a little sorry to see Carey go, as I think he did some excellent things with the character, but I'm excited to see what directions Mino takes things in. This is a good start. Mina's John Constantine is a little more vulnerable than we're used to seeing, but I think it works. She said in an interview that she sees Constantine not as a true cynic, but as an idealist who's been let down too many times, and I think that's pretty apt.

I did feel in this collection that she's still trying to find her footing; there's a pretty huge info dump toward the end that just doesn't work 100% -- basically, a character shows up expressly for the purpose of giving Constantine (and the reader) a huge amount of much-needed information, but it's not clear how or why this character knows all this. The central premise, however, that a cult is causing people to feel empathy for one another to a detrimental degree, is pretty brilliant, especially since empathy is something Constantine fights constantly against. I liked this well enough that I was tempted to run out and buy the subsequent single issues that Mina has authored.

[Stephen Theaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Constantine makes his way to Glasgow, where something rather nasty is brewing. There's sickness in the air, and it's driving people mad: they're being made to feel what others felt in the moments before their deaths. It's the last thing Constantine needs: empathy really is a liability in his line of work.

Like a lot of Hellblazer collections, a flick through this book makes it look very unappetising: murky, dull and coloured in various shades of black and grey. Once you get into it, though, the artwork serves the story, and it's a good one, one long saga that brings to mind Delano stories like The Fear Machine. The end of the book is a pause in the action rather than its end, so I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series, The Red Right Hand.

There's certainly no sense here of a big-shot author coming in to show everyone how it's done. Like Kevin Smith on Daredevil she's respectful of what's gone before, building nicely on one story from Mike Carey's run. Just a shame her run was so short, though I've heard nice things about the Andy Diggle issues that come next.

[Jonathan Maas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book - follows the John Constantine model of:

* Constantine in bar
* Friend walks in, presents incredible problem that hooks reader
* Constantine follows this friend's problem, and then realizes that this problem is just the tip of the entire narrative - and what is really going on is bigger than anyone could possible imagine.

In an Olympics anaolgy - Denise Mina takes on an All-star team in the Hellblazer saga, and delivers gold.

Great art by Leonardo Manco, Bradstreet-esque!

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good volume, although I did get a little confused at times. New Hellblazer writer Denise Mina takes a stab at the character and it's apparent she has a good grip on the character. Good story with plenty of twists and turns (and demons). Manco's art is great as always. He really is a great artist for this series.

Hellblazer fans should enjoy this one! Looking forward to the next volume!

[47Time · Rating 1 out of 5]

What starts off as a fun story turns into a convoluted mess with a medieval religion, a necessary sacrifice for a grand plan and something to do with empathy. Its ending isn't even there after toiling through the last couple of issues that were ripe with flashbacks to medieval events that didn't make sense. I understand that magic is complex, but did this story have to turn boring at the end and leave everything in the air?

The core of the story seems to revolve around the idea of empathy used in magic to link people's thoughts and memories. Also there is a strange religion that has followers today that have a plan for the world. John has sworn off magic, but he must resort to it to combat the evil that surrounds him. Sadly, he is the least coolest I've seen him in quite a while.

Chris Cole approches John in a pub and says it's his last day alive. He is depressed after having used a magic spell that caused a string of tragedies in a family he chanced on meeting at a party. John helps him out by erasing his recent memories and finds that Steve Evans is behind it all. John decides to visit Evans together with Cole, but they must not spring his trap.

On their way to Scotland they meet Anita Nelson, the girl whose brother's death John caused with his first use of magic. She tries to sway John from his path, but John can see through her ruse. This is the first obviously useless detour.

At Cole's house they find paintings that John recognizes as being inspired by his memories. Charlie, Cole's ex-girlfriend, may provide another clue. It turns out she is gone and the trip to meet her gets away from Cole who gets kidnapped. Or rather returns to the Oransay order led by Steve Evans. Basically, another skippable part of the story. At this point it feels like everything could have been told in half the space.

John follows Cole and is captured. Kinda. He is convinced to be a sacrifice to the Third Place ruler for Evans' plan to create a heaven on Earth. This part is most confusing, but John survives and is pissed. I am too. This story turned out awful.

[Douglas Cosby · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars -- This wonderful story by Denise Mina has our favorite magus plopped right down in the middle of someone else's empathy storm. Sometimes the Hellblazer stories are too frantic and jump all over the place, and this one starts out this way, with only vague boundaries between what is and what isn't possible in Constantine's world. However, by about halfway through this graphic novel, the hint of an overarching, logical plot starts to settle in on the chaos, and we get to see Constantine at his best, casting spells and figuring out what is really going on below the normalcy of humankind. In other words, this volume is a whole bunch of magic, demonic fun. The only bummer is that, while it does close out the story arch in a satisfactory manner, this volume is only half the story. I will need to read the next one to see how it all finishes up. Already ordered it, can't wait.

[Astrid Terese · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Constantine er hovedperson i tegneserien Hellblazer, men gjør også gjesteopptredener i andre forfatteres arbeid. Han er best beskrevet som en okkult detektiv og anti-helt. Han er opptatt av at den vanlige mann skal ha rett på et vanlig liv, og han håper dette inkluderer ham selv. Men der kommer til stadighet magi, demoner og mord i veien. Constantine opptrer i tegneserier utgitt av DC Comics, for det meste under forlaget Vertigo. Første gang han dukket opp var i The Saga of the Swamp Thing i 1985. Han ble skapt av Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben og Rick Veitch.
Hele min omtale finner du på bloggen min Betraktninger

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I say that this has a DC movie feel, what I mean is that it's too dark to enjoy. Not thematically. The story is fine. The art, though has way too dark a color pallette. You can convey a brooding, magic story while still giving the readers something to look at every once in a while. This might as well have been a prose book, which is a shame because I think I'd otherwise enjoy Leonardo Manco's art, even if his Constantine looks a bit Wolveriney.

The story is a run of the mill Constantine story. The premise is initially interesting but gets bogged down in flashbacks and continuity, which is on-par with most of the decent Hellblazer runs. The everyday magic and more personal stories about Constantine are much more interesting than the apocalyptic level story that seemed to get thrown into every 21st century Hellblazer run. Its arrival in this story was a bit of a bummer of an ending.

All that said, Mina's prose is excellent, and I'm going to track down some of her non-Hellblazer books to see if I enjoy them. Her dialogue is pretty solid but her narration is top notch adult noir.

[Wombo Combo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad story, but nothing amazing. There are some really great callbacks, like references to Kit and the Lords of Hell, but besides that, there's not a ton to talk about. The "Third Place" is a cool idea, though. The art is nice and reminds me of Andrea Sorrentino's work, but I'd prefer a less gritty style. The writer pretty much nailed writing Constantine though, but there's a large focus on other characters that I don't care for.

[Seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

It might be the abiding love for John Constantine I've held since high school, or it might be that Hellblazer has the best premise of any long-running story since Doctor Who. One or both of those factors make even mediocre Hellblazer stories enjoyable. This is one of those.

[Drizztl · Rating 3 out of 5]

6.5/10

[Robert Hudder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Better story line than I expected. There is a callback to the early part of the series and that is always fun. I look forward to the second arc written by Mina.

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very scattered plot.

[Al Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. Good story by mystery writer Denise Mina in which an ancient cult try to solve humanity's woes by spreading empathy. The artwork is very cool, too.

[Vinicius Baroni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Acho a premissa excelente, mas é tudo meio confuso. De qualquer forma é uma hq marcante pra mim pois foi uma das primeiras que li da série Hellblazer.

[Scott Ahler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, even if a half-finished story. Dark, funny and mythology-building, as any great Constantine book is. I great entry point too.

[Johanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Denise Mina and it was a graphic novel! A very dark two-parter (which I only realised at the last page) so I’ll be picking up the next instalment.

[Viola · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5, rounded up. Definitely the best Hellblazer I've read so far. Sombre, graphic and often devastating, but not in a dreary, self-indulgent way.
Tackling empathy, out of all things, is a great idea for the series full of misery and darkness. Giving Constantine himself empathy is a genius move. He was written very well too.

[Jenni Noordhoek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I'm still not sure what to think about John Constantine. He's becoming a more sympathetic character, but without finding some kind of origin story to read, I'm still pretty lost. Why is he sworn off magic? why can he even use magic in the first place? what are the rules of this universe?

Also not appreciating the nudity. It's not as gratuitous as Hard Times, but the fact that it makes little logical sense still puts it firmly in the gratuitous category.

(I also have a rule of thumb about language. If there are so many f-words used as nouns referring to characters that I can't tell who is being spoken of any more, then you're USING TOO MANY. Sheesh.)

As far as this story goes, it was mostly coherent and well-told. I have a lot of respect for the artist as well: throughout the background panels he references a Goya painting - Saturn Eating One of His Sons or something like that - by redrawing it and even using it in the story. There are a lot of pieta forms going around too. I'm not sure what was up with that. But using classic art and classic artforms really makes me respect a comic artist: he's trying to be relevant in a historical sense as well. I appreciate it.

And again the story arc isn't finished in this volume. *sigh* I wish I could get my hands on two or three of these that actually go together and make a complete coherent story.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is the first Constantine book I've read, but I don't think my issues with it stemmed form that. The first issue was hard to follow. I was left confused about who all these people doing themselves in were becasue they were referred as "the son's child" and stuff like that. I was like whose son? whose grandmother? Turns out it didn't matter and it got more confusing before it got clearer. There were some interesting concepts in the book and some great one-linbers on Constantine's part, but I didn't find it believable that he would become mates with this guy and travel all over Scotland with him. Also, the narration/storytelling at the beginning switched form Constantine to the other guy so subtly I was left confused and with the memory wiping that is paart of the story i had to just plow through pretty dang confused. The art was good but colored so cardly that I felt it detracted formt he quality of the book. Murky, broody artwork is only good if you have some idea of the subtle lines you're looking at. Anyways, it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either. I look forward to reading more Constantine.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Scottish mystery writer Denise Mina (the Garnethill and Paddy Meehan trilogies.) I'm also a big fan of "legit" authors who take a spin at graphic novels.

This story takes John Constantine on the road with a new mate that he has saved from a life-threatening empathy spell, eventually taking them to Glasgow, the locale where Mina sets all of her fiction. It's a pretty twisty plot about spells, ancient Scottish cults, murder and an afterworld called The Third Place. I'm not even going to try to explain it and for the first two or so chapters it won't make much sense at all. Just stick with it. There's also typical murky images from former long-time Constantine artist, Leonardo Manco. Manco, btw, went on to draw more horror comics from Hellraiser to 28 Days Later.

This story ends on a cliffhanger but is continued in Hellblazer: The Red Right Hand, also by Denise Mina. You can jump in and read this without being a faithful follower of the Hellblazer comics as long as you know the basic premise.

[Lauri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ma miskipärast olin enne arvamusel et Denise Mina oli Hellblazeri autoritest see täielik augupõhi. Mõnusa ja meeldiva üllatusena saabus arusaam, et asi pole kaugeltki nii hull, tegemist on jumala mõnusa stooriliiniga. Leonard Manco stiil kunstnikuna istub mulle ka järjest rohkem, kuidagi eriti noir ja süngetes-tumedate stoonides. Ühesõnaga - jumala tipp-topp asi. See siin on esimene pool kaheosalisest D. Mina autorslusega stooriliinist, kus Constantine satub šotimaale Glasgow'sse ja tegemist on empaatia viirusliku levimisega. Teine pool, "Red Right Hand" tõmbab otsad kokku nii empaatial kui D. Mina stsenaristitööl ja pulti asuvad uued mehed autorite ja kunstnikena.

[Jaimie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A whole new storyarc begins in this collection, with a whole new demonic foe. The story begins with a rather odd group of monks off the coast of Scotland who discover that beside Heaven and Hell there is a third place in the afterlife. It is a place where there is no feeling - as an alternative to the joy of Heaven and the pain of Hell - and it looks like the ruling being (not sure what he is yet) has a plan to saturate the world with empathy to overwhelm the population with feeling so that they crave the non-feeling of his realm in the afterlife. It's an interesting situation for Constantine to be mixed up in, since he is known for caring too much and yet not at all...

[Josephus FromPlacitas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty solid until a startlingly abrupt ending, and right before that, a lot of explanatory talking heads dialogue in the several pages preceding the climax. So the build of climbing action fell apart at the end, but otherwise no complaints.

I was cracked up by the flashback to 6th Century Scotland where a bunch of Christian monks buried a fellow monk with a shovel direct from the hardware store, complete with folded flanges and a factory-forged arc to the shank tube.

I wonder what the story is behind that photocopier-style art you see in this book and V for Vendetta. I'd like to learn more about that.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genuinely disturbing stuff featuring the Laughing Magician, John Constantine written by an author I'm not familiar with but will look for more of her stuff. You really should read the Hellblazer graphic novels in order. Since I can't afford to buy them, I get them from my local library -- and they only have a few since Hellblazer is apparently a favorite target of library book thieves. Empathy is the Enemy lets slip some major plot points in the life of John Constantine that left me going ARRRGGHHH. If you pick this up without reading any earlier DC comics with Constantine, you're going to be totally lost.

[Marty · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mike Carey was doing a helluva job writing the book, and he left. Denise Mena took over and just destroyed it. It doesn't help that Leonardo Manco's art is sloppy, too big, and very inky. It looks lazy. After the cinematic style of Marcel Frusin, Manco's looks like pish. Skip this one and wait for the TPB of Andy Diggle's run.