Hellblazer #21

Hellblazer (Single Issues)

by Jamie Delano, Mark Buckingham (Illustrator), Alfredo Alcalá (Illustrator)

Direct sales edition comic book published by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint. An influential horror comic that stars John Constantine, a man at war with infernal powers. The basis for the movie Constantine.

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels

28 pages, Comic

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Jamie Delano aka A. William James began writing comics professionally in the early 1980s. Latterly he has been writing prose fiction with "BOOK THIRTEEN" published by his own LEPUS BOOKS imprint (http://www.lepusbooks.co.uk) in 2012, "Leepus | DIZZY" in April 2014, and "Leepus | THE RIVER" in 2017.

Jamie lives in semi-rural Northamptonshire with his partner, Sue. They have three adult children and a considerable distraction of grandchildren.

Reviews

[Tawfek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yesterday was just horrible reading day, and my mood was very bad because of it, I basically read 55 pages across 3 books.
And then fell asleep before finishing this comic.
Next issue is the last in this story.
The eldritch god Jallakuntilliokan has been awakened.
John seems to believe that this is world ending reality bending event that can't be stopped.
But it seems Mercury has a different say in the matter.

[Ｆｒａｎｋｈ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The God of All Gods, the namesake of this issue, not only heightened the gloom and macabre, but also maintained the pacing and intrigue of the story as we finally get closer to the climax and resolution of the whole thing. We continue to follow the way the events unravel which apparently leads to the rise of the creature within the Fear Machine, the one called--gah, I can never seem to type it without always double-checking--Jallakuntilliokan, otherwise known as G.O.A.G, an abbreviation that I more than appreciate. 

For future references, let's just shorten the name of that motherfucker from here on since it's not a mouthful.

So after the revelation of this creature, John Constantine felt its presence in his consciousness and flips the fuck out and leaves his companions in a hurry. This is rather unfortunate because just as the Fellowship was established in the last issue, it was quickly disintegrating, especially when Simon, Geoff and Sergei were mysteriously abducted and placed inside a cage, awaiting judgment and execution from a certain fanatic asshole/hired help Webster who gleefully decorates the ceiling of the Fear Machine with decapitated heads. So, it's a good thing I never had high hopes of these three men surviving at all because (1) This is fucking Hellblazer; (2) They sealed their fates when they became associated with John Constantine; (3) It serves the plot long-term, I suppose.

As for John, he started talking to this politician about general corruption stuff of the UK government that has paranormal underpinnings plus the impending apocalyptic shite that they are about to get smacked against. And then John left with Chas and ended up being in the same fast-food joint as the missing Mercury. As the fucking fates would have it, no? And I am not complaining because I quite liked the fact that finding Mercury isn't this big rescue mission with fireworks and all that. I'm glad she managed to escape by herself and just happened to run into John. Besides, y'all should know by now I enjoy these two together and their quasi-father-daughter dynamics. They have the best chemistry yet. So this scene just made me squeal:



At this point I don't want either of them to go back to Marj because I never liked that...boring person of a character. I want John to just take Mercury away so they can have adventures together! But then again, this is Hellblazer and no one gets what they want and Marj is apparently still relevant here because she's Merc's mother and is currently shacking up with Zed in sapphic paradise so I guess I can  begrudgingly live with that. I also think Zed has become more interesting with her new role this time around, and I certainly hope she gets page time with Constantine soon enough.

The rest of the story was okay, with lots of great artwork featuring heaps of gore, death and delirious psychic landscapes. At this point I'm just relieved that the Fear Machine story is coming to an end. My expectations are set. I'm expecting a few more deaths, some surly monologues from John, a few gratuitous shags courtesy of either Marj or Zed, and hopefully more of Mercury demonstrating her prowess. Only three more issues to go and I can't wait for what the next installments will reveal.

RECOMMENDED: 7/10


DO READ MORE OF MY HELLBLAZER REVIEWS

[Cybernex007 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely hate how much things are making sense now, because it just puts the entire thing into a way worse perspective. This story starts out a bit deviated from a linear path, so I’m going to line things back up a bit. We jump into this story where we left off, with Webster starting the sacrifices to the GOAG (God of all gods) and it’s primordial name ringing out through the world and touching the minds of the mystics, filling their heads with one terrifying name…JALLAKUNTILLIOKAN. Constantine is horrified, everything he feared would happen one day has been happening and he hasn’t seen it. He has to work extra hard now to catch up but he still desperately needs to find Mercury. He starts with the only lead he has, a phone number he got from the black ops squad who took his friends last issue. While no one was there to talk to he did reach the secretary for the office who revealed he reached the parliamentary under-secretary’s office. Turns out John personally knows the under-secretary, Bartholomew Carter-Browne…or as John calls him…Binky. Turns out John gave him a hand when he played naughty voo doo games with a daughter of the Haitian envoy and he claimed she turned into a crocodile or dragon or something. John ended up hypnotizing him and getting his whole story on tape, and now has some major black mail on him. I do wonder how many storage lockers John has of just blackmail. Regardless, John was able to catch him as he left his office and demanded to know everything. John began to spell out what he knew, about the Magi Caecus being an inner circle of the free masonry and he is a member, which John knows because he is currently wearing their ring, lol. But what John is really after is the truth, but the threat of releasing the tape isn’t working as the man’s political career is already destroyed. So Constantine threatens to mention that HE was the one to betray the order and tell John about JALLAKUNTILLIOKAN. This really freaks Binky out, John isn’t supposed to know that name, it’s a secret name for the GOAG. All Binky knows is that they were working on a plan to disrupt governments around the world and fuel an industry of war through fear. But John knows that’s a bollocks story and wants to know more about the use of ley lines, which Binky explains were used for projecting fear in channels in the ground and the last reports were the acquisition of a powerful girl until they let her escape and the project was shut down. That’s the story as Binky knows it, and he is sure there will be more resignations, arrests, suicides, and treason thrown around until it all gets covered up, but he will leave it to the course the lodge has set out for him. Suddenly their walking and talking has brought them to Buckingham palace where Binky leaves Constantine at the gate…goes all the way to the top.

But the story Binky knows is really only just starting. As it turns out Webster ignored the order to dismantle operations. His killing at the end of the last issue started with the boy from their scared test subjects they use to cultivate terror energy, but it didn’t end there. He killed all of them and put their heads on pikes as sacrifices to the GOAG and he plans on continuing to kill to usher in its arrival and he starts by caging up the director of the operation. All the while John has enlisted Chas for a ride to Scotland for help. Constantine promises Chas this is the last time he will need his help, as it begins to rain blood it’s clear to Constantine that this may be the end of the world anyway. But an opportune stop at a roadside diner leads to Constantine being reunited with Mercury! Did she come there explicitly because she knew she would be reunited with Constantine? Either way it doesn’t stop the floodgate of emotions as the two are reunited, Mercury is painfully flooded with bad images these days all tied back to the GOAG arriving. As they get ready to safely take Mercury back to her mom, there is one glaring thing Constantine is overlooking…his friends that were captured. SURE, he doesn’t exactly know where they are and didn’t ask Binky for the location of Geotroniks, but after walking out does Mercury not know where it is either?! UGH. And things are really bad for them right now, we jump over and find that they have all been taken to the central stone circle room and placed in cages where they can clearly see all of the previously sacrificed people. The cell over from them is where the director sits, and one look at his insignia ring and they are ready to rip him apart through the bars as they demand answers. He really doesn’t know a lot either, other than the lodge was the catalyst for getting him this promotion and unlimited budget but he was never really in charge. He always thought it was about the fear machine to provoke general unrest and enable a new political direction, and then the lodge called it off and Webster refused to obey and says they will all die and be fed to the GOAG. That’s when Webster makes his grand appearance and confirms all of it is true, sending the black ops unit in as his dogs to start the next sacrifice with the director.

As the issue comes to an end we find that John has finally reached the pagan nation. Turns out he missed all of the fun of a reunion he was hoping for, and zed doesn’t even remember him…something he confirms he should let go. But there is another issue that Errol has to show him. Last night there was a storm and they thought lightning had started a fire, but when they ran to put it out…well…the outcome is a bunch of dead people strung up in trees on the border of their area. It’s too dangerous to get close, and Constantine recognizes it as serious magic but he isn’t going to try and beat it…he is going to try joining with it. He sends Errol away and then steps forward, walking into the place between life and death as he is thrust into a world of ley lines and stone circles. Acupuncture for the world. But as he begins to fall he is brought to a rotten place, the center for the sacrifices as he sees it start with his friend Simon being killed and sacrificed. I’m not sure if this is a premonition of what is going to happen or what is currently happening, but either way something has taken notice of him…the GOAG. John falls to his knees before it, and then a voice calls out…it’s Mercury! She connected to the ley line to drag him out before it makes him apart of it. She is able to pull him through back to the world but it seems to follow them, as the issue comes to an end we see the giant terrifying creature as Mercury faces it head on, falling it away and using it’s real name to command it! Mercury is badass.

[Devin Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do like this, but I think this (ostensible) climax (or close to it) is a little disappointing, given how long this arc has been.

Before he got into doing it again for the first time in a long time, I was thinking "boy, John really hasn't used magic much at all in a while". I've obviously enjoyed the issues that lead to this (if you've seen my ratings), but I did reflect while reading this that John not only has been made to be kind of small in this story but also sort of without much agency. This isn't a huge issue, but it did distract me a little.

More importantly, I think this whole arc is a slight miss, unless I'm amazed in its actual conclusion. I applaud Delano's efforts to dramatize the fearmongering that still dominates politics (and it's not just one side, sorry), but the payoff/reality of what's been alluded to and built up to just doesn't feel super impressive. It's fine, but we've spent a lot of pages getting to this point, and it hasn't totally felt worth it (especially in terms of the sprawling cast).

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just one more.