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Hellblazer (Single Issues)
Hellblazer #2 "John Constantine"
Hellblazer #2 "John Constantine" (Hellblazer, Volume 1)
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About the author
Jamie Delano
460 books351 followersJamie 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.
Jamie lives in semi-rural Northamptonshire with his partner, Sue. They have three adult children and a considerable distraction of grandchildren.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 15, 2024
I am rating this based on my first issue rating.
I am under heavy medication, i keep falling asleep.
And read this throughout the day.
So it's almost cut to unrecognizable pieces.
What we learn from this issue is that, sometimes you need to kill your friends for the greater good.
That's all for today's lesson.
I am under heavy medication, i keep falling asleep.
And read this throughout the day.
So it's almost cut to unrecognizable pieces.
What we learn from this issue is that, sometimes you need to kill your friends for the greater good.
That's all for today's lesson.
August 4, 2014
Picking up from the events from the first issue, A Feast of Friends offered a lot more than a resolution for the paranormal case at hand. It also allowed readers to see John Constantine in a perspective that's not exactly flattering or uplifting but one that definitely challenges the norm for the titular hero we're supposed to root for. To recap: a hunger demon by the name of Mnemoth invades New York, the city that never sleeps. It starts to feed on the corporal greed and desires of people as any supernatural parasite ought to. Mnemoth was recently in Sudan, Africa, plaguing malnourished children until a shaman entraps it, using a child as a host, and sells it to a slavery market. When Constantine confronts the shaman, he admits that his actions are regrettable, and helps Constantine find a way to get rid of Mnemoth once and for all. In the midst of all this, Constantine encounters Gary Lester who unknowingly exorcised Mnemoth from the child in the first place. Sadly, because Gary is recovering from a drug addiction, the hunger demon became drawn to this weakness and consumed him. Constantine also crossed paths with Papa Midnite, a notorious crime boss who supplies and indulges many of the city's sins and proclivities. Though at odds with each other, Constantine asked for Papa Midnite's help in binding Mnemoth.
I'm pleased that the hunger demon storyline ends here because there really is no point to stretch this plot further. As for the resolution, I thought it was the only appropriate ending possible. It was not a surprising twist, really. We knew that Constantine needs to entrap the demon again and save the rest of New York City from the infestation, and that he will succeed in doing so. However, what is striking about this issue as a whole is the way our lead character goes about it. There is a callousness and unpleasantness to John Constantine that would irritate us every once in a while. But it's not like he's a pompous ass about it either. No, his general temperament seems to be that of solemn resignation that manages to come off like what he's doing and what he's going through are inconveniences.
Now given that I read Hellblazer irregularly before (I started with the fifth volume of the series), I actually already have a strong opinion pertaining to Constantine as a character and that is that I love him to pieces because there's always something new he offers the more you get to know him under that snark and duplicitous charm. However, in the two issues so far, I'm not sure I like him but I still do understand him. His motivation is not exactly admirable at all times and it's probably because readers can feel the distaste on his part; that there is a begrudging sort of duty in the way he does things. Needless to say, the bottom line is that Constantine doesn't hesitate to make hard decisions and that is what makes him a compelling hero to read. He may have doubts. He may have reservations. But Constantine is always able to look at the big picture and decide for the greater good's sake, knowing inaction will only screw him quick so he better get ahead then. Having said that, the shocker for this issue is the fact that Constantine sacrifices his own friend Gary Lester to ensure the city's safety.
He did so by choosing Gary as the host he will entrap Mnemoth in. He justifies this by saying that Gary is already a lost cause (given his addiction) and that Mnemoth was drawn to him in the first place which meant that binding him back to Gary's body will be easier. Another crucial reason is that he simply does not have time to look for a viable host especially with the restricted time they have to perform the ritual. In all pragmatic sense, Gary is the perfect, if not the only, candidate. Of course, Gary does not volunteer himself wholeheartedly. Constantine had to coax him, using the friendship and trust between them to lure Gary into giving up control of his body.
We can look at it in two ways. A popular perspective is that Constantine is a sociopathic jerk for not at least attempting to save both his friend and the city. A noble hero would go down fighting for both causes and not make a choice which one should be prioritized over the other. The other perspective which is I think what made the writing for this issue so extraordinarily cut-dry and honest is that Constantine knows he doesn't have the luxury to hit two birds with one stone. It needs to be a choice between one life against a million others. He does not dwell on whether or not he's a bad or good person for letting one his best friends become bait for a demon. He just does it. One notable scene is when four of his friends who passed away (including his ex Emma) started appearing in his bedroom the night before the ritual just so they could haunt him, as if to discourage him from sacrificing Gary Lester. Constantine shuts them out.
Now I believe that both perspectives are justifiable. Constantine was kind of a dick for doing that to his friend, given that readers were also able to see that he had a history of losing his friends whether through his own actions or because he placed them in harm's way unintentionally. However, I would like to point out that Constantine did stay with Gary to the bitter end. He spent hours sitting outside Gary's jail cell, listening to him adjust to the pain of the demon inside him. Constantine could have easily called it a day after the ritual and go some place to clear his mind. But no, he chose to drink himself into stupor while listening to Gary's torturous screams for the rest of the night.
The issue ends with a sharp kind of poignancy. Once Gary's corpse mummified, Papa Midnite had his cell bricked up to make sure Mnemoth never escapes again. Constantine then walks out to the street and sees the rest of the ghosts from his past. He thinks that they were waiting for him but instead it was Gary's ghost that they were waving at to join them. They didn't even glance at Constantine as all of them went their merry way. Weirdly enough, Constantine is hurt by this. The anger from these dead loved ones was to be expected but their casual rejection apparently wasn't. Constantine brushes it off with an instant "Well, fuck it" attitude, but there's an unmistakable loneliness about that scene that emphasizes that as a man who has to make hard decisions, John Constantine had lost people he cares about along the way. When this issue ended, the readers will get the sense that this was the first time that Constantine felt like he was the one who was left alone to die.
RECOMMENDED: 8/10
DO READ MORE OF MY HELLBLAZER REVIEWS
I'm pleased that the hunger demon storyline ends here because there really is no point to stretch this plot further. As for the resolution, I thought it was the only appropriate ending possible. It was not a surprising twist, really. We knew that Constantine needs to entrap the demon again and save the rest of New York City from the infestation, and that he will succeed in doing so. However, what is striking about this issue as a whole is the way our lead character goes about it. There is a callousness and unpleasantness to John Constantine that would irritate us every once in a while. But it's not like he's a pompous ass about it either. No, his general temperament seems to be that of solemn resignation that manages to come off like what he's doing and what he's going through are inconveniences.
Now given that I read Hellblazer irregularly before (I started with the fifth volume of the series), I actually already have a strong opinion pertaining to Constantine as a character and that is that I love him to pieces because there's always something new he offers the more you get to know him under that snark and duplicitous charm. However, in the two issues so far, I'm not sure I like him but I still do understand him. His motivation is not exactly admirable at all times and it's probably because readers can feel the distaste on his part; that there is a begrudging sort of duty in the way he does things. Needless to say, the bottom line is that Constantine doesn't hesitate to make hard decisions and that is what makes him a compelling hero to read. He may have doubts. He may have reservations. But Constantine is always able to look at the big picture and decide for the greater good's sake, knowing inaction will only screw him quick so he better get ahead then. Having said that, the shocker for this issue is the fact that Constantine sacrifices his own friend Gary Lester to ensure the city's safety.
He did so by choosing Gary as the host he will entrap Mnemoth in. He justifies this by saying that Gary is already a lost cause (given his addiction) and that Mnemoth was drawn to him in the first place which meant that binding him back to Gary's body will be easier. Another crucial reason is that he simply does not have time to look for a viable host especially with the restricted time they have to perform the ritual. In all pragmatic sense, Gary is the perfect, if not the only, candidate. Of course, Gary does not volunteer himself wholeheartedly. Constantine had to coax him, using the friendship and trust between them to lure Gary into giving up control of his body.
We can look at it in two ways. A popular perspective is that Constantine is a sociopathic jerk for not at least attempting to save both his friend and the city. A noble hero would go down fighting for both causes and not make a choice which one should be prioritized over the other. The other perspective which is I think what made the writing for this issue so extraordinarily cut-dry and honest is that Constantine knows he doesn't have the luxury to hit two birds with one stone. It needs to be a choice between one life against a million others. He does not dwell on whether or not he's a bad or good person for letting one his best friends become bait for a demon. He just does it. One notable scene is when four of his friends who passed away (including his ex Emma) started appearing in his bedroom the night before the ritual just so they could haunt him, as if to discourage him from sacrificing Gary Lester. Constantine shuts them out.
Now I believe that both perspectives are justifiable. Constantine was kind of a dick for doing that to his friend, given that readers were also able to see that he had a history of losing his friends whether through his own actions or because he placed them in harm's way unintentionally. However, I would like to point out that Constantine did stay with Gary to the bitter end. He spent hours sitting outside Gary's jail cell, listening to him adjust to the pain of the demon inside him. Constantine could have easily called it a day after the ritual and go some place to clear his mind. But no, he chose to drink himself into stupor while listening to Gary's torturous screams for the rest of the night.
The issue ends with a sharp kind of poignancy. Once Gary's corpse mummified, Papa Midnite had his cell bricked up to make sure Mnemoth never escapes again. Constantine then walks out to the street and sees the rest of the ghosts from his past. He thinks that they were waiting for him but instead it was Gary's ghost that they were waving at to join them. They didn't even glance at Constantine as all of them went their merry way. Weirdly enough, Constantine is hurt by this. The anger from these dead loved ones was to be expected but their casual rejection apparently wasn't. Constantine brushes it off with an instant "Well, fuck it" attitude, but there's an unmistakable loneliness about that scene that emphasizes that as a man who has to make hard decisions, John Constantine had lost people he cares about along the way. When this issue ended, the readers will get the sense that this was the first time that Constantine felt like he was the one who was left alone to die.
RECOMMENDED: 8/10
DO READ MORE OF MY HELLBLAZER REVIEWS
April 28, 2025
This issue went into an entirely unexpected direction, I had no clue the extents Constantine will go to in order to be a “hero,” and save the day. The extents that dealing with these magical properties have on a person and what it will force them to give up to “win.” I mentioned a line John said in the first issue to an elder at the tribe where this demon was originally trapped, how John comforted the guilt man by mentioning that in their business they do well not to look back because of all the ghosts that follow them…and this issue exemplifies that sentiment. After John’s run in with Mnemoth last issue he walks back to Midnight’s club for his strength to defeat the demon, he finds Papa down in the fight ring beneath his club where he puts his zombies against each other for massive profits. Last issue Johnathan mentioned he would need Papa and Gary’s help to defeat Mnemoth…but I didn’t expect that Gary would become the bait for the creature. Papa went so far as to lock Gary down in his pens so that Gary’s fear would be used to attract the demon…and John can only offer shallow comfort to Gary for he knows this is the only path forward to defeat Mnemoth.
But that doesn’t mean he isn’t racked with guilt about it. When he gets up to his room to get a semblance of rest before dawn when they take on Mnemoth, he is shocked to find the four ghosts of his friends that died during he events of swamp thing. They say nothing but only stare at him and offer him a reminder of what they gave up for his righteous cause, but he is not letting any of them get to him. He carries the guilt himself and is “the providence of the living,” and turns out the light to sob into the night about what he has to do tomorrow.
Meanwhile the Mnemoth does not slew and continues to prowl the city for people it can gouge on and grow itself, it has started to find hunger in different concepts like through a body builder that hungers to grow stronger, and begins to feed off of that as well. But as the dawn breaks Mnemoth is only attracted to one screaming familiar voice…Gary. John is woken up by one of Papa’s zombies and brought to the roof where Papa has prepared the ritual. He has armed them with powerful objects, including an electrocutioner’s chair straight from sing sing to provide extra powerful magic. I’m sure that Gary won’t see the joke. As they sit Gary in the chair and surround him with magical defenses, John offers to give him the fix he has been craving this entire time only after they have attracted and defeated Mnemoth, it’s the only thing that can get Gary to calm down. Suddenly as they look int the distance Mnemoth cuts through the sun with how large a swarm of insects it has grown…all heading directly for Gary. Gary starts to freak out realizing that they don’t have a built enough bottle to contain it…not realizing that he is the intended vessel to contain it until it is too late. Mnemoth has come and engulfs the group and completely takes over Gary, filling him completely and bloating him with the insects. Once they have all come into him Constantine works quick to apply the binding marks to Gary’s flesh and proceeds to seal Mnemoth inside of Gary! Gary proceeds to flip out and try and attack John, before John could pull him back and calm him down and slip him into a straight jacket. Gary and Mnemoth are now doomed to consume each other, and to ease the pain John gives Gary the hit he has been begging for the entire time. But even that is not enough to suppress the pain of Mnemoth eating Gary away. And no amount of whiskey or cigarettes are enough to drown out John’s guilt. He has been friends with Gary since childhood, and as he sees Gary rotting away in his cell beneath Papa’s he once again sees the vision of his dead friends comforting Gary…right before he passes out. As he wakes up the screaming has stopped and Gary is completely gone and Papa is standing over him as his team proceeds to brick up the cell that Gary was in. Papa attempts to offer constrains a sim Blanche of comfort that I am sure passes as such in their realm: “Grief, Constantine, is a luxury. A magician must separate himself from his humanity.” As John leaves the club the only thing he can think about is getting as far away from NYC as possible, thinking about how the world rushing around him has 0 idea what just occurred. But one final time he sees Emma and the others standing across the street seemingly waving to him…except they are not. They are waving to the ghost of Gary as they accept them into their arms. “I suppose I should have guessed. I clench my jaw until my teeth hurt. Sod ‘em. They’re bloody ghosts. Who needs ‘em!” It’s a very lonely path that the hellblazer walks.
I also completely forgot to mention the genius of the articles at the end of each issue. I failed to mention it because I didn’t think much of the snip-it of an article titled “faces on the street” by Satchmo Hawkins as the first issue really only provided a tease for the interview to come. But wow this issue focused on the interview with John Constantine himself and it is quite a read! Turns out that Satchmo had to go through a lot of trouble before he eventually found a cabbie that led him to a bar named the butcher’s book where he was set to meet Constantine. He got there early to think over his interview questions and make sure his recorder was working, and decided to enjoy a drink as he did. But one drink turned into many and sooner than later Satchmo was falling over himself with no sign of Constantine. The only interesting thing he heard was another table talking about a hit on an armored car. Well he finally came to the conclusion that Constantine was a no show, and as he got up to leave he found a fist in his face and ended up on the ground in no time from the guys in the other booth. They then took and destroyed his recorder and figured he was wearing a wire to spy on them, but looking at how scrawny he was they realized he was nothing more than a reporter and physically threw him out of the bar. At the same time the cabbie that dropped him off rolled up to tell him that Constantine wanted him to tell Satchmo that he had to go to NYC and wouldn’t be available, but to have the cabbie drive Satchmo to see him. But when the cabbie saw the dirty condition of Satchmo he decided there was no way he was letting him in the cab, lol. Satchmo ended up walking 2 hours home, and that is the story of the interview that never was. Hahahahaha.
But that doesn’t mean he isn’t racked with guilt about it. When he gets up to his room to get a semblance of rest before dawn when they take on Mnemoth, he is shocked to find the four ghosts of his friends that died during he events of swamp thing. They say nothing but only stare at him and offer him a reminder of what they gave up for his righteous cause, but he is not letting any of them get to him. He carries the guilt himself and is “the providence of the living,” and turns out the light to sob into the night about what he has to do tomorrow.
Meanwhile the Mnemoth does not slew and continues to prowl the city for people it can gouge on and grow itself, it has started to find hunger in different concepts like through a body builder that hungers to grow stronger, and begins to feed off of that as well. But as the dawn breaks Mnemoth is only attracted to one screaming familiar voice…Gary. John is woken up by one of Papa’s zombies and brought to the roof where Papa has prepared the ritual. He has armed them with powerful objects, including an electrocutioner’s chair straight from sing sing to provide extra powerful magic. I’m sure that Gary won’t see the joke. As they sit Gary in the chair and surround him with magical defenses, John offers to give him the fix he has been craving this entire time only after they have attracted and defeated Mnemoth, it’s the only thing that can get Gary to calm down. Suddenly as they look int the distance Mnemoth cuts through the sun with how large a swarm of insects it has grown…all heading directly for Gary. Gary starts to freak out realizing that they don’t have a built enough bottle to contain it…not realizing that he is the intended vessel to contain it until it is too late. Mnemoth has come and engulfs the group and completely takes over Gary, filling him completely and bloating him with the insects. Once they have all come into him Constantine works quick to apply the binding marks to Gary’s flesh and proceeds to seal Mnemoth inside of Gary! Gary proceeds to flip out and try and attack John, before John could pull him back and calm him down and slip him into a straight jacket. Gary and Mnemoth are now doomed to consume each other, and to ease the pain John gives Gary the hit he has been begging for the entire time. But even that is not enough to suppress the pain of Mnemoth eating Gary away. And no amount of whiskey or cigarettes are enough to drown out John’s guilt. He has been friends with Gary since childhood, and as he sees Gary rotting away in his cell beneath Papa’s he once again sees the vision of his dead friends comforting Gary…right before he passes out. As he wakes up the screaming has stopped and Gary is completely gone and Papa is standing over him as his team proceeds to brick up the cell that Gary was in. Papa attempts to offer constrains a sim Blanche of comfort that I am sure passes as such in their realm: “Grief, Constantine, is a luxury. A magician must separate himself from his humanity.” As John leaves the club the only thing he can think about is getting as far away from NYC as possible, thinking about how the world rushing around him has 0 idea what just occurred. But one final time he sees Emma and the others standing across the street seemingly waving to him…except they are not. They are waving to the ghost of Gary as they accept them into their arms. “I suppose I should have guessed. I clench my jaw until my teeth hurt. Sod ‘em. They’re bloody ghosts. Who needs ‘em!” It’s a very lonely path that the hellblazer walks.
I also completely forgot to mention the genius of the articles at the end of each issue. I failed to mention it because I didn’t think much of the snip-it of an article titled “faces on the street” by Satchmo Hawkins as the first issue really only provided a tease for the interview to come. But wow this issue focused on the interview with John Constantine himself and it is quite a read! Turns out that Satchmo had to go through a lot of trouble before he eventually found a cabbie that led him to a bar named the butcher’s book where he was set to meet Constantine. He got there early to think over his interview questions and make sure his recorder was working, and decided to enjoy a drink as he did. But one drink turned into many and sooner than later Satchmo was falling over himself with no sign of Constantine. The only interesting thing he heard was another table talking about a hit on an armored car. Well he finally came to the conclusion that Constantine was a no show, and as he got up to leave he found a fist in his face and ended up on the ground in no time from the guys in the other booth. They then took and destroyed his recorder and figured he was wearing a wire to spy on them, but looking at how scrawny he was they realized he was nothing more than a reporter and physically threw him out of the bar. At the same time the cabbie that dropped him off rolled up to tell him that Constantine wanted him to tell Satchmo that he had to go to NYC and wouldn’t be available, but to have the cabbie drive Satchmo to see him. But when the cabbie saw the dirty condition of Satchmo he decided there was no way he was letting him in the cab, lol. Satchmo ended up walking 2 hours home, and that is the story of the interview that never was. Hahahahaha.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 6, 2023
I don't think I can say enough good things about the art here. The low-saturation, low-contrast coloring combined with the energetic, expressive linework is really evocative, and high-contrast choices really shine due to the general lack of it.
The layouts are also very creative without being distracting or confusing.
I always appreciate a comic with a lot of inner monologue, and this has no shortage of that. I think that already in just this second issue the pulpy, noir-ish tone is scaled back to a more tasteful place, and it all feels less clichéd than the first time out.
This still all feels like prelude, though, which is the only thing holding it back, for me.
The layouts are also very creative without being distracting or confusing.
I always appreciate a comic with a lot of inner monologue, and this has no shortage of that. I think that already in just this second issue the pulpy, noir-ish tone is scaled back to a more tasteful place, and it all feels less clichéd than the first time out.
This still all feels like prelude, though, which is the only thing holding it back, for me.
January 20, 2021
Es la continuación del capítulo anterior. Prácticamente la misma calidad pero las interacciones con Papa Midnight y Gary son dónde el título brilla. Este es mucho más ágil que el anterior ya que, tanto lector como protagonista, está consciente del problema y se mueven para resolverlo. El departamento visual ayuda a mover la historia pero solo para mostrar momentos de horror. Es a través de las composiciones de paneles que este relato brilla. Cómo una página donde los paneles hacen connotar que los personajes están perdidos en una multitud, o cuando la amenaza principal está causando estragos.
October 22, 2023
3.5/5
February 19, 2025
Kinda weird seeing Action Comics within this comic.
July 28, 2015
We learn just what a nice guy John Constantine isn't.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews