Constantine, Volume 1: The Spark and the Flame

Constantine (2013)

by Ray Fawkes (Writer), Jeff Lemire (Writer), Renato Guedes (Artist)

The star of Justice League Dark and Hellblazer--the longest-running Vertigo series--is unleashed in his own DCU title! Liar, cheater, manipulator...John Constantine is all of these, and yet he uses these skills and more to protect the world from the darkest corners of the DC Universe.

Collecting: Constantine 1-6

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

144 pages, Paperback

First published February 12, 2014

About the author

Ray Fawkes is the critically-acclaimed author of the comics and graphic novels Underwinter, Intersect, One Soul, The People Inside, The Spectral Engine, Possessions, and Junction True, as well as Batman: Eternal, Constantine, Justice League Dark, and Gotham by Midnight (DC), Wolverines (Marvel), Black Hammer '45 (Dark Horse), Jackpot! (AfterShock) and more. He is an Eisner, Harvey, and Shuster award nominee and a YALSA award winner.

Ray has been making comics for over 20 years, starting with and continuing the tradition of DIY fiction as well as working for many major comics publishers in the U.S. and Canada.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Everyone's pretty much right.
This isn't Vertigo's Constantine, so fans of Hellblazer will probably feel quite a pang of disappointment at DC's shinier version of the character.
Not that John's shitting rainbows, but this title definitely captured his PG-13 side.



I've really enjoyed him in Justice League Dark, so I was hoping (since this is volume 1) that this would give an origin story for him.
No such luck.
I haven't read a great deal about him outside of the DC universe, so I'm not really sure about his backstory. And even I was I was, I'd still like to see where the New 52 Constantine came from, ya know?



In this, Constantine goes up against some bad guys looking for a magical compass, screws over everyone who knows him, temporarily steals Billy Batson's power, and gets himself shot.
All of this ties in to the Trinity War stuff, in case you're interested.

Overall, it a good story if you like him from JLD, but hardcore fans won't be as impressed.
And as long as my library gets this one in, I'll keep coming back for more.

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit that I don't like the character of John Constantine. I do like the Justice League Dark series and he is in that. He is a great character to hate. I decided to give this book a try and so I did. I have to admit that I actually enjoyed this story, was entertained by it and John didn't get on my nerves quite as bad as he has. He's still a bastard, but the story is good.

He's looking for a McGuffin, a magical compass and it is in 3 parts. He is seeking them out. Others are also looking for it. One time, they beat him to it and another time he gets what his is looking for. We don't get to see the 3rd item as this volume ends before the story gets there. He does almost die though.

London is an interesting idea. For some reason, just being in London for John is deadly. It's like the city is attacking him or something. It was a crazy idea. I am shocked that I want to read the next volume. This was so much better than the movie. I haven't read other GN's of this story, but it's nothing like the movie at all really. The movie missed the point of John. I used to the people were being weird, but it was really a bad movie compared to this.

[Christy Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmmm….I didn’t realize that Constantine is an ass. I haven’t read any of these before but I liked the movie and the TV show so I thought I’d give it a try. The Spark and the Flame is broken into three sections as Constantine fights an evil group to get his hands on some magical elements. He very easily sacrifices others to get ahead. Unfortunately, his sacrificial lambs are friends or potential allies and he sucks for screwing them over. He thinks it’s all about the big picture of saving the world but he also admits he’s addicted to magical power and he feels very little guilt. Talk about an anti-hero. The story line is interesting and the art work is pretty stellar. It ends on a pretty good cliffhanger. Not sure I’ll continue reading any of these but this one was entertaining.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Constantine” – right away you can tell DC have fiddled with the former Vertigo fan favourite by naming it after the atrocious Keanu Reeves picture from 2005. It used to be called John Constantine: Hellblazer and the name Hellblazer isn’t mentioned once in this comic. But it’s still recognisably the same character even though the character’s doomed soul isn’t mentioned as much in this reboot than it was before, and I’m not sure it’s once mentioned that he’s from Liverpool, just that he’s English (I’d have LOVED to have heard Keanu’s attempt at a Newcastle accent – if you’ve never heard it, google it and listen to how funny it sounds and then imagine the guy who mangled a British accent in Coppola’s Dracula attempting it. Woah!).

Instead, Constantine is portrayed as a supernatural Indiana Jones, globetrotting ahead of his evil magic rivals to collect the pieces of the powerful talisman known as Croydon’s Compass, a device that alerts its owner to the appearance of any mystical object first. As he travels to Norway, Myanmar and London, he’s chased by Sargon the Sorceress (daughter of Sargon the Sorcerer – imaginative, right?) and Mister E, and encounters other spooky characters like Papa Midnite, Zatanna and the Spectre along the way too.

The book does get a lot right by including a lot of magical action, duels, spells, and everything that should be in a story featuring sorcerers, spirits and wizards, and artist Renato Guedes does an excellent job of drawing these magical scenes really well. Also, Constantine’s devil-may-care, selfish, and roguish personality comes through strongly. Buuut… it’s just not a very interesting story. The first three issues at least have a story arc as Constantine gets the pieces of Croydon’s Compass, but it’s quite formulaic with few surprises along the way – how does Constantine get the pieces? Shows up at a shrine, cracks open a vase, and there it is. And then what happens at the end of the arc? He puts the compass on a shelf and sits in a chair. Oh. How…zzzz…. The remaining 3 issues are a bit of a directionless mess with issue 5 unfortunately being a Trinity War tie-in.

Trinity War was utter garbage but suddenly inserting Shazam into the series is just awkward, not least because it’s a terrible issue or that it has nothing to do with the series or even Trinity War, and is totally irrelevant. It’s just a cynical marketing trick to sell more copies, and fans of New 52 Shazam (there must be some) hoping for something out of the crossover with Constantine are treated to Shazam pushed to the side for the entire issue while Constantine fights a bad guy.

Jeff Lemire co-writes the first four issues with Ray Fawkes and it’s unsurprising that these are the best of the book with the last two containing so little moments of interest that I don’t think I’ll be following the series any further. Constantine, Volume 1: The Spark and The Flame is a decent book in that it’s accessible to new readers and Lemire/Fawkes have more or less captured the essence of the character, but it’s a shame that the series suffers from a lack of a strong narrative to give Constantine a sense of urgency or tension in his adventures. As it is, it feels like each issue of Constantine is the character treading water – not exactly riveting reading.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's been a lot of apprehension about the decision to move Constantine as a character from the realm of Vertigo into the DCU proper. Hellblazer, as a property, had been a solidly and proudly "mature" title, and was beloved in no small part for being so. Obviously, the move would mean that the cursing, sex, and violence of the original would have to be downplayed, or at least be less explicitly drawn on the page. I imagine that, if you dearly loved the original, it felt like quite a blow, like it would be impossible to truly tell a Constantine story under those restrictions. Is it actually? Well, that depends on your point of view.

The truth is, it's only the presentation that's been sanitized, and even that isn't by much. This is PG-13 Constantine, which gives the writers some leeway. And Constantine's personality hasn't exactly been scrubbed, either. Very early in this book, he turns his back on a good friend, and the consequences for his friend are deadly. So not terribly far from his Vertigo origins. However, planting him in the DCU does have the unfortunate side effect of making him a party to whatever major thing is going on in the greater DCU at the moment. Here, it's Trinity War, and it leads to the single least interesting issue in the entire collection.

Not that the collection as a whole is terribly compelling. Constantine is basically putting on an Indiana Jones act for most of it, traveling the world in search of magical artifacts and encountering a laundry list of magical antagonists. That part is decently told, but not terribly original. There are too many newly introduced characters, with little background and meaning given to each, and I felt like the artifact hunt was lacking in urgency. And then the Trinity War issue seriously breaks any flow this book might have had.

I doubt I'll continue with this series. It's decent, and it could be really good, but it isn't there yet.

[CS · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bullet Review:

Issues 1 - 3 were stereotypical and a little video game (go to this place, get this item, fight these bosses), but at least they were OK, if not noteworthy.

Issue 4 was eh.

It was Issue 5 that I just went, "WTF is this?!?!" It had Shazam and seemed to tie into a bigger DC storyline, and made NO SENSE. Issue 6 wasn't much better, dealing with the aftermath of the previous issue.

If I were rating 1 -3 (maybe 4 if I were generous), it would be 3 stars. Issues 5 and 6 leave a bad taste in my mouth.

[Gavin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I already read 2 and 3 so this volume was out of order.

I saw how things got started and I can't say I am impressed. I've seen more interesting versions of this character in a page long cameo in Swamp Thing in the 80s.

I know the idea and I feel like I owe it to myself to try the Hellblazer series, but this isn't good.

I don't feel any interest, no connection, just a dislikeable guy who does magic tricks.

Jeff Lemire was a writer for this? Not so good, but it utterly lost the plot when Ray Fawkes took it over proper.

The first 3 issues set up his run in with the hand of the cold flame, which takes until the end of vol 3 to resolve.

It makes a bit more sense now, what happens later on, but it's just lame.

Zatanna is supposed to be his ex here, and only briefly appears, it's not worth the ink spent on her. Much like the later appearance of Shazam...it's like oh ok! But then just more lame magic warrior shit, when does Xena show up?

Yawn.

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple repeats of issues I read in Trinity War collections... not bad, mostly reading for continuity. The CW Constantine really is the best of them all, "luvs".

[Otherwyrld · Rating 2 out of 5]

John Constantine has been around for a long time (since 1985 in fact), and for most of his history (in the form of the 300 issues of the Hellblazer comics) he has been a part of the Vertigo series from DC. I read the story for about half that history before I gave up on it, and it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I picked up this new series with Constantine now a part of the new DC universe.

So does it work? For the most part, yes it does though with notable reservations. Constantine is still the tricky bastard that he's always been, which is made clear in the first couple of issues when he sacrifices one of the few friends he has on the trail of a dangerous mystic artefact. Pissing off other magic users is also pretty par for the course with Constantine, and he manages to get on the bad side of The Cult of the Black Flame pretty early on. There's also an appearance from Zatanna, here depicted as Constantine's former lover, which I can hand wave away quite easily, though I can't forgive them putting fishnets on her arms rather than her legs - that is wrong on so many levels. The story also manages to cram in a visit from the Spectre, a Haitian voodoo priest that controls New York, and a bit of globe-trotting that includes a trip back to London for Constantine. It starts to feel a bit over stuffed with characters, but I can let it go because a lot of this is set up for future story-lines.

It all falls apart with the introduction of Shazam to issue 5. One of the reasons that Hellblazer worked so well was that it was set apart from the main DC stories, which meant there were no superheroes for the most part. Here, it is clear that this is part of some larger story, which we aren't privy to unless we actually read all the other stories as well. Shazam certainly isn't the worst superhero to make an appearance in this comic, being magic-based himself, but it pulls us out of the world that was being set up in these stories and pushes us into the mainstream, whether we like it or not.

The final story pulls us back, as a dying Constantine fights to save himself once again, but the damage is done. It's a pity, because some of this wasn't too bad, giving enough back story to encourage new readers but also acknowledging the long history of the character.

I doubt that I will go out of my way to seek out further adventures.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't a dedicated reader to Hellblazer, but I did dip into it from time to time; however, I have been following Justice League Dark very closely, so I feel that I have had time to prepare for the newer, more sanitized version of John Constantine.

As a horror comic, this collection just doesn't cut it.... I mean, I'm assuming this was meant to be horror because the whole Constantine brand has always been horror, but it's the new 52 so who knows what they're trying to accomplish. There are a couple images that gave me chills (on the whole the art is quite good in this volume); but, there were not many other horror elements present in the story... certainly there was nothing psychologically horrific to be found.

As a part of the "Dark" corner of the new DCU, I found this collection worked quite well. There is actually quite a bit of info to help explain the rules of engagement for the world of magic and magic-users. The world of magic has always been a more peripheral element to the DCU, so to see it pull focus in titles like JLD, Swamp Thing, Phantom Stranger and Constantine, is fun and refreshing for me. The Dark titles provide a completely different POV; Constantine makes perfect sense to me existing within that fold.

Unfortunately, the stories themselves feel basic and flat in this volume. This new Constantine is much more interesting when he is forced to work unwillingly with a team. As a solo title, well... I'll come back for more.... I'm curious to see where this title goes.
3/5

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will try to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible, since I know some people out there are waiting for the graphic novel before reading. But, be warned, that may not happen.

I’m going to start by saying this, because it needs to be said: for most of my comic-reading life, I’ve stayed away from the powerhouses of Marvel and DC. I didn’t care for the concept of reboots and multi-verses and why does the world need 4 different versions of Batman and the X-Men and what the hell is continuity, where do I even start reading? And it seemed like for every character I was interested in, there were 5 or 6 titles starring that character and another handful where that character was a vital part of some team or another, and there were company-wide crossover events every other Wednesday. It was too much of a huge, intimidating juggernaut for me to ever want to begin to figure out.

Which was why I liked Vertigo Comics, and why they became my first and favorite publishing house. Though series such as The Sandman and Hellblazer occasionally ventured into other territory, it was rarely, and never often enough to be a distraction or require in-depth research about series I knew I would never want to start reading. Vertigo was self-contained. Vertigo told damn-good stories and mostly each title kept to itself. And, when when my favorite titles were only mediocre, I knew they would eventually get better again.

So when Hellblazer ended its run with Vertigo, and it was announced that John was being reborn into the mainstream DC Universe, I was wary. Very, very wary. With good reason, as it turns out.

With Constantine London’s favorite mage says good-bye to London and to Vertigo comics, and becomes a transplanted New Yorker and a resident of DC’s New 52 universe. He also becomes less of a Hellblazer, and more of a do-gooder. It even says so in the title credits every issue. In short, John Constantine remains John Constantine in name, appearance, and the fact that he can work magic. 300-issues of backstory has been more or less wiped out to make way for the new John Constantine.

John is living in New York because he's cursed—in the most literal sense—from re-entering London, which seems like a cheap shot and a desperate ploy to drag him away from his origins and the heart of his story and force him to integrate into the New 52-verse. But it's the core of his character that's undergone the greatest shift.

Here's that opening credits blurb I mentioned earlier:

Nearly destroyed by its temptations in his youth, John Constantine knows the price of magic’s corrupting influence all too well.

Yes, fine. So far, so good. But then...

Now, he fights the battle to maintain balance and prevent anyone from becoming too powerful...

Wait...

What?

So John’s a crusader now. An active participant in an underground magic war, working more or less for the forces of good. He's only as British as the occasional “Oi!” when he hails a taxi. He’s younger. He’s prettier. He’s apparently never met Kit or Angie or Epiphany or Ric the Vic or Astra. Because, in an issue titled “Everyone he’s ever sacrificed,” which heavily implies that said people will be confronting John, there’d damn well better be some Astra.

What we get is Chris, a troubled young man who comes to John for help with, to the series’ credit, predictable results. I liked Chris. He was a good kid. I would’ve liked to see him stick around longer. He would’ve made an interesting counterweight to John, and an even more interesting pawn. But Chris, like John's history, is a throwaway character, forgotten as soon as he's no longer convenient.

What follows is a highly-episodic quest to regain a magical artifact (you know the kind...three issues, three different cities...very little in common except for the main character in between). And, by the fifth damn issue John is caught up in...wait for it..a company-wide crossover event! Though his part is largely self-contained, it served as a reminder of exactly why I avoid titles from major companies.

If I didn’t have 300 issues of history with John and his world, I’d probably go a little lighter on my opinions of Constantine . The creative team does the best they can with what they’re given, and what they’ve been tasked with accomplishing. But it’s not a series I will ever fall in love with the way I did with Hellblazer. I’ll spend too long comparing it to what it once was, and lamenting what I’ve lost.

I told myself I would give the series to the end of its first major arc, and the end of this collection leaves a few things unresolved. So, after around issue 10 or 12, it will most likely no longer be a part of my monthly pull. I’m saddened, but I can’t say I’m surprised.

[Michelle Morrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the Hellblazer reboot, under the "new 52" revamp.

First off, I love Constantine. If it weren't for him, there'd be no Harry Dresden and probably no urban fantasy. He paved the way for the damaged magicians in mega cities all over the world. But reading Hellblazer? It's hard. Such a product of its time (the 80s in all its big hair big shouldered glory) that it doesn't stand weathering well, at least for me.

That left me quite eager to check out this trade, the first six issues collected.

It's still the same Constantine, living with his mistakes (and successes) of the past. Unable to enter London due to a curse, he's living in New York now. Stumbling over a mission to keep a very powerful artifact out of the hands of some mega magicians that have formed the evil alliance known as the Order of the Cold Flame, he travels around, magic happens, and he gets pummeled no more than a few times, with a victory that is tainted as only a Constantine victory can.

All in all, it felt like a typical reboot. Flashy, more action than exposition, a quick sketch over all that's gone before. There was definitely more depth in the old stories, more time to look over a room of people and pick out expressions and back story, baggage delivered with a single look. But as a vehicle to bring him into the new millennium, it was a good start.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

First of all, the art by Renato Guedes is fantastic, and it's good to see the colorist, Marcelo Maiolo, get cover credit. They both give Constantine a consistent look and feel that set the tone of the book.

The first arc of the book is rather lame, which surprised me because Jeff Lemire, one of my favorite writers, was co-writer, along with Ray Fawkes, who finished out the volume. We get some lame-o story about a compass that all these evil mages are trying to collect, and Constantine has knowledge of where to get the final part, or something like that. Not an inspired story to start off a new series. I'm not crazy about the new version of Mr E, either. Anyway, whoever wrote the dialog really doesn't get Constantine's voice, and I'm not sure why he's based in NYC and not London.

The last arc is a middling tale that ties into Trinity War, and Shazam! (aka known as Captain Marvel pre-New 52) shows up. There's some interesting back and forth between John and Billy Batson, but it seems like so much filler. Papa Midnite returns, and we get that John has something over Papa, and the book ends with one of John's villains taking over John's little corner of NYC.

So, would I recommend this book? It's hard to say. It's so inferior to Hellblazer, or even the John Constantine's first appearances in Saga of the Swamp Thing back in the 80s. It's not spooky enough, and Constantine is so watered down it's rather disappointing.

Nevertheless, Constantine is playing a pretty big role in the DCU these days, and I always enjoy seeing the darker corners of it. So, I think it's worth reading to get a feel for a very important character, and just hope that it gets better in the future.

[Ivy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the comic but I don't really like Constantine as a character. He lets his friends die and stuff. Hope he will be able to stop the Cold Flame.

[Scott Rhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished watching the complete first (and only) season of the NBC TV show “Constantine”, based on the long-running DC comic book series that started in the ‘80s. It was disappointing, to say the least.

The fault does not lie with the casting, as Matt Ryan was superb as the chain-smoking, snarky British exorcist/paranormal expert/master of the occult.

I honestly don’t know who to blame for the show’s failure, although I would agree with Ryan, who, in a recent interview, said that the show might have had better success on a different network. Based on some of the recent excellent shows I have seen that DC Universe has been putting out on their streaming service (“Swamp Thing”, “Doom Patrol”, and “Titans”, to name three), I would argue that “Constantine” would fare far better if allowed to have fewer boundaries that a major network like NBC probably enforces. John Constantine, the character, never had any boundaries, so why should his TV show?

The fault may lie, however, with DC itself. Keep in mind, I’m saying this as someone who has only recently come back to reading comic books after a 20-plus-year hiatus, and also someone who didn’t read a lot of DC. There is a lot of DC history of which I am ignorant, I fully admit.

For example, I am only vaguely aware that nine years ago, DC conducted a major overhaul of nearly every title in its inventory, an event entitled the New 52. I know nothing else about this, other than the fact that several characters from the DC Vertigo line (Constantine being one of them) were incorporated into the DC Universe. It was, essentially, a company-wide reboot, much like the reboot of the Star Wars universe when Disney bought the rights.

From a business standpoint, the New 52 may have been a wise move, but, in my opinion, a character, and a series, like Constantine didn’t need a revamp. Part of what fans liked about him was his unwillingness toward change. He was set in his ways, and he was okay with that. So were his fans.

I decided to give this revamped “Constantine” a try by reading the 2014 series “The Spark and the Flame”, written by Ray Fawkes and Jeff Lemire and illustrated by Renato Guedes and Fabiano Neves.

Like the TV show, it was disappointing, but it’s hard to point your finger at precisely where it went wrong. The story—about Constantine’s search for a magical compass that has been split into three parts and scattered across the globe and is also being sought by parties with more malevolent and nefarious purposes—-is all rather boilerplate. It’s not horrible, but for a Constantine storyline, it’s pretty tame and unsexy.

It’s missing the high stakes that made the Vertigo run so good. Hellblazer fans knew that Constantine was risking more than his own life. In most cases, he was risking all of humanity. He was the sole (soul?) barrier between our world and a world potentially being overrun by Hell itself.

It’s hard to take this new Constantine seriously when he looks like a blonde Henry Cavill and mucks about with DC has-been superheroes like The Spectre and Shazam. Seriously?

Constantine was borne of a specific time (the Thatcher/Reagan Era) and place (lower-class England) and a culmination of all the fears and problems that embodied the ‘80s. Sadly, many of those fears and problems still exist and/or were resurrected in the Trump Era, so this new re-vamped Constantine could have really been something extraordinary.

As it is, it’s merely okay. I haven’t given up on the comic series, though. I’m hoping it finds its groove as the series progresses.

I feel the same way about the TV show, too. It would be cool if another network or streaming service like Netflix or Amazon Prime decided to pick it up. It definitely had potential.

[Tom Donaghey · Rating 2 out of 5]

With any graphic novel or comic collection, the first thing I notice is the artwork. I ask myself is it smart and stylish, perhaps something new is displayed in the envisioning of the layout as opposed to the standard panel format. Are the size and placing of the illustrated blocks pleasing to the eye and subtly drag that eye in the direction the writer intended the story to flow or do I find myself forcing my way through the dialogue bubbles, sometimes reading them out of their intended sequence and thereby slowing the flow of the story.
Then there is the story itself. Is there an internal logic to it? Must I have read every issue prior to this in order to understand the story line or is there enough back story thrown in so I do not have to plow through that material? If this is a collection of individual books brought together into one combined issuance, do all the stories have the same arc, are they internally connected and does the full book satisfy the reader with a sense of closure for the story?
These are the questions that one hopes to have answered in the positive. For CONSTANTINE, VOL 1: THE SPARK AND THE FLAME all too many of these questions are answered in the less than positive.
The artwork is top drawer, pulling the reader easily through the stories, but then again you expect top notch pens and inks from DC Comics and they always come through. Every book I have every picked up, including this one, has been pleasing to the eye and a delight to view, so the consistency of production values has never wavered.
But there is the matter of the story. Constantine has been a long standing character in the DC Universe but this collection doesn’t do him justice. The three sections of THE SPARK AND THE FLAME leave a lot to be desired. There is no explanation of how our hero knows about the relics he has to save from the forces of evil, he just goes and gets them, ala Indiana Jones but without the required research. And how the evildoers find him isn’t explained so I must assume both answers are MAGIC.
And once he has the relics, what, he just leaves them on a shelf in his lair where no one would think to find them? Come on, the bad guys have traced him around the world but they can’t find his chamber of secrets? Are you kidding me?
The additional tales are OK and help continue the original three segments a little further, but in all this was a not fully satisfying outing into the comic realm and I would give this book an 8.9 for the art work but only a 6.5 for the story. I’m not a great fan of MAGIC stories due to the heroes seemingly always having the solution to any problem within their grasp and there are some stretches here that I have to step back and say, “Come On, Really?”
This was a Goodreads win.

[Dev · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was pretty good. I guess I understand people not liking it going from Vertigo back to DC, but I personally haven't even gotten to the part when it switches over to Vertigo in the original series so it's really all the same to me. I'm still going to be reading the older stuff but I think I'm gonna go back and forth with the new as well.

I mean ...he's still a complete bastard, there's still swearing and some gore. What are we missing? The horrible 80s art? The casual sexism? The tired Satanic orgies and pedophilia for shock value 'edgy' crap? Granted I'm just going off the first two original volumes but I'm liking this a whole lot more. And granted the tie-in issue wasn't so great and that's really the only thing I think I'm going to hate about him being in the main universe, but once you get past that I think it's fine.

It also helps that the art is absolutely gorgeous [I hate 80s comic art sooo much] but also I'm just liking Constantine's attitude in this more as well. Like, you can be a miserable bastard I'm totally into it but keep it fun because otherwise why am I going to read it? Actually the whole vibe of this and his characterization reminds me a lot of the Lucifer reboot and while that was definitely a step down for Lucifer [my favorite series of all time] I think I'm liking it for John.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the Hellblazer series, the were gritty, varied, intelligent comic books for adults and way ahead in the genera, dating back to the mid 80's.
You could say they were trailblazers.

Constantine the graphic novel, has hickaed the name of Hellblazer's the lead character and his haircut, nothing else. This character is bland and uninteresting, the only time Constantine's voice sounds like the original character is when someone else is mimicking him. All the characters are bland, though, papa midnight looks like the Barbie version.

The story is derivative and uninspired, in 'The Price We Pay' the script feeds the need to repeat everything on every other page, which is beyond annoying. But there are no surprises, no difficulties, no real sense of penalties or consequences. Also, I suspect, no research. There are some really interesting mythologies out there - drawing on them was one of the things that made Hellblazer interesting. Nothing of the elements that made the original books edgy and exciting. Then latter in the book someone stats babbling about superheros... of course DC why do research or explore new territory when you can just invent it and cap the day by trotting out a few tired superheros?

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, obviously this isn't Hellblazer. We don't get the same darkness, we don't get London, and we don't get the same depth of character.

Instead, we get a shallower Constantine in a superhero universe, and there's not necessarily anything wrong with that (except that his appearance caused the cancelation of the original). It's interesting to see a Constantine who's somewhat in tune with the Alan Moore original, to see him interacting with the superheroic world and generally being heroic himself.

But, there's also nothing special about all of this. It's a fair comic that I'm going to continue reading, and I think it may have improved in the last issue when Fawkes came of his own.

(Would have been nice to have an ending, though, but the Nu52 doesn't seem to like those.)

[Sierra Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love early Hellblazer stuff. It's what would happen if Raymond Chandler and HP Lovecraft decided to write comics together.

This new DC iteration of Constantine, though not bad, is not Hellblazer. John is harder to connect with, the plots feel a bit flimsier (Papa Midnite is still there though and his costume is crazy). There are aspects of it I like.

But then, Constantine also becomes Shazam at one point.

Mixing a strong Vertigo character in with the superheroes of DC may seem like a cool idea, but it doesn't work the way you might hope. This is a toned down Constantine (though the Riddling Butcher in London's limbo realm... that was some crazy shit).

I'd have liked it more if Lemire stuck around longer, but since he went on to rescue Green Arrow I can't complain too much.

[Anton · Rating 2 out of 5]

This new reboot of the excellent Hellblazer series falls short of greatness. Sure, it has it's memorable moments, and really cool villains, but it's not what I look for when reading a John Constantine tale. The darkness is gone, character depth is lacking, and London is no longer the setting. The deeper issues, such as environmentalism, political corruption, spirituality and even John's misanthropy, and cynicism is totally gone. Sadly, I won't continue to read this series, and will resort to the old Hellblazer series for my Constantine fix.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because it features, in this initial volume, the writing of Jeff Lemire, because it is the sort of New 52 version of Hellblazer, because Alan Moore wrote him into Swamp Thing (I think Moore actually invented him?), because he is a small part of The Sandman that I liked, because he is this roguish kinda punkish eighties character, and because my brother in law lent it to me. I think it gets it basically right but is pretty boring compared to other versions.

[Forest · Rating 3 out of 5]

This got me out of a pretty bad reading slump. I read it quickly because I had borrowed it from my cousin and I wanted to return it to him ASAP. I liked it. I guess it has the capability of opening people up to the idea of "magick" and "the occult", however, it accomplishes this in a rather fearful manner (which isn't necessarily bad, but yeah). I don't know what else to say at the moment.

[Charlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice art, but weak on plot. Maybe they're just trying to get their footing in the larger DC universe, but I hope some depth is established. Also, not a big fan of how they Ziggy Stardusted out Papa Midnite.

[C.J. Edmunds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Urban Fantasy. Magic User. British. Snarky.

Count me in! Definitely a new favorite!

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor Constantine. He deserves it. XD

[Leila · Rating 1 out of 5]

I loved Constantine in the dcau, so I checked out the first hellblazer. I didn't love the 80s muddy art style and wasn't confident enough of my knowledge of the lore to pick up a book from later on.
I looked into this one because it was supposed to be post reboot so I assumed it wouldn't require a huge background in dc lore to understand. That made the random Shazam crossover kind of annoying. Most other comics I've read have a blurb or summary of some kind when they cross over with other stories. This one didn't have anything like that so it was kind of nonsensical for that page.
The other thing that irked me about this was the handling of Voodoo. To my limited understanding, Voodoo is a very real religion that most people do not understand very well. Having this repeat the same boring myths about Voodoo that the 80s comic was telling was annoying. Even if it wasn't kinda racist, it would still be boring by this point.

1.25, the +.25 was for Chris hilarious how you died like 30 seconds in, rip, hope you get any respect in spider hell or wherever you are because you certainly got none in life

[Louis Skye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting enough story but lacked diversity in its perspective. Constantine goes to Norway and doesn’t say anything about the cold but Myanmar’s heat was unbearable for him. These little descriptors about eastern nations are very othering.

Constantine himself isn’t a great character here. He causes mayhem and death everywhere. A cold-hearted, magical James Bond—a hard man because of his circumstances. Yawn. Seen it before a million times.

The sole woman of colour is exoticised by the art. She also has no personality.

There’s a scene where Constantine cracks jokes about a character with a disability. It’s not funny.

I liked the latter half of the story more than the heist. The action elements were dealt with a bit too swiftly. But there was more time taken in the later issues to set up the scene and the suspense so that was more interesting.

I liked the art. Very nice style and full of vivid details.

A decent enough read but characterizations were boring.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not good to be Constantine's friend especially when you are up against power hungry wizards.

[Neil McCrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have every single issue of Hellblazer including all of the specials, mini-series and one shots, and I bought them all as they came out. After John Constantine went Vertigo, I often mused what it would be like to have him rejoin the DCU. I hoped and feared such an event in equal measure, I felt John would bring a much needed cynical wisdom to the world of laser beams and long johns. The DCU has plenty of anti-heros, but few that are so grounded. On the other hand, I suspected such a move would water down all of the most compelling qualities of the character, often giving him an out when it should feel as if it is just JC vs the universe.

Flash forward to the present day, I've stopped collecting comics for a few years now, Hellblazer is long gone (the last title I collected), and Constantine is back in the DCU. I picked up this volume at the library, and it is exactly as I hoped and feared. It was good to see John give a bit of a goose to the whole Shazam mythos, but it also looks as if the truly bleak and hopeless Constantine tales are a thing of the past.

The story here is the standard magical items of great power scavenger hunt, with our hero and various villains racing against time to collect 'em all. ho hum. We've seen it all before, but that's okay because the real draw here are the characters. John is still John, even if the world he lives in is a little nicer. Zatanna is still Zatanna. The updates of Sargon and Tannarak are . . . interesting (I'm withholding judgement until the story finishes in later volumes). Mr. E is a southern fried variant on the magical sociopath we've known in the past, but he's still creepy as hell. And Papa Midnight? . . . er . . . he looks like he's been working out. I prefer the husky plotter of old to whatever he is now, but at least it's not as bad as the New 52 reboot of Amanda Waller over in Suicide Squad.

Passable entertainment with lighter versions of favorite old characters.