Constantine, Volume 3: The Voice in the Fire

Constantine (2013)

by Ray Fawkes (Writer), ACO (Illustrator), Jay Leisten (Illustrator)

Lost and confused in the face of the fallout from his actions in Forever Evil: Blight, John Constantine has sold himself out to the Cold Flame and is vulnerable to attack by Spellbinder! How will DCU's con man deal with the repercussions of this universe changing event? Written by Eisner Award-nominee Ray Fawkes, John Constantine continues his reemergence as DC Comics' most infamous magician!

Collecting: Constantine 13-17, Futures End

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Horror, Fantasy, Supernatural, Superheroes

144 pages, Paperback

First published February 24, 2015

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 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I asked my husband if he knew who Constantine was. He said, no.
Therefore, I'm counting him as a B-Lister.
In all fairness to this character, he also didn't know who the Flash was till I started forcing him to watch the show with me.
And he still thinks he's a Marvel character! Bless his heart.
So. *shrugs*



My library didn't have volume 2, so I don't know what the hell happened to bring us to this point in the story. More than likely, it wouldn't have mattered if I'd read it, though.
Because...DC.
However, since I have no proof of that theory, I'm going to pretend that everything would have made perfect sense, if only...

Constantine is fighting a group of baddies called The Cold Flame.
He's under their power, while simultaneously being under a spell from Zatanna to Be A Better Person. So. Conflicting messages and all.

The plot is one long tussle between Constantine and mages that (quite honestly) I either didn't recognize, or only barely recognized. Possibly because I'm not a longtime follower of his comics?
SPELLBINDER!



Right. Let's keep moving, shall we?
Lots of magic happens!
And then Constantine meets up with a werewolf guy (or whatever he's called), and tries to get him to remove Zatanna's spell.



More magic happens!
There are double crosses, triple crosses, and quadruple crosses in this.
I still don't know what really happened.
Because...DC.

There's a Future's End story tacked on at the end, and it was probably the best of these stories that I've read so far.
John goes after the Dr. Fate helmet, and tries to trick it into killing itself.
Overall, not a bad story.

Even with all of the stuff happening that I didn't understand, I was able to fly through this one. I didn't think it was awful, but I also can't think of a good reason to recommend anyone read it.
Maybe if you're a bigger fan of the New 52 Constantine than I am, you'll get even more out of it than I did?

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still find the writing in these books confusing, but the stories kept my interest more than Blight, and I wasn't quite as lost. Constantine encounters some real characters in the magical underworld, which I always find fun in a rubbernecker sort of way.

Each story seemed better to me, and the Doctor Fate story packs a pretty good punch. Perhaps this series is finding its feet. I've been watching the NBC Constantine series on DVR, and it's a nice combo to do it this way. I definitely hold a grudge against NBC for canceling it. I don't have much more to say than that.

Overall rating: 3.5/5.0 stars.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the third volume of the New 52's Constantine. It's a very uneven mess, to be honest.

I don't have a problem with this John Constantine basically being a magic-based super-hero. I think it sucks it comes at the expense of the mature and insightful Hellblazer Constantine, but it is what it is. Personally, I love the magic based heroes. I always have. But let's be honest: most comic book mages use what essentially comes down to magical deus ex machinas to defeat the antagonists. It takes a very skilled writer like Alan Moore or Jamie Delano to write magical tales where the solution is not something literally pulled out of thin air.

Ray Fawkes can't do it. There are a lot of instances in this book where a character "speaks" in some language that is a series of curlicues meant to portray some ancient, mystical tongue, but it's silly and rather boring. Throughout this book, Constantine is fighting to get out of the grips of the Blue Oyster Cult or something as silly sounding, and gets bounced around the world ferreting out other mages who are targeted for extinction by the cult. Constantine is always ineffective, always gets caught in a mess, then one scribbly-line word balloon later, it's all dandy again. Well, not really, but you get the drift.

Fawke's characterization of Constantine is drab as well. Sometimes he's a smart ass, sometimes he's a pathetic whiny loser, but never is he a clever expositor of witty dialog. It's just sad, and Constantine ends up being not much more than a two-dimensional Joe Blow who knows some magic or something.

The last issue was a Future's End tie-in, though, and it was confusing as heck and I don't even want to think about it.

The art is generally very good, and saves this book from being a one star
book.

There is one more volume of this before the reboot after Convergence. I'll probably get it eventually, but can't say I will be looking forward to it.

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dirty tricks and double-crosses, as gutter-mage John Constantine has sold himself out to the Cold Flame rather than die horribly at their hands. DC's mystical con man lays plans and alliances on the line to extract himself from the deal.

[Milo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this as single issues and whilst Constantine may be no Hellblazer (I have filed this under the Hellblazer shelf for convenience purposes), the book continues to be pretty entertaining. The mostly done-in-one stories are pretty solid and Fawkes' Constantine is relatively strong as well. Whilst it's dissapointing to see John get dragged into the mess that is World's End in #18, it does allow the potential to see Constantine meet his Earth 2 counterpart, which should certainly be interesting to see what happens.

If you can put aside the fact that this is not Hellblazer then you'll enjoy it. In my opinion, Constantine is one of DC's best series right now, not quite in the Top 5 but certainly in the Top 10. Very much looking forward to more and hopefully the World's End Crossover won't be dragged out too long.

[Scott Rhee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bloody shite. That’s kind of how I feel about the DC New 52’s iteration of “Constantine” under writer Ray Fawkes. Volume 3, “The Voice in the Fire” is, not to put too fine a point on it, bloody shite.

There’s so much weirdness going on in this volume, I don’t know where to start. Constantine, working for some group called the Cult of the Cold Flame, is hopping around the world trying to stop evil magic-users. That’s his thing now.

Frankly, I don’t care. I’ve almost completely lost interest in this series. I’ll stick with the old Vertigo series, that was much better-written, better-drawn, and at least somewhat comprehensible.

This new Constantine is rubbish.

[Dev · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean ...it was great that it wasn't just a bunch of random crossover stuff they crammed together and called a volume *cough*lastvolume*cough* but also I didn't really care about anything that was happening soooo ??? Honestly if I had read this several months ago I think it would have gotten a 3 star rating, but I think I'm just slowly burning out on Constantine stuff - both old and new - so maybe I need to try to take a break or something.

[Gavin · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK well it's better than the last one story-wise, but there's a glaring problem in that there was a huge Cliffhanger that didn't get resolved at the end of the last volume...the start of this volume is the very next issue...I fucking HATE crossovers where they get to the point that you can't go from issue to issue without doing research.

This isn't the way to get me hooked. He's supposed to be with Zatanna, to make him better as a person, yet we don't see her at all. He's just working to turn everyone evil against each other and have them all take each other out so he's left standing and free from the Cold Hand or whatever.

I do think it's hilarious to have one of the bad guys trapped in his soul sword or whatever, but I also think it's ridiculous that he can stop dudes with trinkets he imbues with powers...like coins or a knot in a piece of string...

There's a bit of an exploration of his childhood, where it appears he burned down his house, killing his parents...because he was told to by the voices (who turn out to be one of the Mages/Magic Dudes that he's fighting with/for/against/for shits and giggles). Hmm...what else?

He ends up being ripped apart by 2 spells at once and ending up in some crazy place with Robots...is it Hell, brought to you by Radio Shack? I dunno.

Then there's the Future's End story where Constantine tricks Dr. Fate/Nabu (just the helmet, there's no wearer) into taking itself out. Seems like this version of Fate killed a LOT of people. Funny to have Constantine lecturing someone else about morality, but I guess the whole redemption because of love (for/from Zatanna) makes him a "good-er" character? "more good"? Whatevs.

Anyhow, the art is decent enough, but the story is all over the place and there's so many double triple Kris crosses, I dunno what's up or down or good or evil. Not a great place to jump into a book, even the 2nd volume is a hard place to start (middle of Forever Evil).

I still have Vol. 1 to come in from the library (typical) and I think Justice League Dark would have been a good background, but of course, that's not available...oh well.

Probably give this a miss unless you're really into Constantine...but I feel like if you are, you won't like this version?

[Sean Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the character of John Constantine, but damn are these stories all over the place.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Given how lacklustre I found the first one in this series,( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... )it is perhaps a little strange that I chose to red this #2. But I miss Hellblazer, so it happened.

It is just as derivative and uninspired as the first one. This character, with his vague similarities to John Constantine, has got himself mixed up in this weeks most twibble tewibble magic thing. He predictably gets out of it. More convolutions in the plot do not adequately replace a storyline, regular cameos from Hellblazer do not adequately replace the need for characters.

There are some nice graphics and a few nice elements of plot. An extremely odd sequence where Constantine goes back in time, for no apparently better reason than to give the artist a chance to butcher WWII uniforms. Seriously - what was with those ludicrous pointy helmets??? The most basic google search will give you the shapes of WWII helmets and they have NOTHING in common with the illustrated coneheads...

Anyway, it is what it is. I have read worse books, I found it largely forgettable, even during the reading of it.

[lisa kw · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Issue 13 - “Spellbound”
Little different art style, like it a little more? Mindscape thing is neat. Better, more interesting imagery and art and concepts. Interesting storytelling, using the present and the mindscape to tell the past. Something that they probably should have done earlier, to connect previous continuity with the presentness of a reboot. I thought he went to Hell at the end, though. Like the idea of the metamorphosis before, and how they’re bringing it back, now. Some self-awareness in this issue, but it feels a little false. Also what happened with Zatanna? Is she okay? A lot of this shit was unclear at the end of the last issue, and with how it’s being told thus far, I don’t know if he’s -still- in Hell, or if the comic just skipped ahead and said ‘fuck it’ because that’s what it’s been doing so far. I like how it’s almost a mind heist, and he’s delivering the message to himself, and the Spellbinder at once. Way cool. And something that John singularly succeeds at, the reveal of the magic trick. Sargon, changed for the 3rd time in 13 issues so far, still prefer the middle eastern look of the first one, but this one isn’t bad. Kind of a cool spread. Don’t like the look of John’s face in this one, though. 10 mins. 2.5 stars
Issue 14 - “The Voice in the Fire”
Yet another look, again. Constantine looks a little better, here, though.
Kinda neat.
Feels like the Thaumaton Project machines shit they just capitalized on, and it wasn’t there long enough for it to make that effect, even though it’s a cool idea. It feels like another writer jumping in, But it not, which crazy, because it’s the same writer. It’s like he just didn’t want to do the work.
The art is significantly better in this one, but it’s not amazing.
Appreciate the attempt at showing John’s backstory here in a modern comic, but it could be better.
It’s alright, though.
Was that supposed to be the girl he was with the whole time? That wasn’t super clear, I didn’t even think she had the same name?
Felt kind of cheap.
Kinda liking the knife / Mr. E, almost like a sidekick mystical weapon, could have had a cooler setup, but I like it here, now.
Was able to picture most of the stuff, here, and I appreciated that. Not perfect, but okay.
Pretty good covers here, too.
13 mins. with notes taken
3.25 stars, maybe

Issue 15 - “Fortune’s Friend”
Ah yes, ugly John again.
Last issue he had to hold the knife with a rag, putting distance between him, now he can hold it freely?
Like the description of feeling the furnace heat of the Qilin, made me feel it
Ditto for the “gentle chimes sound and crimson silk banners ripple in the balmy, peony-scented air”.
Engages the senses.
Even though you can see it, it -adds- to it, makes you *feel* it.
Cool spread.
Like the warring concepts of how magic should be spent.
Cool story, starting to get interesting. I want to -know-.
Tannerak finally being cool. Retro, even. 80’s sensibilities, but in a cool way.
Mortal Kombat and stuff.
Still don’t really explain how places on earth have power, or why. I suppose it could just be sort of implied, but that seems weird, there’s a lot of new concepts here, (in Constantine as a whole), and even something as complicated as magic has a mostly simple explanation that it takes sacrifice, so I’d like to know how -places- get magically powerful. Lots of sacrifice, I suppose..
But luck and fortune, though?
As measurable concepts, even having an economy of sorts. I’d like to know more.
Okay ending.
14 mins.
3.5 stars

Issue 16 - “The Gestalt”
Ah, back to the other artist from the Firestarter one.
Definitely, definitely though it was a girl at first, until the last two frames of that first page.
Art kinda caca so far. Below average.
What’s with this Zatanna spell on John, is this new?
It seems new, but also maybe not, could explain this whole new series so far, but it wouldn’t, because he was a super asshole right until right now, and even then I’m not so sure.. and wound that fuck with his character?
I’m not even sure.. maybe it’s time. Character development.
I still like Hellblazer John more, though.
Whaaaat the fuuuck are these guys? Feel super out of place and cheesy so far.
Like the description of the effect it had on him to do the spell, the little cost. Some indigestion? Who knows.
But a neat idea, and I’d like more in line with it.
I like how he’s fighting with his old self and his new self / us.
Kind of creative, but.. I want him to go for it. Just, maybe not with these guys. Because they suck.
I have to ask.. why someone didn’t ‘curse’ John with this sooner? But maybe he only had his guard down around Zatanna, or she was the only one who cared enough to do it to him, and had the ability to, which is kinda sweet.
They’re kinda great for each other.
I like how he’s wood friendly, from the druid blood. Adds a little flavor to him.
Kind of a neat trick, with the door.
A xylomancer, all I’m thinking is that he can magically manipulate or turn other things into xylophones.
John almost made me smile there, when he duped the brothers.
Again, liking tbe descriptions. “Sweating like a pig, now. I need to /steady- myself.”
Cool twist. Thought we were looking for one thing while looking for another, but we got the one we weren’t supposed to find.
Oh wait, so he’s a good guy?
I like that less.
Cool, psychedelic tea.
Or not, not where we’re going, okay.
Wait, he’s trying to get rid of the spell so he can be a shittier person?
I understand -why- he would want to do that, because he’s self-serving and he might get killed this way, but, it feels like it was too soon.
Or, people should have the choice, including him..
Which is.. what they kinda just said. But less good.
Wait, why did Tannarak and Sargon’s stances flip? He was trying to convince her more before, was he not?
Why does he have an attachment to John? I don’t know why it even benefited him in the first place, unless he was planning on building him up and sucking him dry for his power all along…
Ah.. sure. Less good. But sure.
John’s head just exploded?
That’s it?
I know that’s not the end, so it’s like.. why even bother?
That’s so anticlimactic, weirdly, even though it shouldn’t be.
They kinda just really set that up in 2 pages, if that, minus the other little stuff in the other parts, but not really a strong enough connection, and not enough of a visual payout.
24 mins.
2.5 stars

Issue 17 - “Bits and Pieces”
Cool cover
Also glad that they stopped repeating the (at the time bad) cover immediately after it in black and white (didn’t look better) after the color one.
Okay, so. Not dead. As we suspected.
Teleported and made to look like a death, a teleportation. Okay.
WW1, now? Alright. Sure.
Cool plan, wish it fucking happened over the course of the actual thing in real time, but I like it.
Schemer, planner. Strategist. I like it. Ruthless, too. Wagering friends.
Good, reason for him to get back (Julia not being able to take on Sargon without him. Clear goal established).
Ah, mentor.
Kinda losing me a little bit.
And if they’re dead, and they’re fucking with time travel, I feel like he’s just about to undo it, so why even bother with this at all.
But, this is Constantine, at least in name, so, maybe they are dead.
But, I doubt it.
And I feel like it should be a little more impactful if they were to die.
Why waste a shock? But, they have already, several times in this new series so.. who knows.
This is not how you subvert expectations, but I don’t think it’s particularly smart enough for that, here, so, we’re in the same boat we were, earlier.
That it’s not ‘real’, essentially.
Whatever.
“A vibration in the Underverse.” You’ve got to be kidding me.
Ah, yes. Demon robots. Of course.
Ta-da.
Kinda lame, honestly.
That also seemed super short. Like, page-wise.
15 mins.
2 stars

Issue 18? - “Weighing the Heart”
Different art, again.
Future jump. 5 years from -now-, which is not now, but 2019?
Who’s he talking to, himself? The golden mask? Magic mystical helmet? Seems random
Mary works at the library what, at night? And that’s when she gets her coffee break? Where is this library? Never in my life.
Alright, so, magic helmet it is.
Yeah, so just.. fuck whatever it is we were doing before, right? This seems totally relevant.
Oh, the werewolf guy is there, in the picture with the little dudes, and he’s missing an arm? And dead? Wondered that, but it seemed to just “kill” Constantine, otherwise Papa Midnite just murdered a dude (not that he cared), -or- the magic took a sacrifice, like a death, or maybe an arm, but then, it begs the question; What if no one was around Constantine? (Or they knew he was going to the spellbreaker, implying that the Zatanna thing gets retconned, (or at least pushed back further?) and if it is, then why is he even there in the first place? -Or- it took Mr. Werewolf’s arm, (sacrifice) but why’s he in the dead people’s lineup? And where is everybody else?
Or, so these are revived people?
But again, where’s the arm?
And wasn’t Chris and Mohawk girl doomed to death from the start anyway?
Whatever.
And now, Diablo Ex Machina, John’s blaming all of his problems ever on him? But wasn’t it just established that it was Tannerak?
And way to just, say all this, instead of having an issue in-between that showed all of it.
Y’know, -in a visual medium-.
Strangling cowboy guy was bartender guy from before. Sure.
I can’t believe he fell for that like such a chump. And with that face and expression. “No, my arms!” Cheesy.
Next 3 frames are kind of cool, though.
Oh, it’s Fate. Fate is a dude with a mask?
I like the costume, though.
Newer costume, though. Not so much.
I liked the combination.
I kinda like the idea of a mask or costume having a life of its own that you’re fighting against, and using it for. Like using a bad genie, almost.
I like Constantine’s monologue, here.
Pinning.
Nabu “Fate”, okay, whatever.
Who’s Khalid? I guess it’s implied, but still, To the internet we go!
I like the transition with the card at the end, especially that it was real. Genie back in the bottle.
Sort to speak.
Wait, what? One down of -what-? I can tell, or at least I think I can tell tell, that this is a new thing, but what happened to the old one?
What the FUCK is going on here?

27 mins.
2.75 stars
Futures End # 1 (Issue 18?) -
Finished it
95 mins.

Still kind of averaging an 1 hour and a 1/2 per book.
Even with notes.

[Paweł · Rating 2 out of 5]

Problemów z kultem zimnego ognia ciąg dalszy, a w międzyczasie dowiadujemy się trochę o przeszłości Johna.

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the abomination that was vol 2, vol 3 was actually halfway decent.

[devon marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did I miss something? The ending to Vol. 2 did not pick up here or anywhere else in this volume. Ugh.

Good story stuff, though. Except for the superheroes. Still feels very false.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

John nie ma łatwego życia. Będąc na smyczy przywódców Świątyni Chłodnego Płomienia, musi pełnić rolę jakiej nie chciał. Namierza ludzi parających się magią i zastępuje niejakiego Mister E., czyli gościa którego umieścił w Księżycowym Ostrzu (paskuda jakich mało). Przyjemniaczek zajmował się mordowaniem magów, którzy nie chcieli dołączyć do sekty, a która ogłosiła sobie monopol na magię i zmierza do dominacji nad światem w tym zakresie. Szkoda tylko, że album jest nierówny w prezentowaniu treści.

Każdy zeszyt to inny kazus postaci. Na początku zahaczamy o niejakiego Spellbindera. John oczywiście jak to Constantine, rozgrywa własną grę. Niestety odwiedzany mag zna naszego „herosa” i nie zamierza mu nic ułatwiać. Przeciwnie, włamuje się do jego umysłu i serwuje nałogowemu palaczowi chadzającym w prochowcach, całkiem niezłą jazdę poprzez własne lęki i przeszłość, którą wolałby wyprzeć z pamięci. Tyle, że Constantine nie byłby sobą gdyby się do takiego spotkania wcześniej nie przygotował. Sprytna bestia zaaplikowała sobie czar, który robi za swoisty firewall. Zresztą dalej typek też radzi sobie nie gorzej. No może poza kill switchem jaki posiadał Papa Midnight, a który "przyjaciel" Johna opchnął Tannarak'owi i Sargon za własną nietykalność. To będzie miało swoje konsekwencje…

Wycieczka w głąb siebie otworzyła szufladkę w głowie i wyznaczyła kolejny cel podróży Johna. Dom, który się przemieszcza i raczej morduje tego, kto śmie do niego wejść. Cała sprawa ma spory aspekt osobisty, bowiem rzuca inne światło na dzieciństwo cynicznego maga. Zrobi się na tyle poważnie, że John ruszy do Hong Kongu w poszukiwaniu odpowiedzi na kilka pytań. Niestety wizyta u niejakiej Graceful Moon okaże się sporym wyzwaniem, pokraszonym szczyptą chińskiego mistycyzmu. To był najlepszy zeszyt w trzecim albumie. Małpki, smoczek, demon i zasłony. Ma to swój klimat i fajnie wygląda. Niestety dalej już tak fajnie nie jest.

Fabuła przerzuca nas do Niemczech, w poszukiwaniu niejakiego Chirurga. Kultyści Chłodnego Płomienia musieli zdać sobie sprawę z tego, że ktoś tu gra na dwie strony i w poszukiwaniu wąsatego maga wysłali także kilku swoich popleczników. John przekona się na własnej skórze, że granie na kilka stron jest niezwykle bolesne. Dobrze też, że się cwaniaczek przygotowuje na wypadek różnych zajść, choć na to co się tu przydarzy ciężko się w pełni przygotować…

Na moment wylądujemy też w przeszłości i w Afryce na dodatek, gdzie Johnowi przyjdzie na moment pogadać z legendą sztuk magicznych, niejakim Doktorem Occult. Końcówka albumu jest niezła i zaostrza apetyt na ostatni, czwarty tom przygód Constantine w ramach New 52. Szkoda tylko, że większość albumu była zwyczajnie chwilami nudna. Ostatnie strony poświęcono przyszłości w formie Futures End, ale nie była to zbytnio angażująca historia, mimo obecności Hełmu Dr. Fate'a. Mamy tu Anubisa i kolejną "własną" rozgrywkę Johna. Na plus zaliczyłbym ten poboczny wątek z pewnym wąsaczem ze strzelbą.

Całość wygląda porządnie, zwłaszcza jeżeli idzie o czary, ale już takie twarze to czasami wyglądają słabą, za wyjątkiem tych nieco intencjonalnych zmian wynikających z użycia sztuczek magicznych. Bardziej 2.5, ale w żadnym stopniu Constantine nie zasłużył na dwie gwiazdki, więc podciągam.

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where the first post-Blight volume of Justice League Dark felt like it acknowledged that crossover but then mostly ignored the fallout, it feels like this comic basically just doesn't know about it at all. Hell, I think you could skip right from issue eight of Constantine to the start of this volume and not notice anything missing aside from issue numbers.

Just as we left him, Constantine is trying to deal with the Cult of the Cold Flame. Here it seems his plan is mostly to keep playing along with their orders while jumping around the world, gathering temporary allies and powers to help him figure out what to do. A fight inside the mind reveals Zatanna trying to make John a better man, which is a bit closer to Identity Crisis than I'd like. There's also a reveal that one of John's seeming allies has betrayed him, though of course even this is quickly proven to be a double cross. From there, John heads to the American west to deal with a ghost and a surprise from his past. Now determined to discover who's really responsible for the fire that killed his parents, John continues on to Hong Kong and Germany to face more wizards before a spell gone wrong catapults him first to World War I and then into yet another oblivion dimension for a big cliffhanger for the final volume of this run.

Of course that's not actually where things end, as just like volume five of JLD, there's a Future's End five year flashforward issue. It definitely becomes clear why Constantine wasn't with the team in the JLD story, since it'd be hard to tell this story if he were stuck in one of the seemingly endless oblivion worlds. Instead, while his reasons are never made all that clear, Constantine seems to be hunting down and taking out the major players of the magic world. He's up against Doctor Fate, specifically in the form of the helmet that grants the magical powers. Constantine in classic fashion employs some nice slight of hand and trickery to take his opponent down, and it actually feels kinda satisfying to see him tell off the supposed guardian of order. Whereas I was left feeling somewhat meh about the JLD tie in, I actually wish we'd get to see what leads Constantine to this state and what happens after. Of course I'm not going to read Future's End just from this one issue, especially because I'm fairly sure I won't actually get any answers.

So overall this was a perfectly serviceable collection of issues. It doesn't really feel like this is doing anything mindblowing, and I continue to suspect that the original Hellblazer version of Constantine will prove to be much better when I read that. But as a series of stories about a guy having wacky and dangerous magical adventures in the New 52, it's perfectly fine. Certainly better than some of the other stuff I've read from the Dark sector of the New 52. And I admit the summary for the last volume, with Constantine facing a nice version of himself, has me intrigued.

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reprints Constantine #13-17 and Constantine: Futures End #1 (June 2014-November 2014). John Constantine is an unwilling servant of the Cult of the Cold Flame. While working as their agent, John is trying to find a way to work out from under their thumb. With Mister E as his prisoner in the Moonblade, Constantine has a plan…but he could end up taking the strangest trip of his life.

Written by Ray Fawkes, Constantine Volume 3: The Voice in the Fire follows-up Constantine Volume 2: Blight. The collection features art by Juan Ferreyra, ACO, Edgar Salazar, and Jay Leisten. The collection includes Constantine #13-17 (June 2014-October 2014) and the one-shot Constantine: Futures End #1 (November 2014) which is a tie-in to the DC event title Futures End.

Constantine always was a character I felt I technically should have liked. The character is written as an ass, but he’s extremely clever. He has a lot of bad luck despite his cleverness, and every issue of Constantine is essentially him trying to get out of the trouble he helps create. Despite a smart set-up, I always find Constantine a struggle to read.

The volume of Constantine continues the bigger story of the Cult of the Cold Flame which has been running through the New 52’s Constantine storyline. The issues feel like a combination of Doctor Strange’s sorcery and a watered down version of Constantine’s Vertigo Hellblazer series. It isn’t bad, but it is still weird to see Constantine back in the traditional capes and heroes DC universe.

As someone who didn’t read Futures End, the stand alone issue seems like a throwaway. The end of Constantine #17 has a cliffhanger (which is continued in Constantine #18). The collection feels like it should have just ended with that, but you have the additional almost Elseworlds Constantine story to round out this collection…but it holds little interest.

Constantine just doesn’t quite work for me. DC keeps tweaking the character and trying to fit him in as a mainstream character and he doesn’t quite work. I like the character more as a paranormal investigator who might stop by to “help” (or screw) other super-heroes. A limited series here and there wouldn’t be a bad mix, but a continuing, non-Vertigo Constantine title doesn’t seem right. Constantine 3: The Voice in the Fire is followed by Constantine 4: The Apocalypse Road.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Voice in the Fire is the third installment of the New 52 Constantine. While Constantine is off on his assignment by the Cult of the Cold Flame, the two remaining leaders are becoming more in doubt about Constantine's loyalty. The sorcerer's job is to find other mages around the world: New Mexico, Hong Kong & Germany and either recruit them or have them killed. And it turns out, the recruitment is more on joining his secret rebellion to destroy the Cult before they accumulate more power. But even this job does not come easy, as these other mages are stronger than him, so he must remember to also resorts to both his own limited skills with quick wit to overcome them. His rebellion does get interrupted as Constantine is left in a different dimension while his recruits are unable to fully fledge out their plans against the Cult.

Honestly, this volume plays more episodic, in that there is still the overarching story, but these issues are played as if they were on they're own, with little connection outside a few mentions in relations to the arc. And many more characters that seem to come and go. I will say that I did enjoy it still, at least it wasn't like a mix of totally random story plots mashed together like a few other DC volumes I know of. One minor irk for me is that the last issue in this volume is a story that truly is unrelated to previous volumes, and may be more closer to something belonging to the Justice League, though it did mention a time skip towards 5 years into the future. I thought it was weird to include this one, especially since the other issue left on a big cliffhanger, but the story structure was nice, and doesn't leave too much to be open-ended as a closing to this volume.

Another minor irk is the weird shift in turns of the illustrators, each issue taking a turn for one specific artist, before the aforementioned last one that is completely different. That is minor, as I was more just a little visually confused by the changing style in each issue. Though I do say I am fond of Juan Ferreyra's style there. If the volume 2 felt slower-paced, this one evens it out a little bit better for me. Now onto the last installment in John Constantine's New 52 saga!

[Aaron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally Constantine gets a rest from Crossover Mania, having spent the previous, I don't know, 200 years fighting Blight in the Forever Evil spin-off. Now he's back on his own mission, combatting the Cult of the Cold Flame, in what often feels like a decent comic book, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how little it actually works.

This book is structured almost like a heist movie. Constantine, having been forced to join the Cold Flame, is now trying to combat them from within, by secretly recruiting a team of magical oddballs and misfits who all have a role to play in what I'm gonna call a Big Fat Plan. Each new recruit adds a layer of possibility to his final goal, and Fawkes almost pulls this off. Unfortunately, it kind of falls apart the Bigger and Fatter the Plan gets.

The book starts off on the right foot, with Constantine's two-facedness shining as he tries to juggle playing both hero and villain. However, very quickly, even though Fawkes establishes that Constantine has no way out of his Cold Flame servitude, Constantine just starts turning on them left and right, and somehow they have no idea. Supposedly they have tracking spells and eyes on him at all times, which is what made the stakes for the story feel so high and immediate, and all the more impressive when he pulled something off, but once Constantine just starts doing whatever he wants, those fall away in favor of a story where it's just Constantine lying to magical geniuses who don't even seem to once wonder if that's what he's doing. That's pretty weak, and feels like a cop out.

Unfortunately, in addition to this, Fawkes starts falling pretty heavily on a "tell don't show" formula. Constantine just narrates his every move, explaining what every detail means, without allowing the reader to pick up on things or have them gradually revealed. It starts getting pretty tedious towards the end of the book, when it feels like Fawkes maybe ran out of creative steam or something.

Oh well, at least it was ambitious. Also, props to Fawkes for writing the only good Future's End story I've read so far!

[Sami Diaz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t know why I’m still reading New 52 back issues since everyone’s long since disavowed it and they have pretty much no bearing on Rebirth. After this, I think I’m calling it a day. This issue in particular sees the retcon of John’s past - instead of his mother dying in childbirth and his father being a no account alcoholic criminal, John seemed to be a perfectly normal kid who was somehow led astray by a magician and forced to kill both of his parents in exchange for power. Further we have this strange morality cop-out in which somewhere along the line, Zatanna cast a spell on John to “be a better person” and this little earworm has been subconsciously guiding his actions ever since. Constantine has always been a complicated character and this moves him towards a childish conceit of "I have to do good because Zatanna charmed me to.” No wonder everyone hated New 52...

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the events of Forever Evil: Blight I was hoping for more on the Zatanna front. Instead, Constantine is off dealing with the Cult Of The Cold Flame. While it makes sense that he would avoid his issues somewhat it was a letdown. Also, the stories always seemed a little lacking exposition as DC books tend to. There always seemed to be a page missing if that makes sense. The art was good especially some of the trippier pages. Overall, a decent magic adventure that went a direction I was not hoping for.

[Evalyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume of Constantine was a mix of stories that further his plots with the Cult of the Cold Flame and stories that are in this universe but don't fall strictly in the main over arcing events. I really liked it - lots of motivations of actions taken in the previous volume were explained, Constantine's plots within plots were explained. I think the Arson Ghost and the Dr Fate arcs were definitely my favorite to read in this volume.

[Beelzefuzz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally this book is good. I am not sure if the stink of all the crossovers in previous volumes has made this appear better than it is, but I had great fun and did not feel confused or like I needed to read 4 other books to understand the story at any time herein. Based on the tease for next time though, it seems to be going right back into the cross-over crapper.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just read this and couldn't tell you what happened besides "magic stuff". They've completely lost the essence of the Vertigo character with this series. John Constantine is a conman who knows a bit of magic. None of the characters have any motivations besides "I'm evil". The only decent story was the Future's End issue. It was actually the only Future's End story I've even liked. Unlike the other issues in this collection, it actually told a story.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still wouldn't say this series is good, but this volume is at least better than the first two. The story is much easier to follow (after the crossover nightmare that was Blight) and is actually interesting.

[Robert Hudder · Rating 1 out of 5]

I lost the thread of the story and so much seemed like evil lairs and double crosses and the like. Not my cup of tea. Not looking for a superhero comic or some type of cosmic magic clone war... Nope. I'll read the last one in the series but I am glad this one didn't make it out.

[Devero · Rating 1 out of 5]

Altro insieme di episodi facenti parte di Forever Evil. C'è un sacco di confusione anche qui, colori troppo pesanti che mascherano mancanze nel disegno, e si fatica parecchio a mantenere il filo della storia, presto dimenticata.

[Julien V · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slightly better than previous volume, still haphazard and confusing. Story jumps about, and doesn't make you care at all about these superheroes and super villains. Everything feels arbitrary.

Ah, where's the Hellblazer i used to love?

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 2 out of 5]

Things get back on track in this one I guess, but this whole series is looking like it should be skipped. The Cold Flame Story is going to take up this whole series it seems. It gets caught up in yet another cross over in the end.