The Hellblazer, Volume 2: The Smokeless Fire

The Hellblazer (2016)

by Simon Oliver, Pia Guerra (Illustrator)

The City of Light is a world away from John Constantine's regular stomping grounds in the Old Smoke, but the two erstwhile imperial capitals have more in common than you might think. They're both among the oldest and grimiest burgs in Europe; they're both centers of political and economic power; and now, following the arrival of the infamous street-level sorcerer known as the Hellblazer, they're both potentially ground zero for the kind of magical Armageddon not seen since the days of King Solomon.

All across the Ile-de-France, from the winding streets of her charming arrondissements to the crime-plagued towers of her gritty banlieues, Constantine leads his allies and enemies alike on a desperate search for a Djinn, a journal, and the dark, long-buried secrets that bind them together.

At long last, England's greatest magus is closing in on the prize he's chased across the Channel. But once he has it in his grasp, will he discover he's too good a man to use it? Or will the climactic confrontation ignite an infernal fire in the Hellblazer's heart?

Find out in THE HELLBLAZER VOL. 2: THE SMOKELESS FIRE, the latest tale of mystical intrigue rising from the pages of DC's blockbuster Rebirth event--as detailed by acclaimed author Simon Oliver and celebrated artists Davide Fabbri, Philip Tan and Jose Marzan Jr.! Collects issues #7-12 of the ongoing series.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Horror, Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2017

About the author

Simon Oliver was hatched in South London in 1969. Since that date he has consistently strived for mediocrity in a number of fields of employment, from cooking at the legendary Hacienda Club of Manchester in the late 1980's, scuba diving instructor in the planet's more tropical climes, to a career as a camera assistant in Hollywood. With such a spotty and heterogeneous employment record is seemed only fitting that the comic book would industry welcome him with open arms in 2005 for his writing debut in THE EXTERMINATORS.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a waste of time! Six issues of John and Mercury walking around Paris asking people if they've seen a missing journal. The story set up by the Swamp Thing appearance in the first volume isn't advanced at all. This is 6 issues of treading water. The horror element of the long running Vertigo book is completely missing. The villains get very little screen time or character building. They're just paper cutouts of a despicable movie villain.

Phillip Tan's art should in no way appear in a Hellblazer comic. It's not bad, but I don't think anyone wants to see a Hellblazer anime; it was just really out of place here. Then we move on to Davide Fabbri whose art looks like it belongs in a European indie comic. It's static and cartoony with poorly drawn faces. The coloring wasn't any better. The colorist tried to make up for the lack of detail in Fabbri's art, but it just came off looking amateurish.

This is the first truly awful comic to appear out of Rebirth.

[Dev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the first volume - I feel like they kind of forgot what they were trying to do with the plot for awhile - but I still enjoyed it. I guess if you are one of those people that are like 'I would watch [X] read the phone book and still enjoy it' - which I am a lot of the time, I am much more of a character than plot person - then you probably won't really mind this, but if you're just wanting to know what's going with the Swamp Thing plot line then you're going to be very disappointed. I personally still found enjoyment watching John and Mercury run around Paris not accomplishing very much, but I can understand why a lot of people wouldn't. I do wish they would stop changing artists and also stop picking artists whose art doesn't fit the mood of the comic at all though. There was one issue that looked like anime watercolors and it was bizarre.

Some highlights:


#bigmood


poking some fun at John's JLD run as well as Swamp Thing


I'm just always excited to see the new design for Papa Midnite because while John always looks the same, Midnite always looks totally different and awesome


Seriously the alternate covers for this run are so amazing. This one has been my phone background since like October.


John Constantine's weird day at the beach part 2, unfortunately not featuring any ridiculous pink sunglasses :(

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 2 out of 5]

[Read as single issues]
This series had such a strong start, and yet here we go with volume two, where things all fall apart.

Okay, quick version. John meets up with Mercury, a psychic teenager from his original Hellblazer run, to try and find a djinn who could help him do...something. It's not clear. Whatever. Along the way, a group of magical nasties get involved, Swamp Thing is still looking for Abby (and I don't think this plot is going to get resolved any time soon), and there's also a thief character and...I've lost interest.

This volume is all over the place. The story seems to have no point to it, and doesn't seem to serve any narrative other than letting Constantine comment on weird things and have a floating shoe. It's making me angry thinking about it, and that's never a good thing.

Also the art takes a tumble when Phillip Tan leaves after two issues for a more pedestrian style from an artist I can't even remember. This volume is a mess.

I will say however that it's worth getting through this volume, because volume 3 is already promising to be the most Vertigo-like Hellblazer since...well, the Vertigo Hellblazer. Either force yourself through this or just skip it entirely, but definitely come back for volume 3. Trust me.

[Ola G · Rating 1 out of 5]

1/10 stars

Just as horrible as the previous one. I'm officially done with Rebirth's Constantine. Now excuse me, I'm going to the corner to weep over the fate of the trees felled for this absolutely useless, criminally boring piece of... scrap paper.

[Frédéric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Constantine and Mercury are in Paris to find a book supposed to give them insight on Djinns and stuff.

For.6.long.issues.

So our dynamic duo goes on a wild goose chase that Oliver desperatly try to fill up with carboard cutouts (Dante, the small time hood that'd do anything for his lil' sister), contrived and pointless situations (the lupines) when they're not overtly ridiculous (the flying sneaker, Dante waving a gun in the middle of the street without anybody reacting). Not to mention a sometimes off pacing (the scenes with Mercury and the Djinn are very poorly included) and an obscure conclusion.
It's your classic chase all over again but all over the place and without anything to up the ante. Constantine got his witty humor back and that's cool but it's not nearly enough.

Artwise it's not better: Philip Tan is not exactly suited, too cartoony, and Fabri's style is non-existent.

This volume is disappointment, I just hope it leads toward something bigger, louder and hopefully better.

[Mik Cope · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slightly better than the first volume, but that isn't saying much. As plenty of people have pointed out, some nice ideas, but filling six issues with this storyline was basically insulting the reader.

[Wing Kee · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit better but not by much.

World: The art is much better, not a fan of the manga style but way better than the last arc that's for sure. I don't see the detail and the power of the magic in this book and it's disappointing (I'm also reading Mignola's BPRD and it's so much more beautiful). The world building is solid and a continuation of what came before. The legacy characters from before are missing, like Chas, but building towards the bugger Djinn story is nice.

Story: A lot more coherent than the last arc but loses a bit of the John internal monologue for the sake of story. I still don't think it's written well and the villain and all the cogs are a but of a mess. It's okay but this is not classic Hellblazer.

Characters: John is fine this arc, not much development and much reacting this arc. Mercury also but her side story does give me some interest. The villain is still fairly half baked and motivations and menace do not really land.

It's okay, not as bad as the last arc but not that great either.

Onward to the next book!

*read individual issues*

[Jenny Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art was better in this one for sure. The plot is still just ok though. It kinda drags in all honesty.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the fence on this one. Although I think Oliver is a pretty good writer, full of witty dialog and interesting scene setups, this collection drags a good bit. It's six issues of Constantine and his companion running around Paris looking for an old book, with flashbacks of what the book is kinda about. It's rather over long, to be honest. If the idea was to make this a six issue story, there is a lot more that Constantine could be doing to make it zippy and worth the read. Over all it's not a bad story, it's just needed quicker pacing.

The art is rather clean and simple, and although Moritat's art in the previous book had a certain European comic feel to it, this art does not. It's almost too clean looking for a "horror" book starring John Constantine. In fact, it's downright cartoony in spots. Riley Rossmo's art on the DCYou Constantine book was fantastic, but this art is just forgettable, except for the covers.

The Rebirth Constantine series is a hell of a lot better than the New 52 shitstorm, but Oliver seems a bit off in this volume. Hope he tightens the reins a bit better next time.

[Hugo Emanuel · Rating 2 out of 5]

It pains me to give a two star rating to an Hellblazer volume that actually features decent dialogue, and a decently faithfull depicition of Constantine in the style of the original Vertigo books.
But the plot is unforgivably aimless and dull. A globetrotting adventure, with head-scratching choices like JC and Mercury running around Paris chasing a flying shoe.

I could somewhat forgive all that nonsense, and bump it up to three stars, if not for the fact that the story simply does not conclude anywhere else. Not in the next Hellblazer volume, nor anywhere else I know of. The Djinn's are never stopped, Abby Arcane is never found, we don't know what happens to Mercury. We can just assume. It just stops abruptly. And the next volume does not touch on any of that. Its extremely frustrating.
I cant understand why the writer would choose 12 issues of a meandering plot that barely advanced, only to not write a proper ending.

As for the artwork, it' a bit shit as well. We have Philip Tan during the first two issues turning Hellblazer into aninem looking characters; and some Fabri guy who draws very amateurishly. Dc really didn't give a toss about this title, did they? Why even do it, then?

I'm told vols 3 and 4 are better, and feature a different writer. Well, if the stories conclude, it puts those books quite a few notches above the first two.

What a bloody dissapointment. I am being generous with these two stars, to be honest.

[Jess]

Moral of the story is that I'm not really interested in Constantine without Swampy or Zatanna and this book was giving me neither, so I'm out.

[Alex Sarll]

The third best John Constantine solo series continues, with him in Paris on the trail of a MacGuffin to halt the genies' scheme. It all passes the time pleasantly enough, but seems to take ages to go not very far and not really tell us anything new - and once Tan's off art after the first two issues, the longueurs aren't even all that atmospheric (there are some lovely covers, mind). In so far as it has a theme, it's John losing his edge, encapsulated in Mercury's question "You ever afraid that you might just have turned into that sad wanker in the pub?" But this might have had more resonance asked in a series not buggered about by reboots, where he still looked suitably craggy rather than only mildly worn, and where Papa Midnite hadn't just had an embarrassing Blade-esque makeover.

[0rd3r · Rating 2 out of 5]

La censura de palabras malsonantes sustituyéndolas por simbolitos (calaveras, pentagramas) atenta contra el espíritu de Hellblazer. El protagonista ha pasado de ser un carismático personaje, del que no te puedes fiar porque no le importa engañar para conseguir lo que necesita, a ser un personaje del que no te puedes fiar porque es torpe y la magia le sale mal. Es un chiste de personaje, si la cosa sigue así me descolgaré de la colección.
En cuanto al dibujo, la primera parte dibujada en estilo “manga” no tiene la tinta bien definida, incluso algo difuminada y no se aprecian detalles de las caras, no sabes si el personaje tiene la boca abierta y se ven los dientes o está cerrada y lo que se ve son los labios, por poner un ejemplo. Las portadas son lo único que se salva del cómic.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 2 out of 5]

After a great first volume of the new Hellblazer, this second volume is very disappointing, in large part just because it's boring. Basically, this volume is a 6-issue long MacGuffin quest, where John (and Mercury) go searching and searching for a book that's always just beyond their grasp. The story of the Djinn has become the backstory that this MacGuffin quest is built upon, but all the interesting mythology of the previous volume is gone. Then, the ending is pretty much a non-ending; it feels like this whole volume was a lot of water-treading intending to set up a different status quo for volume 3.

Meh.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, this is.....not good. The writing is pretty bad; it features extremely corny lines, dialogue that's been said a million time before, and unoriginal, unexciting plot points. The art is mediocre throughout. Still, the volume as a whole isn't flat out awful. But the thing is, I can respect something awful. At least that'll make you angry or laugh or something. With a mediocre book all you can do is shrug your shoulders and move on. A mediocre book is the worst kind of book you can waste your time on, really. And that's why this volume is so bad.

[Juan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I stuck around for two arcs and this is just garbage. The Swamp Thing portion from Volume 1 was almost completely forgotten and left unanswered. We learn a little bit more about the Djinn plan but even that feels like got thrown in the back burner and hardly a factor at the climax of this volume. By the end, I felt more angry with the direction of this title.

[Alex E · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know, I really wanted to like this, really did, but it falls short of my expectations of what a book with John Constantine as the lead should be.

The setting is Paris, which actually makes for a wonderful backdrop for a Constantine book. I really liked the art by Phillip Tan, who gives Paris a dream like quality, and a soft light throughout the book. He has a painted illustration style that looks great especially when some magical things start happening in the book. Tan does the first half of this book, while the other half is done by Davide Fabbri, who's art is more traditional. Which is not to say it is bad, but after the art of Tan, does seem like it is a step down, art-wise.

Oliver's Constantine is the major gripe I had with this book. He is not Constantine ENOUGH if that makes sense. I read the original Hellblazer run, and if you have too, then you know Constantine is very gritty, crass, and just kind of a dick all around. And while Oliver's Constantine has flares of the old personality type, for the most part it feels like he is "Constantine light". "Diet Constantine" if you will. I don't know if this is DC dictating to turn down the more "assholey" aspects to his character, or if it was Oliver himself who decide to write him a bit more tamely, but it just rings untrue to the character himself. Couple that with some unexplained plot points in the book, and it becomes kind of a slog to read through.

I would say check this out if you haven't read the original run.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Auć, Constantine zalicza dosyć bolesny zjazd, trafiając na listę najgorszych serii w ramach DC Rebirth.

Początek wbrew końcowej ocenie jest niezły. John wraz z Mercury w poszukiwaniu informacji o dżinach, ląduje w Paryżu. Cel: pewien starzec będący w posiadaniu pewnej książki. Takie lekkie nawiązanie do "Dziewiątych Wrót" z Deppem. Szkopuł w tym, że na domostwo staruszka ktoś zaplanował włam w celu rabunku. Tak poznajemy Dante i zaczyna się zabawa w kotka i myszkę, gdzie Constantine aby znaleźć trop za złodziejami, używa trampka i magii...

Troszkę głupio, ale kreska Philipa Tana naprawdę robi tu robotę, skutecznie tusząc braki w fabule i zwyczajną nudę. Po dwóch pierwszych zeszytach chciałem dać trzy, a nawet cztery gwiazdki. Niestety potem mamy zmianę rysownika, a wyobraźnia Pana Olivera zaczyna zakręcać w niezbyt atrakcyjne rejony, choć swoje momenty ma jak sielska pogawędka dziecka z opiekunką, a zaraz potem się coś dzieje. Autor miał pomysły i je widać, ale nie wypaliło ich przedstawienie. Co widać zwłaszcza po całym wątku powiązanym z przeszłością, jaka została zapisana na łamach poszukiwanej księgi.

Tym bardziej szkoda, bo ten tom miał zadatki na coś więcej. Momentami był piękny, miał momenty (kwestia polityka i anioła plus może jeszcze los bezdomnych), ale zwyczajnie momentami wiało nudą. Szkoda mi postaci Mercury, bo coś się tutaj wokół niej dzieje, ale niezbyt szczególnie mnie to interesowało. I rozczarowująca końcówka. 2/5

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Constantine and Mercury head to Paris to locate the journal of Jacque Henry, in order to find out more about the D'Jinn. This entire graphic novel is pretty much the search for the McGuffin of Henry's journal. The flashbacks tell the story of Henry's journey in the Arabian desert where he encountered the D'Jinn and saw the aftermath of the D'Jinn killing his mate on the same journey. Constantine and Mercury follow leads, fall into traps, and escape while getting closer and closer to the journal. The journal, it turns out, is being guarded by Dante who is guardian to his young sister, Samantha. The D'Jinn go after Dante, but he escapes with Sam and they also go on the run.
Constantine and Mercury eventually meet up with Dante and Sam, but they are followed and confronted by a D'Jinn. Constantine sacrifices himself so Mercury can take the journal, and escape with Dante and Sam. And, of course, Constantine isn't actually killed by the D'Jinn - he somehow manages to escape, happy to no longer be on the trail of the journal.
Although the summary seems pretty simple, Constantine The Hellblazer is a great book, and this volume, part of DC's Rebirth line is no exception. I read this story twice and really enjoyed it. I look forward to the next volume.

[Nicole Westen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I feel about Papa Midnite's make-over in this volume. I mean, on the one hand I like it cuz it looks really cool, basically like DC's version of Blade. But that also doesn't really jive with the Papa Midnite character I know. In the Hellblazer universe magic is portrayed as a way to get obscene amounts of money and power without having to work for it. Also as a way of doing any meaningful work. In the original Hellblazer, Papa Midnite was portrayed as the epitome of this, with all worldly and material pleasures/gains. He was basically a supernatural godfather, hence the 'Papa' Midnite. He's not the kind of person to do his own dirty work. So, I'll wait and see what happens. As long as they're consistent with the character changes, I won't mind. But I just hope they'll drop the 'Papa' if they change his character from godfather to badass and just go with Midnite. Because otherwise it comes off as kinda skeevy.

[Peter Derk · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one's mostly about chasing after a book that we don't really know what it does.

Gotta be honest, I work in a library and I have more exciting stories about chasing down books than this.

Okay, that's not true. I just, if we're chasing a magic object for this long, I think I want to know the stakes a little more. How important is it? And what are we going to do when we get it? It's like, imagine if at the beginning of Indiana Jones, he stole that idol, but then the boulder didn't happen and Alfred Molina didn't get impaled, and Indy didn't run to a plane, and mostly he just walked around London, and then we saw some other guys walking around London.

Imagine a thing that's nothing like Indiana Jones, is what I'm saying, and I'm saying that a story of artifact recovery that's nothing like Indiana Jones may be making some mistakes.

[Robert Hudder · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was upset with the first volume and just so I don't appear to be one of those -- they don't do it right anymore. I like the old JC better...

Well, there are some good bits in this volume. I do like the underlying story of the Djinn. It does feel a little Bilderburg but at least it is an interesting story. Throwbacks to the old series are in here and reminds me of some of the good old days.

There is a plotline involving a petty thief that is starting to feel a little more socially relevant and with nuance. Starting to feel a bit more real. Though, the flying shoe and some other stuff brings it crashing down to --not JC--.

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by the first volume of this run, but this one dropped the ball hard. The art in the first two issues by Phillip Tan is quite good, but perhaps the most egregious mismatch of an artist and story I can recall, a terrible editorial blunder. I’m afraid it doesn’t get much better from there. The story spins it’s wheels in bizarre fashion, with Constantine and Mercury literally chasing a shoe for the better part of the book. Too many sub plots drug the story to a crawl, all for it to end in a clearly unplanned but deserved cancellation.

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok, but nothing more. Simon Oliver is essentially here writing 6 issues of filler, though at times entertaining filler. He has a good ear for dialogue too, and I think he gets Constantine’s banter right most of the time. Sometimes a tad too much dialogue though. The art is ok, but 4 different artists is too jarring, and overall the art isn’t particularly suited to this character. It is too mainstream and superhero like to work.
So, a mixed bag but I’d recommend. Just.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

The interesting backstory about Djiin being uncovered in the early 20th century is wasted amid a confused story and confusing storytelling, and all of it debased with out-of-character and frankly offensive political attacks on British policies (at least marginally understandable for a British character) and American ones (inexplicable except for author bias with a British lead and a story set in France).

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't a good book. Author Simon Oliver forgets plot points along the way, beats points into the ground, and struggles to make John likeable while keeping him himself. The antagonists continue to be bland and somehow pointless while also having unbelievable power. Mercury could be interesting but Oliver doesn't do enough to let her shine. The art was fine but nothing could save the terrible plot/script combo. Overall, this has been an unlikable run.

[Joe Whitfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not that Hellblazer vol 2 is bad, it's just the story ambles along at a slow place. Across 6 issues, Constantine has an identity crisis as well as trying to track down a diary. Quite why the team dragged this out for so long is anyone's guess but the good ground work that was made from the first volume didn't really go anywhere here.The artwork though is great.

[Christopher Gray · Rating 1 out of 5]

These are just bad Hellblazer stories.

I gave it to two and I am done with this series and this author.

Less political commentary and more story next time and you may have been able to keep me going.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still think this needs some more magic, cos thats Constantine's whole thing, but this isn't a bad series so far. Just not especially mind-blowing. It's adequate, there's some pretty good dialogue, John is honestly a mood. I want more from it, so I'll probably continue.

[Alexandra Winkler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Graphics are gorgeous!


Constantine 's character is really clear and we'll developed in this one. He's funny and easy to understand. You start to get gain an understanding between his somewhat sub par abilities and his human determination.