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Hellblazer: New Editions
Hellblazer, Vol. 19: The Red Right Hand
The long-running, critically acclaimed occult series continues with JOHN CONSTANTINE: HELLBLAZER VOL. 19: RED RIGHT HAND.
The titular Hellblazer, Constantine is a working-class occult detective and con man stationed in London. He is known for his endless cynicism, deadpan snarking, ruthless cunning and constant chain-smoking.
Constantine discovers he's cursed with empathy for his fellow man as the multi-layered tale races forward. Seeking the origin of the Empathy curse, Constantine and Chris roll into Glasgow in search of Steve Evans, a "massively powerful magician" who is waiting for Constantine. Meanwhile John finds out that there has been a connection between himself and Chris before they even met.
Written by award-winning novelist Denise Mina (Garnethill, Deception, Field of Blood) and illustrated by Leonardo Manco and Christiano Cucina JOHN CONSTANTINE, HELLBLAZER VOL. 19: RED RIGHT HAND is the next installment of the critically acclaimed series.
Collects issues #216-229.
The titular Hellblazer, Constantine is a working-class occult detective and con man stationed in London. He is known for his endless cynicism, deadpan snarking, ruthless cunning and constant chain-smoking.
Constantine discovers he's cursed with empathy for his fellow man as the multi-layered tale races forward. Seeking the origin of the Empathy curse, Constantine and Chris roll into Glasgow in search of Steve Evans, a "massively powerful magician" who is waiting for Constantine. Meanwhile John finds out that there has been a connection between himself and Chris before they even met.
Written by award-winning novelist Denise Mina (Garnethill, Deception, Field of Blood) and illustrated by Leonardo Manco and Christiano Cucina JOHN CONSTANTINE, HELLBLAZER VOL. 19: RED RIGHT HAND is the next installment of the critically acclaimed series.
Collects issues #216-229.
328 pages, Paperback
Published July 10, 2018
16 people are currently reading
284 people want to read
About the author
Denise Mina
109 books2,518 followersDenise Mina was born in Glasgow in 1966. Because of her father's job as an Engineer, the family followed the north sea oil boom of the seventies around Europe
She left school at sixteen and did a number of poorly paid jobs, including working in a meat factory, as a bar maid, kitchen porter and cook.
Eventually she settled in auxiliary nursing for geriatric and terminal care patients.
At twenty one she passed exams, got into study Law at Glasgow University and went on to research a PhD thesis at Strathclyde University on the ascription of mental illness to female offenders, teaching criminology and criminal law in the mean time.
Misusing her grant she stayed at home and wrote a novel, 'Garnethill' when she was supposed to be studying instead.
She left school at sixteen and did a number of poorly paid jobs, including working in a meat factory, as a bar maid, kitchen porter and cook.
Eventually she settled in auxiliary nursing for geriatric and terminal care patients.
At twenty one she passed exams, got into study Law at Glasgow University and went on to research a PhD thesis at Strathclyde University on the ascription of mental illness to female offenders, teaching criminology and criminal law in the mean time.
Misusing her grant she stayed at home and wrote a novel, 'Garnethill' when she was supposed to be studying instead.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
December 19, 2022
Scottish crime novelist Denise Mina takes on the unenviable task of figuring out how much more miserable and alone John Constantine can be in her 12-issue run, collected in Hellblazer Volume 19, “The Red Right Hand”.
What if Heaven or Hell weren’t the only two options? That’s the premise behind Mina’s story, in which an ancient Scottish monastery is hiding a frightening truth about the afterlife: while some people who die go up or down, a few go sideways, to a third place.
Fast-forward almost 2000 years: a guy walks into a bar, where Constantine is sitting, and asks the blue-collar sorcerer for help. The interaction, unfortunately, triggers an unstoppable epidemic of empathy that sweeps through Glasgow, Scotland.
Someone is playing Constantine, and he has to figure out who it is before the whole world is infected with empathy. You wouldn’t think that’s a bad thing, until you realize that empathy—true empathy—-is the ability to feel what others are feeling. And in the most suicidally depressing city in Scotland, things could get pretty ugly…
Even more depressing for Constantine? The city is completely sold out of cigarettes. Fuckin’ ‘Ell.
In what could be one of the darkest Hellblazer stories ever, Mina manages to inject some vital and necessary humor throughout. How can you not grin just a little when, at one point, the salvation of humanity hinges on whether England wins or loses the World Cup? (Mina’s a Scot, by the way, so you can guess who she’s rooting for…)
What if Heaven or Hell weren’t the only two options? That’s the premise behind Mina’s story, in which an ancient Scottish monastery is hiding a frightening truth about the afterlife: while some people who die go up or down, a few go sideways, to a third place.
Fast-forward almost 2000 years: a guy walks into a bar, where Constantine is sitting, and asks the blue-collar sorcerer for help. The interaction, unfortunately, triggers an unstoppable epidemic of empathy that sweeps through Glasgow, Scotland.
Someone is playing Constantine, and he has to figure out who it is before the whole world is infected with empathy. You wouldn’t think that’s a bad thing, until you realize that empathy—true empathy—-is the ability to feel what others are feeling. And in the most suicidally depressing city in Scotland, things could get pretty ugly…
Even more depressing for Constantine? The city is completely sold out of cigarettes. Fuckin’ ‘Ell.
In what could be one of the darkest Hellblazer stories ever, Mina manages to inject some vital and necessary humor throughout. How can you not grin just a little when, at one point, the salvation of humanity hinges on whether England wins or loses the World Cup? (Mina’s a Scot, by the way, so you can guess who she’s rooting for…)
July 6, 2018
3.5 stars.
A little bit of a letdown, and one of the weaker volumes to date.
A little bit of a letdown, and one of the weaker volumes to date.
August 23, 2020
Another great story arc for the series chock-full of classic Constantine dialogue and a wild trip alongside the dangers of empathy.
March 1, 2021
This volume collects Denise Mina's full run on Hellblazer.
I'd read Mina's run before, and at the time, it didn't really connect with me. The story seemed to drag on for too long, and its conclusion felt too cheeky and apocalyptic. However, this time around, I actually liked it a great deal.
It's mystery is engaging, the humour is mostly on point, and I found the conclusion to be quite quite funny and very in keeping with the title's spirit. It drags a bit at times, sure, but ultimelty its a very fun and enjoyable read. I read it in two sittings, and only because i couldn't spare the time to read it in one go.
The artwork by Leonardo Manco is great too, and fits the story very well.
Ity also contains a one-shot written by Mike Carey, who, as allways, graces us with yet another really good JC story.
A pretty fun read for any HB fan.
I'd read Mina's run before, and at the time, it didn't really connect with me. The story seemed to drag on for too long, and its conclusion felt too cheeky and apocalyptic. However, this time around, I actually liked it a great deal.
It's mystery is engaging, the humour is mostly on point, and I found the conclusion to be quite quite funny and very in keeping with the title's spirit. It drags a bit at times, sure, but ultimelty its a very fun and enjoyable read. I read it in two sittings, and only because i couldn't spare the time to read it in one go.
The artwork by Leonardo Manco is great too, and fits the story very well.
Ity also contains a one-shot written by Mike Carey, who, as allways, graces us with yet another really good JC story.
A pretty fun read for any HB fan.
March 23, 2022
Well that’s an interesting saga. Heaven, Hell, and… a Third Place. Mythology certainly goes some interesting places in Hellblazer. I enjoyed it.
Full review with thoughts as I read and pretty (ish) pictures:
https://blog.jverkamp.com/2022/03/21/...
Full review with thoughts as I read and pretty (ish) pictures:
https://blog.jverkamp.com/2022/03/21/...
April 9, 2021
Volviendo a leer Hellblazer, pero en estas nuevas versiones. Este volumen estuvo mejor de lo que lo recordaba.
July 9, 2018
Constantine is many things. Empathetic isn’t usually one of them, at least not on the outside. But when a cursed man begs for his help in ridding himself of unbearable empathy, John unwittingly finds himself at the centre of a magical conspiracy that reaches back to the sixteenth century and could bring the entire world to its knees.
I don’t know Denise Mina as a writer, either from her novels or her comics work. This volume collects her entire Constantine run, and it’s...okay, I guess?
We open with Empathy Is The Enemy, a seven part story that could probably have been told in four issues (always a good start) that spends far too much time bouncing around in the sixteenth century to explain who the villains of the piece are only to have them pull the rug out from under you at the last minute. There are a few cliffhangers that don’t land at all, so issues tend to just...end for no reason, blending the whole story into itself. What makes it worse is that this is all clearly just set-up for the second story of the book, so it’s a bit cheap.
Then there’s a done-in-one story about Constantine’s friend Map that also goes nowhere. It builds up a lot of tension only to diffuse it in one page. Some nice fill-in art by Cristiano Cucina however, a nice blend of Steve Dillon’s clean lines and Marcelo Frusin’s dark expressiveness.
The Red Right Hand is a much better story, taking all of the momentum that the first story arc failed to build and throwing it into overdrive as John deals with the fallout of the Empathy Engine and reunites with some old friends I didn’t expect to see again. The ending is oddly topical right now, and a typical Constantine fake-out with a gut-punch of an ending. These five issues are definitely the highlight of this volume.
Some things that Mina does well include the use of John’s supporting cast and previous Hellblazer stories, drawing on continuity to feed the motivations of the characters going forward, especially Chaz and Gemma, as well as the voice she gives John – he’s sarcastic and cutting, but he’s also not a complete prick, so that makes a nice change. Some writers make him harsher than he needs to be, and Mina walks the fine line well.
Both The Red Right Hand and Empathy Is The Enemy are drawn by Leonardo Manco, who has already enjoyed a sizeable run on the title by this point, so if you’ve read previous volumes you’re in safe hands. His style is very reminiscent of Sean Murphy’s run on the title.
Oh, and bringing up the rear is a one-shot story by Hellblazer veteran Mike Carey which captures the whole ‘magic has a prize’ idea in one short issue about how doing favours often leads to problems. And werewolves, that too. It’s a fun little palette cleanser at the end of the book in preparation for what comes next.
There are much better Hellblazer stories than this. The entirety of the first half of the volume is almost all padding, and the first one-shot story is entirely skippable, but Mina’s grasp of the characters is pretty great, as is the second half of the book.
I don’t know Denise Mina as a writer, either from her novels or her comics work. This volume collects her entire Constantine run, and it’s...okay, I guess?
We open with Empathy Is The Enemy, a seven part story that could probably have been told in four issues (always a good start) that spends far too much time bouncing around in the sixteenth century to explain who the villains of the piece are only to have them pull the rug out from under you at the last minute. There are a few cliffhangers that don’t land at all, so issues tend to just...end for no reason, blending the whole story into itself. What makes it worse is that this is all clearly just set-up for the second story of the book, so it’s a bit cheap.
Then there’s a done-in-one story about Constantine’s friend Map that also goes nowhere. It builds up a lot of tension only to diffuse it in one page. Some nice fill-in art by Cristiano Cucina however, a nice blend of Steve Dillon’s clean lines and Marcelo Frusin’s dark expressiveness.
The Red Right Hand is a much better story, taking all of the momentum that the first story arc failed to build and throwing it into overdrive as John deals with the fallout of the Empathy Engine and reunites with some old friends I didn’t expect to see again. The ending is oddly topical right now, and a typical Constantine fake-out with a gut-punch of an ending. These five issues are definitely the highlight of this volume.
Some things that Mina does well include the use of John’s supporting cast and previous Hellblazer stories, drawing on continuity to feed the motivations of the characters going forward, especially Chaz and Gemma, as well as the voice she gives John – he’s sarcastic and cutting, but he’s also not a complete prick, so that makes a nice change. Some writers make him harsher than he needs to be, and Mina walks the fine line well.
Both The Red Right Hand and Empathy Is The Enemy are drawn by Leonardo Manco, who has already enjoyed a sizeable run on the title by this point, so if you’ve read previous volumes you’re in safe hands. His style is very reminiscent of Sean Murphy’s run on the title.
Oh, and bringing up the rear is a one-shot story by Hellblazer veteran Mike Carey which captures the whole ‘magic has a prize’ idea in one short issue about how doing favours often leads to problems. And werewolves, that too. It’s a fun little palette cleanser at the end of the book in preparation for what comes next.
There are much better Hellblazer stories than this. The entirety of the first half of the volume is almost all padding, and the first one-shot story is entirely skippable, but Mina’s grasp of the characters is pretty great, as is the second half of the book.
Read
February 8, 2021After Mike Carey’s epic run, crime novelist Denise Mina comes aboard to drag John Constantine through the mud. Her run starts well enough in “Empathy is the Enemy,” where John becomes involved in a mysterious religious plot in Scotland. The supernatural happenings are bizarre and interesting, if a little ill-defined. Then “Red Right Hand” - the conclusion - collapses under its own weight with convoluted storytelling and tonally awkward scenes. I really didn’t care for it. John is generally well-characterized, but even he feels off towards the end.
Mina also writes a standalone about Map (inexplicably taking place in London while John is supposed to be in Scotland), which is decent enough. Mike Carey’s short is better, though. It’s a classic Hellblazer romp where John does a series of favors and gets involved with demons. The John Paul Leon art is nice, too. As a whole however, this is one of the weaker (new) Hellblazer collections.
Mina also writes a standalone about Map (inexplicably taking place in London while John is supposed to be in Scotland), which is decent enough. Mike Carey’s short is better, though. It’s a classic Hellblazer romp where John does a series of favors and gets involved with demons. The John Paul Leon art is nice, too. As a whole however, this is one of the weaker (new) Hellblazer collections.
June 5, 2023
First and foremost, the storytelling in The Red Right Hand is top-notch. The plot is engaging, well-paced, and full of suspense. From the very beginning, it draws you in and keeps you hooked until the very end. The narrative unfolds in a way that keeps you guessing, with unexpected twists and turns that leave you eagerly turning the pages to see what happens next.
Furthermore, this volume tackles thought-provoking themes and addresses social issues, adding depth and substance to the storytelling. It explores concepts of power, sacrifice, and the consequences of one's actions. The exploration of moral ambiguity and the gray areas of right and wrong make the narrative all the more compelling and resonate with readers on a deeper level.
Furthermore, this volume tackles thought-provoking themes and addresses social issues, adding depth and substance to the storytelling. It explores concepts of power, sacrifice, and the consequences of one's actions. The exploration of moral ambiguity and the gray areas of right and wrong make the narrative all the more compelling and resonate with readers on a deeper level.
April 21, 2021
Author Denise Mina delivers here with two great stories with the help of artist Leonardo Manco whom takes the stories to the next level. Quintessential Hellblazer here.
June 22, 2020
This is a weak, albeit mildly entertaining, attempt at an extensive Constantine arc by crime writer Denise Mina. Most of the fourteen stories in this compilation revolve around the same plot.
Empathy-seeking-and-draining ghouls are on the loose and John improbably meets a guy that’ll convince him to -more inexplicably- take a roadtrip with him to Scotland so they can solve a murder mystery. (One could be forgiven for confusing them with Harry Potter dementors-and they’re pretty much as scary as those rated-PG phantasms.) That meet-up in London sadly isn’t the last non-sequitur, either.
And that’s partly the thing with this compilation volume. It relies too much on luck, it’s too on-the-nose-crime-procedural (many authors have tried to make the magus into a detective, admittedly-but this is a predictably superficial affair), and it reeks of DC-style superhero crisis which will obviously be solved in the end. A World Cup involving England resolves the crisis in the climax, incidentally. Mike Carey, and others close to this 2007 edition, began upping the ante, taking the street-level wit and grit and gore of Constantine into ever-larger stages and crises. It was understandable, I suppose. And it explains a great deal of the current John-Constantine-as-a-causal-mate-of-Batman-and-Dr-Fate comics Hellblazer-present in current New 52 titles. But, in my finest Comic Book Guy opinion, it ain’t the Newcastle Mage.
One understands the marketing behind this reasoning (hell, Vertigo doesn’t even exist anymore). And it probably wasn’t Mina’s fault, but a Vertigo-DC editorial decision. However, it sadly explains today’s state of comic books (and no, this is NOT a dig against comics being thankfully more diverse now).
Interestingly, the last stand-alone “chapter,” penned by Mike Carey (With a Little Help From My Friends) shows how Constantine is still relevant, compelling and, crucially, interesting, in the Twenty-First Century.
Empathy-seeking-and-draining ghouls are on the loose and John improbably meets a guy that’ll convince him to -more inexplicably- take a roadtrip with him to Scotland so they can solve a murder mystery. (One could be forgiven for confusing them with Harry Potter dementors-and they’re pretty much as scary as those rated-PG phantasms.) That meet-up in London sadly isn’t the last non-sequitur, either.
And that’s partly the thing with this compilation volume. It relies too much on luck, it’s too on-the-nose-crime-procedural (many authors have tried to make the magus into a detective, admittedly-but this is a predictably superficial affair), and it reeks of DC-style superhero crisis which will obviously be solved in the end. A World Cup involving England resolves the crisis in the climax, incidentally. Mike Carey, and others close to this 2007 edition, began upping the ante, taking the street-level wit and grit and gore of Constantine into ever-larger stages and crises. It was understandable, I suppose. And it explains a great deal of the current John-Constantine-as-a-causal-mate-of-Batman-and-Dr-Fate comics Hellblazer-present in current New 52 titles. But, in my finest Comic Book Guy opinion, it ain’t the Newcastle Mage.
One understands the marketing behind this reasoning (hell, Vertigo doesn’t even exist anymore). And it probably wasn’t Mina’s fault, but a Vertigo-DC editorial decision. However, it sadly explains today’s state of comic books (and no, this is NOT a dig against comics being thankfully more diverse now).
Interestingly, the last stand-alone “chapter,” penned by Mike Carey (With a Little Help From My Friends) shows how Constantine is still relevant, compelling and, crucially, interesting, in the Twenty-First Century.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2024
Constantine must confront empathy in this interesting meta story. A mysterious cult contacts Constantine via a man who is the victim of an empathy spell. He feels the emotions and pain of everyone he is coming into contact with, diving him mad. So Constantine helps him get rid of it and begins backtracking to see who set him up.
This was very interesting soft-reboot/sequel of Constantine's story. He gets back into the game and reconciles with Chas and Gemma, resetting the status quo. Aside from taking John past his perfect ending, this was a pretty good story. I like how the initial villain manipulating events undergoes a redemption arc and is an ally for the second half of the story. I like the ties into the book of Enoch and the overall trickery of John and the antagonist. The character work really shines, especially as we get further into the story. Plus the twist ending that saves the day was pretty great.
There were a couple filler arcs thrown in that were also pretty fun, one involves Map hiring John to deal with some urban legends that have come to life, which I enjoyed seeing these semi-obscure facets of English culture come to life. The other involves John being caught in a plot between sisters and manipulating the true baddie from the get go.
Overall, this was a fun story that hits you in the feels while also examining what "feels" are. Not bad for a post-finale story.
This was very interesting soft-reboot/sequel of Constantine's story. He gets back into the game and reconciles with Chas and Gemma, resetting the status quo. Aside from taking John past his perfect ending, this was a pretty good story. I like how the initial villain manipulating events undergoes a redemption arc and is an ally for the second half of the story. I like the ties into the book of Enoch and the overall trickery of John and the antagonist. The character work really shines, especially as we get further into the story. Plus the twist ending that saves the day was pretty great.
There were a couple filler arcs thrown in that were also pretty fun, one involves Map hiring John to deal with some urban legends that have come to life, which I enjoyed seeing these semi-obscure facets of English culture come to life. The other involves John being caught in a plot between sisters and manipulating the true baddie from the get go.
Overall, this was a fun story that hits you in the feels while also examining what "feels" are. Not bad for a post-finale story.
June 21, 2025
After the stellar run by Carey, this volume was underwhelming to say the least. A serviceable story is saved somewhat by the artwork, but tbh this has been one of the weakest collections in the series so far.
November 10, 2020
2.5 stars. Just a very bland story.
November 30, 2020
A new writer, but I still enjoyed it.
April 5, 2021
Best volume of Hellblazer so far.
December 29, 2021
Denise Mina had a tough act to follow, but does a pretty serviceable job in her short run. It’s a little derivative or repetitive of some previous stories, but it has some unique ideas.
August 23, 2022
I'm glad they repaired the relationship with Chas that was broken in the previous book, but otherwise I hated this
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 18, 2023
An interesting plot line that didn’t quite live up to it’s potential and one issue that seemed totally out of place. I did like the focus on Scotland though.
September 22, 2023
Good solid book.
The good fortune continues worth this one.
Great stories, interesting characters and good artwork with some inconsistencies here and there.
The good fortune continues worth this one.
Great stories, interesting characters and good artwork with some inconsistencies here and there.
June 2, 2024
Entro lo ridículo, lo cínico, lo morboso y lo fascinante, como tiene que ser Hallblazer. Un poco torpe el argumento por momentos. Me encanta la anglofobia, para algo elijo esta saga (?
October 25, 2021
actual rating: 2.5
Rounding this up because I think it was an interesting idea and also very different than a lot of other Hellblazer arcs [which I appreciate, these all really blend together after awhile] but I also found it fairly confusing at times and it just couldn't keep my attention so that's why it gets the technical 2.5 stars. Not the worst volume of Hellblazer by any means but also not the best.
Rounding this up because I think it was an interesting idea and also very different than a lot of other Hellblazer arcs [which I appreciate, these all really blend together after awhile] but I also found it fairly confusing at times and it just couldn't keep my attention so that's why it gets the technical 2.5 stars. Not the worst volume of Hellblazer by any means but also not the best.
November 17, 2018
This book brings a new author to the mix, Denise Mina. It contains her full Hellblazer run and it's a single long story spread over 13 issues (there are also two issues to pad out the book that are not part of the main story). Constantine decides to stop using magic because it only makes everything worse for him in the end. Coming to some bar he soon meets a guy he likes suffering from a weird problem of being overly empathic to people's emotions and there you go, let's help a bloke out with some magic and make some new problems for ourselves. The story is good and I liked it all including the somewhat humorous ending. My problem is with the art. It is by the artist I've been praising in the previous book, Leonardo Manco, but, alas, his drawing is not up to the par. Everything is sketchy and backgrounds are full of filtered photographs. Minus one star for that.
August 6, 2018
Denise Mina's run starts well, with an interesting mystery and a classic old-school Hellblazer feel, before going off the rails in the second half and into a weak denouement which ditches personal horror for some cosmic malarkey centred around a rather weak joke. Great art by Manco, though. 4/5 for the first half, 1/5 for her second, and 5/5 for the last chapter, the single shot issue 229 "With a little help from my Friends" by Mike Carey.
July 19, 2018
Hm, a bit lackluster for Hellblazer. The shorts were better than the main, in a way
August 18, 2018
Carey’s one off at the end was the best bit. The rest was okay but definitely not tops.
December 3, 2018
Not as good as the last few volumes, but still better than a lot of other graphic novels in this genre.
July 3, 2019
Not the best of JC
August 31, 2019
Interesting idea for Hellblazer. Infect John Constantine with empathy.
There are some good moments in this volume, including the fate of the world depending on the outcome of a football game.
There are some good moments in this volume, including the fate of the world depending on the outcome of a football game.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews