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Hellblazer (Single Issues)
Hellblazer n. 41
Garth Ennis begins his critically acclaimed run on HELLBLAZER with this issue marking the start of the 6-issue "Dangerous Habits" storyline. John Constantine's fought a lot of evil in his life, but now he faces the one enemy he can't terminal lung cancer!
48 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1991
25 people want to read
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,622 books3,174 followersEnnis began his comic-writing career in 1989 with the series Troubled Souls. Appearing in the short-lived but critically-acclaimed British anthology Crisis and illustrated by McCrea, it told the story of a young, apolitical Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish 'Troubles'. It spawned a sequel, For a Few Troubles More, a broad Belfast-based comedy featuring two supporting characters from Troubled Souls, Dougie and Ivor, who would later get their own American comics series, Dicks, from Caliber in 1997, and several follow-ups from Avatar.
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 23, 2014
"I'm the one who steps from the shadows, all trenchcoat and cigarette and arrogance, ready to deal with the madness. Oh, I've got it all sewn up. I can save you. If it takes the last drop of your blood, I'll drive your demons away. I'll kick them in the bollocks and spit on them when they're down, and then I'll be gone back into the darkness, leaving only a nod and a wink and a wisecrack.
I walk my path alone... who would want to walk with me?"
Reading John Constantine has been an emotional rollercoaster where one always has the power to walk away from the inevitable crash that's coming--and yet, for some reason, one also feels compelled to stay for the ride and hope there is something that can be salvaged. My connection to this character has gotten stronger each issue that it feels as if I've known and loved him in a previous life and I merely forgot about it. And then I'm constantly reminded why I was better off forgetting in the first place every time I turn a page in an issue.
It's the most exhausting and schizophrenic relationship I ever had with a fictional character; on one hand I know that I should hate him but on the other hand I just keep finding a way to forgive him anyway.
Fuck. This.
MOVING ON. This issue marks the first part of the official Dangerous Habits story arc and it's called The Beginning of the End which is exactly what it says on the tin. This is one of those landmark storylines that even that Keannu Reeves movie adaptation added as a subplot. What was that, you ask, in case you never bothered to see the film or just forgot about it because the entire film was shite anyway?
Nothing much. Dangerous Habits just happens to reveal that JOHN CONSTANTINE IS DYING OF LUNG CANCER, WHAT THE FUCK?! The tragi-comic irony about this twist was not lost to our titular hero. It's the first thing he complained about right-off-the-bat. He really thought his death would at least be just as special as the life he lived. Heh. I'd feel the same way if I was living his life. Actually, he and I do share this unique sense of self-entitlement that often makes us believe we are destined for something...not boring. What a tedious way to die, is what John thinks. Cancer!? Shit, son.
Written by Garth Ennis, the issue starts and ends with a less verbose prose than his predecessor's. No metaphors and literary symbolism scattered. The narrative is much more straightforward and I like it. I didn't mind Delano's poetic sentence construction. That element had made a lot of his stories vibrant and hard to put down. But Ennis' style is cleaner, proficient and yet still very distinct in voice and delivery. The plot of this issue serves to illuminate the readers what is the current conflict John has to face this time and that would be his impending mortality. Understandably surly, John Constantine contemplates the last month's events which included his reunion with his dead twin (the most fantastic story Delano has written after The Family Man story arc, personally), which I thought provided him a much needed spiritual closure. But things have not become easier for John at all; this is Hellblazer after all and Constantine is the king of complications.
After finding out that he's dying due to an ailment that doesn't fit a master of the dark arts (sodding cancer, can you imagine? I guess he shouldn't have smoked--thirty bloody sticks a day? WHAT?), John is quite possibly going through the stages of grief for his inevitable demise, and he's at the Denial and Isolation stage. Halfway through the issue, we see him trying to make sense of his situation, visiting clinics and acquainting himself with chemotherapy patients, all the while refusing to accept that this is how it's all going to end. It's...sad. And yet, as a fully-pledged Constantine fan, I myself know he will find a way out of this (well, the series also lasted until 300 issues so it's obvious that he wouldn't die in this story arc). But I try to be in the moment as much as I could and it's really not that hard because Ennis was great in capturing John's tumultuous psyche at the moment, perfectly spelling out how alone John truly is which is why he even befriended a sick, dying old man with the same affliction as has. He's taking whatever comfort he can get and for the first time I did get the sense that he might be too tired to come up with new tricks to outsmart his own fate.
Helplessness is John's enemy now. Nevertheless I know he can turn it around. A large part of him will never stop believing in him. Call me a sucker, but John is, ultimately, my hero.
RECOMMENDED: 8/10
December 28, 2024
All respect to Jamie Delano, because without him there would be no Constantine, but Garth Ennis is my favorite Constantine writer. Absolutely brilliant.
December 26, 2024
Man, it’s insane how much leash they had in the early Vertigo days. 23 pages of Constantine being like “ah man, sucks that I got cancer. Lemme go talk to a few people about how it sucks that I got cancer.” And then 1 page of “nvm it’s actually demon cancer” as the whole hook for Ennis’ debut issue. I’m honestly amazed any of these series worked as monthly issues.
On the real though, I dig the vibes and if I’m sitting down to read a whole arc I probably dig it pretty hard.
On the real though, I dig the vibes and if I’m sitting down to read a whole arc I probably dig it pretty hard.
January 25, 2021
Ennis is off to a cracking start here, hoping he carries it off.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews