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Hellblazer (Single Issues) #41-50, 52-83, 129-131
Hellblazer by Garth Ennis Omnibus
Written by Preacher co-creator Garth Ennis, Hellblazer by Garth Ennis Omnibus Vol. 1 collects the game changing stories that breathed new life into the fan favorite character, John Constantine.
John Constantine is dying. As a sorcerer literally haunted by the demons of his past, John is no stranger to mystic bedevilment or supernatural horror. But it's his chain smoking that ultimately brings death to Constantine's front door. Between this, and investigations of a grisly serial murderer and strategies against the Lord of Hell, there is no rest for the wicked. Especially when your name is John Constantine.
Written by Garth Ennis (Preacher, Punisher MAX) with art by fan favorites Steve Dillon (Preacher, Punisher MAX) Hellblazer by Garth Ennis Omnibus Vol. 1 brings together Ennis' entire run for the first time!
Collects Hellblazer #41-50, #52-83, #129-133, Vertigo Jam #1, Hellblazer Special #1, Vertigo: Winter's Edge #2, & Heartland #1.
John Constantine is dying. As a sorcerer literally haunted by the demons of his past, John is no stranger to mystic bedevilment or supernatural horror. But it's his chain smoking that ultimately brings death to Constantine's front door. Between this, and investigations of a grisly serial murderer and strategies against the Lord of Hell, there is no rest for the wicked. Especially when your name is John Constantine.
Written by Garth Ennis (Preacher, Punisher MAX) with art by fan favorites Steve Dillon (Preacher, Punisher MAX) Hellblazer by Garth Ennis Omnibus Vol. 1 brings together Ennis' entire run for the first time!
Collects Hellblazer #41-50, #52-83, #129-133, Vertigo Jam #1, Hellblazer Special #1, Vertigo: Winter's Edge #2, & Heartland #1.
1352 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1998
39 people are currently reading
310 people want to read
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,628 books3,182 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 - 30 of 33 reviews
November 5, 2022
Ever met the stranger? Or the baron? Or doctor... shit, what's his name... Well, whatever, there's loads of bloody doctors (...) they're all total space-cases, if you ask me.
Ennis' character defining run on Hellblazer explores what makes Constantine Constantine and it's arguably one of the best character studies in American comics. As Ennis peels away he layer's of Constantine's personality by way of his relationships to his friends, his lovers, and his enemies, a picture emerges of a deeply flawed staunchly anti-authoritarian selfish bastard, who pisses everyone off, including the devil, and desperately tries to fix his own mistakes, but often at a very high cost to himself and others.
This is not for the faint of heart. Via Constantine, Ennis constantly takes a piss at magic, religion, the police, and people from the higher echelons of society, including the royal family. It's a satyrical crime book more than anything, but it's also about the UK and Belfast. Yes, it gets bloody and gorey, ultra-violent and political, there's a lot of British-style self-deprecating humour, but it's also deeply emotional. The best bits are the slice-of-life scenes and the stories dealing with Constantine's relationship with Kit. Brilliant stuff.
Ennis' character defining run on Hellblazer explores what makes Constantine Constantine and it's arguably one of the best character studies in American comics. As Ennis peels away he layer's of Constantine's personality by way of his relationships to his friends, his lovers, and his enemies, a picture emerges of a deeply flawed staunchly anti-authoritarian selfish bastard, who pisses everyone off, including the devil, and desperately tries to fix his own mistakes, but often at a very high cost to himself and others.
This is not for the faint of heart. Via Constantine, Ennis constantly takes a piss at magic, religion, the police, and people from the higher echelons of society, including the royal family. It's a satyrical crime book more than anything, but it's also about the UK and Belfast. Yes, it gets bloody and gorey, ultra-violent and political, there's a lot of British-style self-deprecating humour, but it's also deeply emotional. The best bits are the slice-of-life scenes and the stories dealing with Constantine's relationship with Kit. Brilliant stuff.
December 2, 2023
(Zero spoiler review)
I really feel bad about not giving this five stars, because so much of the material collected here is absolutely outstanding. Seriously, some of the best comics I've read in fact. A third or so of the way through this, I was ready to proclaim it to be Ennis' greatest work. The start was a wee bit slow, but shit really kicked off after that, and what wonderful shit it was. William Simpson's art was impeccable. The epitome of that late 80's, early 90's Vertigo era artwork that took Ennis' scripts and breathed a dark and twisted life into them. It was a pleasure to look at each page. Then Simpson left the book and we got a long ass run with Steve Dillon. Seemingly the origin of their ongoing relationship, and what no doubt led to Preacher. As decent as Dillon's artwork is, and despite the scripts still being first rate, it just started delving a little too close to what Preacher would become at this point. With Dillon's fairly samey looking characters and style reminding me a little too much of that other series. As good as it is, it's not what I wanted, especially after a few hundred pages of Simpson's excellence.
It was also around this time that Ennis either began including (perhaps for the first time) his immature, childish humour, often to the detriment of the story. Ratcheting up those slightly annoying Preacher vibes just a little bit more, and diminishing a dark and brooding character into something a little silly. It was still really good, just not as good as it could be.
The final third of this book is where it definitely dropped from a five to a four. We got too many go nowhere, Irish people sit around being Irish stories. You can tell Ennis puts a lot of himself into his work, although this tendency towards navel-gazing, whilst having every other word spoken being the character being jingoistic to the point of inarticulation grated on me just that little bit too much. There were still really good issues to be found in between, but too much mid in amongst the sadly not as magnificent cost it.
There is still some absolute gold here, and well worth a purchase. The re-read whenever that day comes will no doubt cut out all of that filler. 4/5
OmniBen
I really feel bad about not giving this five stars, because so much of the material collected here is absolutely outstanding. Seriously, some of the best comics I've read in fact. A third or so of the way through this, I was ready to proclaim it to be Ennis' greatest work. The start was a wee bit slow, but shit really kicked off after that, and what wonderful shit it was. William Simpson's art was impeccable. The epitome of that late 80's, early 90's Vertigo era artwork that took Ennis' scripts and breathed a dark and twisted life into them. It was a pleasure to look at each page. Then Simpson left the book and we got a long ass run with Steve Dillon. Seemingly the origin of their ongoing relationship, and what no doubt led to Preacher. As decent as Dillon's artwork is, and despite the scripts still being first rate, it just started delving a little too close to what Preacher would become at this point. With Dillon's fairly samey looking characters and style reminding me a little too much of that other series. As good as it is, it's not what I wanted, especially after a few hundred pages of Simpson's excellence.
It was also around this time that Ennis either began including (perhaps for the first time) his immature, childish humour, often to the detriment of the story. Ratcheting up those slightly annoying Preacher vibes just a little bit more, and diminishing a dark and brooding character into something a little silly. It was still really good, just not as good as it could be.
The final third of this book is where it definitely dropped from a five to a four. We got too many go nowhere, Irish people sit around being Irish stories. You can tell Ennis puts a lot of himself into his work, although this tendency towards navel-gazing, whilst having every other word spoken being the character being jingoistic to the point of inarticulation grated on me just that little bit too much. There were still really good issues to be found in between, but too much mid in amongst the sadly not as magnificent cost it.
There is still some absolute gold here, and well worth a purchase. The re-read whenever that day comes will no doubt cut out all of that filler. 4/5
OmniBen
August 4, 2020
I feel the need to clarify the rating a little bit. There are parts of this that were 4 stars to me. Individual issues and arcs were tremendous, not only delving into horror and magic, but getting in depth on the character of Constantine. However, the rest are average. Really, not many are even below average, so this is still a better read than most other books.
I also had a completely different expectation of what this was going to be like. Having only read John in other books, and usually as a supporting character, I didn't know much about him. Expectations were a lot of magic and monsters, not at the Doctor Strange level, but some. There's actually very little, most of it is at the beginning, then the repercussions come at the end. In the middle, it's mostly stories about his everyday life, his friends and the trouble they get into, life in the UK. All of which is interesting because it helps to round out just who John is.
Not really been a fan of Dillon's art. It actually looks better to me here than his later stuff, like on the Punisher. It has more of a detailed, grimy, sketchy look which adds to the ambience of the story, and I appreciate it much more.
My goal was accomplished though, to understand John and just why he can be such a wanker, but at the same time, a force to be reckoned with.
I also had a completely different expectation of what this was going to be like. Having only read John in other books, and usually as a supporting character, I didn't know much about him. Expectations were a lot of magic and monsters, not at the Doctor Strange level, but some. There's actually very little, most of it is at the beginning, then the repercussions come at the end. In the middle, it's mostly stories about his everyday life, his friends and the trouble they get into, life in the UK. All of which is interesting because it helps to round out just who John is.
Not really been a fan of Dillon's art. It actually looks better to me here than his later stuff, like on the Punisher. It has more of a detailed, grimy, sketchy look which adds to the ambience of the story, and I appreciate it much more.
My goal was accomplished though, to understand John and just why he can be such a wanker, but at the same time, a force to be reckoned with.
August 27, 2021
Al fin, después de 52 números puedo decir que ya me leí la etapa completita de Garth Ennis con John Constantine.
Fue todo un viaje. Si bien el personaje fue creado por Alan Moore y su origen fue explorado en los primeros 40 números por Jamie Delano, estoy bastante deacuerdo con la crítica y los fans de que al final de todo fue Garth Ennis el que supo manejar al personaje como ningún otro autor.
Como ya sabe la gente que conoce a Garth, sus historias suelen ser muy críticas a todo, prácticamente con temática anarquista pues nada ni nadie se salva y su etapa en Hellblazer tiene bastante de eso. El Constantine de Garth es mucho más trangresor que el de los autores ya antes mencionados y aunque dejamos un poco de lado la magia en pos de un John Constantine más callejero, sin duda alguna creo que estos cómics dieron en el punto para entregarnos historias más humanas. Lo hay de todo, desde una fuerte crítica al racismo y a la brutalidad policial hasta una clara oposición a cualquier tipo de organización gubernamental y religiosa, aunque contrario a lo que se podría pensar, la etapa de Garth no es ningun tipo de agenda y suele meter estas situaciones de manera natural en la vida de John Constantine pues pude notar que Garth se enfocó mucho más en los personajes secundarios en la vida de John que en los propios casos paranormales en si mismos, cosa que me parece perfecta pues en los primeros números Constantine es demasiado amoral y no se siente especialmente involucrado en sus aventuras salvo las veces en las que debe salvar a un pariente o algo asi.
De mis momentos favoritos, esta cuando conoce al diablo, el épico enfrentamiento entre el primero de los caidos contra el ingenio de embaucador de John, el horrible descubrimiento que hizo en la fábrica de armamento, cuando conoce la verdad de un pobre diablo que jugó con cierto tipo de magia negra, cuando se enfrenta al demonio que poseyó a Jack el destripador, la miniserie de "Son of man" entre otras tantas historias que contiene este volumen.
HELLBLAZER BY Garth Ennis OMNIBUS es una total y absoluta recomendación si el personaje te llama la atención, una edición hecha con cariño para los fans y que no se queda para nada corta en contenido y que además la vas a hacer rendir durante meses. Esto es de lo mejor que me he leído en el año y sin duda alguna solo hace acrecentar más mi fanatismo por Hellblazer.
Fue todo un viaje. Si bien el personaje fue creado por Alan Moore y su origen fue explorado en los primeros 40 números por Jamie Delano, estoy bastante deacuerdo con la crítica y los fans de que al final de todo fue Garth Ennis el que supo manejar al personaje como ningún otro autor.
Como ya sabe la gente que conoce a Garth, sus historias suelen ser muy críticas a todo, prácticamente con temática anarquista pues nada ni nadie se salva y su etapa en Hellblazer tiene bastante de eso. El Constantine de Garth es mucho más trangresor que el de los autores ya antes mencionados y aunque dejamos un poco de lado la magia en pos de un John Constantine más callejero, sin duda alguna creo que estos cómics dieron en el punto para entregarnos historias más humanas. Lo hay de todo, desde una fuerte crítica al racismo y a la brutalidad policial hasta una clara oposición a cualquier tipo de organización gubernamental y religiosa, aunque contrario a lo que se podría pensar, la etapa de Garth no es ningun tipo de agenda y suele meter estas situaciones de manera natural en la vida de John Constantine pues pude notar que Garth se enfocó mucho más en los personajes secundarios en la vida de John que en los propios casos paranormales en si mismos, cosa que me parece perfecta pues en los primeros números Constantine es demasiado amoral y no se siente especialmente involucrado en sus aventuras salvo las veces en las que debe salvar a un pariente o algo asi.
De mis momentos favoritos, esta cuando conoce al diablo, el épico enfrentamiento entre el primero de los caidos contra el ingenio de embaucador de John, el horrible descubrimiento que hizo en la fábrica de armamento, cuando conoce la verdad de un pobre diablo que jugó con cierto tipo de magia negra, cuando se enfrenta al demonio que poseyó a Jack el destripador, la miniserie de "Son of man" entre otras tantas historias que contiene este volumen.
HELLBLAZER BY Garth Ennis OMNIBUS es una total y absoluta recomendación si el personaje te llama la atención, una edición hecha con cariño para los fans y que no se queda para nada corta en contenido y que además la vas a hacer rendir durante meses. Esto es de lo mejor que me he leído en el año y sin duda alguna solo hace acrecentar más mi fanatismo por Hellblazer.
February 28, 2021
Not bad. Been a Garth Ennis fan for a long time and finally got around to trying this. It's not as refined as Preacher or his later stuff. Some of it is good here and there but if you are not British or Irish or dont enjoy Reading about Irish pubs it might be hard to get through.
December 25, 2022
I’m not sure how I feel about this. I don’t love it but I don’t hate it. Even though Garth Ennis is my fav writer in the comic book medium, I don’t really care for the John Constantine character and this run didn’t help win me over either.
This is Garth’s beginning work and it’s very evident. Unlike many Ennis run’s, I had to power through most of this big book. It’s filled with a whole bunch of bar conversations and “bollacks.” Arsehole this, wee that. The dialogue was a bit tough to follow as I’m not too fond of the British accent. Anyway, if you’re in AA…I highly recommend you stay away from these stories as it’ll get you back to chugging pints leading to dark times…literally.
It’s nice to see Steve Dillons art and the stories picked up as soon as he took over artist responsibilities. The bloke before him, was a bit vanilla on the pages.
I can sum my opinion up best by using the words of a random review on Amazon, written by JT. “Everyone talks about what a masterpiece it is, especially Ennis's run on the character. But nothing happens! For the 1300-ish pages of this book, John walks around feeling sorry for himself, drinking till he throws up, and then getting saved by some random chance. The whole concept of the series was that Constantine was an everyman magician that saves himself not with magic, but with his wits. Except he doesn't do magic, and he's not that clever! Rather than making him smarter than his enemies, the author tends to make his enemies idiots. Or he'll get saved by a fluke, or luck, or someone rescuing him at the last minute.
The whole book feels like John moping around, getting drunk, and then lucking in the end while all his friends die. His only redeeming quality--if it is a redeeming quality--is that "I did it my way!" There are some interesting premises and compelling characters throughout the book, but Hellblazer by Ennis doesn't rise to the level of excellence that the reviews led me to believe. Felt like a bit of a slog getting through it.”
This is Garth’s beginning work and it’s very evident. Unlike many Ennis run’s, I had to power through most of this big book. It’s filled with a whole bunch of bar conversations and “bollacks.” Arsehole this, wee that. The dialogue was a bit tough to follow as I’m not too fond of the British accent. Anyway, if you’re in AA…I highly recommend you stay away from these stories as it’ll get you back to chugging pints leading to dark times…literally.
It’s nice to see Steve Dillons art and the stories picked up as soon as he took over artist responsibilities. The bloke before him, was a bit vanilla on the pages.
I can sum my opinion up best by using the words of a random review on Amazon, written by JT. “Everyone talks about what a masterpiece it is, especially Ennis's run on the character. But nothing happens! For the 1300-ish pages of this book, John walks around feeling sorry for himself, drinking till he throws up, and then getting saved by some random chance. The whole concept of the series was that Constantine was an everyman magician that saves himself not with magic, but with his wits. Except he doesn't do magic, and he's not that clever! Rather than making him smarter than his enemies, the author tends to make his enemies idiots. Or he'll get saved by a fluke, or luck, or someone rescuing him at the last minute.
The whole book feels like John moping around, getting drunk, and then lucking in the end while all his friends die. His only redeeming quality--if it is a redeeming quality--is that "I did it my way!" There are some interesting premises and compelling characters throughout the book, but Hellblazer by Ennis doesn't rise to the level of excellence that the reviews led me to believe. Felt like a bit of a slog getting through it.”
June 17, 2020
Ennis and Dillon are another magical team.
I read Preacher a decade ago, and their Punisher run a couple years ago as well. Preacher may be their best work together, but this comes darned close. It’s easy to see how this book laid the groundwork to what I’d consider the third greatest comic book of all time, after Watchmen and Sandman.
I read Preacher a decade ago, and their Punisher run a couple years ago as well. Preacher may be their best work together, but this comes darned close. It’s easy to see how this book laid the groundwork to what I’d consider the third greatest comic book of all time, after Watchmen and Sandman.
August 7, 2020
How. Bloody. Good. Is. This. Book!
Garth Ennis’ Hellblazer run was one I’d always wanted to get around to (having heard so much about it) how satisfying then, must it be to have it all collected in one volume? I’m over the moon having read this.
Definitely worth the read
Garth Ennis’ Hellblazer run was one I’d always wanted to get around to (having heard so much about it) how satisfying then, must it be to have it all collected in one volume? I’m over the moon having read this.
Definitely worth the read
June 14, 2022
Wonderful collection even though it starts with issue 40 you still don't feel lost
February 19, 2025
Hellblazer by Garth Ennis is my first real foray into John Constantine’s life outside of reading the first two issues of the series and what a ride this was!
Right away I’ll say that a lot of the language in this book is dated as there is a plethora of slurs of many kinds that are used in hateful contexts. There is also a lot of gore and swearing and downright nasty panels so if horror isn’t really your thing then I’d recommend avoiding this.
I liked the fact that this wasn’t just a book about Constantine and magic but more about the escapades he’s dragged into and his weird bunch of friends. This is such an odd supporting cast but they’re all a lot of fun to be around and it’s evident when Constantine likes them all. Ennis gets you invested in them and how their stories play out is almost as interesting as John’s himself. My favourite was Kit and she was given the most spotlight and proved to be an equal match for the sarcasm of Constantine.
I’ve given this a 4/5. The average rating of 4.3/5 is more accurate really as there’s some fantastic content here. There was only one arc I didn’t enjoy (and luckily it wasn’t integral to the plot) and the rest were all 4/5 or above. Dangerous habits is the objective best but I equally loved Royal Blood and Rake at the gates of hell.
There is a subtle story arc running through this with the Devil coming for revenge and this all culminates well in Rake at the gates of hell. There are a couple stories after Ennis’ Main run which are also good.
A wonderful collection with some amazing horror stories!
Right away I’ll say that a lot of the language in this book is dated as there is a plethora of slurs of many kinds that are used in hateful contexts. There is also a lot of gore and swearing and downright nasty panels so if horror isn’t really your thing then I’d recommend avoiding this.
I liked the fact that this wasn’t just a book about Constantine and magic but more about the escapades he’s dragged into and his weird bunch of friends. This is such an odd supporting cast but they’re all a lot of fun to be around and it’s evident when Constantine likes them all. Ennis gets you invested in them and how their stories play out is almost as interesting as John’s himself. My favourite was Kit and she was given the most spotlight and proved to be an equal match for the sarcasm of Constantine.
I’ve given this a 4/5. The average rating of 4.3/5 is more accurate really as there’s some fantastic content here. There was only one arc I didn’t enjoy (and luckily it wasn’t integral to the plot) and the rest were all 4/5 or above. Dangerous habits is the objective best but I equally loved Royal Blood and Rake at the gates of hell.
There is a subtle story arc running through this with the Devil coming for revenge and this all culminates well in Rake at the gates of hell. There are a couple stories after Ennis’ Main run which are also good.
A wonderful collection with some amazing horror stories!
March 13, 2023
My first foray into the world of the occult sorcerer / detective John Constantine and I've quite enjoyed it. It's been a small struggle at times as there are often references to events or characters which I can only assume are in the original Delano run that at best I can peice together with context clues. That said I've still found the stories very entertaining, the dialogue and narration are great, and I'm a sucker for Ennis's irreverent tone. "Royal Blood" is probably my favorite storyline and one of the most quintessentially Ennis; filled with indulgent violence, contemptuous portrails of authority, and smattered with cynical humor. Most stories are a nice balance of occult investigation, crass irreverence, compelling character drama, and some good ol' ultraviolence. The best stories in the last half for me were the "Heartland" special which was an intimate story about the family drama of Constantine's love interest and "Damnation's Flame" which is just pure Ennis irreverence taking a dark and comedic jab at America. I wasn't as positive about Ennis's return issues (129-133) as there was a lot of fourth wall breaks that felt hamfisted, the tone was too light hearted given the story, and the resolution with the villain was a bit eye rolling. Visually the color work is quite drab early on and a bit to hyper-saturated for London after Dillon takes over. 8.25
November 6, 2024
Garth Ennis' Hellblazer run was what made the comic truly popular, and it still holds up many years later. It's violent, it's over the top, and it's an enthralling read. Ennis' gift here is actually the characters. John who goes from high to low to high. Ellie. Header. Nigel. Brendan. And all the rest. And Kit, truly Kit. Ennis made her totally believable as John's one true love.
The war with the First of the Fallen is truly epic, with both a great beginning and a great ending.
As for what's in between: some is good, some isn't. I've never like the hallucinating in America arc (Damnation's Flame). But some of the shorts, such as the one about the pub that burns down and the one about the WWII fighter pilot and the encounters with the King of the Vampire, they're all quite memorable.
This is John at his best, and I'm not sure any other writer has ever understood him as well.
The war with the First of the Fallen is truly epic, with both a great beginning and a great ending.
As for what's in between: some is good, some isn't. I've never like the hallucinating in America arc (Damnation's Flame). But some of the shorts, such as the one about the pub that burns down and the one about the WWII fighter pilot and the encounters with the King of the Vampire, they're all quite memorable.
This is John at his best, and I'm not sure any other writer has ever understood him as well.
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February 20, 2025Thought this was overall a pretty solid run. I liked Constantine as a character and how he was written in this run. It was fun to see him wiggle his way out of all the troubles he found himself in. I don't usually go for comics that have so little action but the way he was able to talk and worm his way out of things I found really amusing. Speaking of lack of action this is a pretty dense read for a comic, you rarely see a panel that doesn't have multiple text boxes but the conversations between characters felt real and fleshed out so I didn't mind.
The one thing I really disliked about this collection is the final five issues. The original run wraps up nicely and has the same tone throughout and then these random five issues, written much later have a completely different tone to them and it really doesn't feel like it was written by the same author. If I ever re-read this I'll probably just skip those ones.
The one thing I really disliked about this collection is the final five issues. The original run wraps up nicely and has the same tone throughout and then these random five issues, written much later have a completely different tone to them and it really doesn't feel like it was written by the same author. If I ever re-read this I'll probably just skip those ones.
May 12, 2022
I've accomplished my goal. To try and understand John Constantine. To see just why he is considered such a wanker, but at the same time, a force to be reckoned with.
Now, this run didn't have that much magic, it was mostly just John living his life, and me realizing that life can be depressing. While some of the single issues were amazing, most of this run was just better than ok, with tons of references that probably went over my head. Either way, I can say that I enjoyed reading through Ennis' whole Hellblazer run and look forward to reading his Preacher series next.
4 stars out of 5.
Now, this run didn't have that much magic, it was mostly just John living his life, and me realizing that life can be depressing. While some of the single issues were amazing, most of this run was just better than ok, with tons of references that probably went over my head. Either way, I can say that I enjoyed reading through Ennis' whole Hellblazer run and look forward to reading his Preacher series next.
If there is one thing I've learned over the years. It's that there are no happy endings. There never are. There's always a price to pay. - John Constantine
4 stars out of 5.
June 22, 2021
This omnibus was my first time delving into the John Constantine character outside his appearance in other series or in other media. I enjoyed the majority of this run. The magic stout issue was by far my favorite issue in the run and the Dangerous Habits arc is a good representation of Ennis' take on Constantine. If your not a fan of a lot of dialogue and conversations about drinking in Irish Pubs, this may be a bit of a slog at times. The limited backgrounds in the art make sense for this style of story but may be a bit of a transition for some comic readers. I enjoyed Steve Dillon's art the most out of the artists who contribute to Ennis' run.
Not as refined as Ennis' later work but a good representation of John Constantine and a run I can see myself reading again in the future.
Not as refined as Ennis' later work but a good representation of John Constantine and a run I can see myself reading again in the future.
July 19, 2025
Una montaña rusa dentro de la turbia mente y vida de John Constantine. Un mago timador, pendenciero, que se ha convertido en un referente en las artes oscuras a base de aprender por las malas lo peligrosos que son los demonios. Comienza la historia con el protagonista sabiendo que va a morir por un cáncer de pulmón. Desde ahí iniciara una campaña por vencer a la muerte engañando al triunvirato del infierno, conociendo el amor de su vida, perdiéndola y pasando un año borracho y depresivo viviendo en la calle, y envejeciendo poco a poco mientras se da cuenta de que es un cabrón que jode todo lo bonito que se acerca a él y que por su culpa van muriendo todos sus amigos y gente que le quiere. La verdad es que me ha sorprendido la profundidad de John Constantine.
February 2, 2024
Well, I feel like what we got here was alright. My problem is what we got felt like the ending of a character not the beginning. I feel like I’m missing the younger years, the build up. It just begins with depression and ends with it too. At no point besides the short happy portion of the book did I feel anything besides sad for Constantine. I also feel like there was a lot of telling us how great of a magician Constantine was and rarely was it shown. I liked how much it focused on Constantine the man, but I wish it had spent the same amount of time on Constantine the magician.
April 20, 2024
I would have loved to like it more. Ennis and Dillon left a mark in my comic reader life with the Preacher, and I was expecting to get the same vibes here. Don't get me wrong: it is good, and probably a piece to own in every comic book library. But there were cycles here that were too 'dense', full of text and dialogues, in an english not always clear to foreigner readers like me. The art and the inks also are not always at the top. Having said that: 3.8 it is probably my rating. Recommended, but with different expectations i had, probably.
Also: the book is too big. Like in really too big. I have several omnibuses, but this was by far the hardest to read. Lesson learned for me of not going above 1000 pages editions
Also: the book is too big. Like in really too big. I have several omnibuses, but this was by far the hardest to read. Lesson learned for me of not going above 1000 pages editions
April 11, 2025
Almost gave it a 4. Ending was way too abrupt for everything they were building up. I don’t understand why the race protests even occurred and what story purpose that served, it seemed really random to me.
I never really thought that preacher was blasphemous, sure it got dangerously close a few times but it never crossed that line. Whereas in this Ennis almost tries to make Satan and his fall from grace into some sort of story where we’re supposed to feel bad for Satan.
I never really thought that preacher was blasphemous, sure it got dangerously close a few times but it never crossed that line. Whereas in this Ennis almost tries to make Satan and his fall from grace into some sort of story where we’re supposed to feel bad for Satan.
October 25, 2022
The five star rating is largely a sentimental one as this is still my favourite run of John Constantine stories. I’d almost forgotten the streak of pure Irish sentimentality that tempered the dark humour and caustic cynicism of Garth Ennis’ early work.
Anyway, far from perfect but I’ve loved these comics for too long to give them anything but the highest score.
Anyway, far from perfect but I’ve loved these comics for too long to give them anything but the highest score.
July 16, 2023
This is a LARGE book. And for most of it, the stories are exceptional. I'll always love a good John gets out of demon trouble with tricks, but that's even only some in this thing. There's some excellent work on some of John's friends and nothing supernatural, just a character study.
October 22, 2025
Shout out to Jamie Delano, but Garth Ennis’ Hellblazer is a massive step up. I had so much fun reading this, I didn’t want it to end! It felt like one huge arc, every piece building towards a fantastic conclusion. Highly recommend hopping on with Ennis, cut right to the chase.
July 17, 2021
Some of these stories were just terrible. John Constantine is the greatest, but he's used wrong I think. Still, I'll read this dozens of times.
December 14, 2021
I used this book to press my tofu.
February 16, 2022
Without question, the best run for Constantine.
May 20, 2023
Bello,le storie migliori per me sono Stirpe reale e figlio dell'uomo.
April 6, 2024
liked the anti smoking propaganda arcs but then it got too wordy and I couldn't pay attention
August 31, 2024
Great dark character , magic overall its a must read
September 10, 2024
Very good story but not to engaging in some parts of the story. The draws are amazing and the characters design too.
January 10, 2026
I really enjoyed this. The final arc of stories was the least interesting, but overall this was a tour de force.
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