Hellblazer: Black Flowers

Hellblazer #21

by Mike Carey, Marcelo Frusín (Illustrator), Lee Bermejo (Illustrator)

Continuing Mike Carey's acclaimed run on HELLBLAZER, BLACK FLOWERS rachets up the suspense as Constantine begins to see — and battle — the signs of a coming apocalypse in the stories "The Game of Cat and Mouse," the 2-part "Black Flowers" and the 3-part "Third Worlds" from issues #181-186.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Magic

Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Mike Carey was born in Liverpool in 1959. He worked as a teacher for fifteen years, before starting to write comics. When he started to receive regular commissions from DC Comics, he gave up the day job.

Since then, he has worked for both DC and Marvel Comics, writing storylines for some of the world's most iconic characters, including X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, LUCIFER and HELLBLAZER. His original screenplay FROST FLOWERS is currently being filmed. Mike has also adapted Neil Gaiman's acclaimed NEVERWHERE into comics.

Somehow, Mike finds time amongst all of this to live with his wife and children in North London. You can read his blog at www.mikecarey.net.

Reviews

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gary Lester possesses a dead body to warn John that Fredericks has sent three spirits from hell to kill him. He defeats the first two by having them follow him onto holy ground and the third gives him a warning.

The warning concerns a gate through which spirits arrive into the real world to possess the living. Angie's brother almost becomes their victim, but John seals the gate with a blood sacrifice, sending the spirits back where they came from.

A game of poker with some magic added forces John to gamble using souls. It ends in a con after John switches minds with one of the players. He also meets with the Swamp Thing to discuss about the subtle world breaking into the real world. The Swamp Thing is making his own investigation in the matter and finds that two souls passed through from the subtle world.

John takes a soul trip to speak with aboriginies from the past. He gets his final answers about what's going to happen soon.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad volume, just not one of my favorites.

We do get to see Constantine travel to Eden, and some cool ghosts and other creatures. It just seemed like generic Hellblazer to me, which isn't terrible, just not quite what I've grown to expect from the series. The art was decent, as most Hellblazer art is.

On to the next volume!

[Jedhua · Rating 3 out of 5]

ABSOLUTE RATING: {3+/5 stars}

STANDARDIZED RATING: <3/5 stars>

[Desmond Killian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous art in this one. Jock does his Jock thing in issue #181. I was surprised by how much Lee Bermejo's work in #182-183 reminded me of Ryan Sook or a Seed of Destruction Mike Mignola. But Marcelo Frusin's issues are the best of the bunch. Dynamite work across the whole "Third Worlds" arc. Will be tuning back in to Hellblazer for more of his stuff. 4/5

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Things slow down just a bit on Mike Carey's second collection of stories from his run on HELLBLAZER, but make no mistake about it:

History does not lie, where HELLBLAZER writers are concerned. From Ennis to Jenkins to Ellis to Azzarello, what seems like a "one & done" single issue story from the series is bound to turn into a major piece of the puzzle as the writer rockets toward his inevitable "end game" for the series...

...And if we're not lucky, for Constantine himself.

Conspiracy is in the air as more and more clues begin to suggest that something big is on the horizon and it's headed John's way...

...And it's probably bringing teeth.

Readers should beware that Carey's run is shaping up to be not so nicely contained in single volumes. Rather, references are made in "Black Flowers" to the past six months of Constantine's adventures, and wisdom only holds that the next volume will build heavily upon this one.

While a work in progress, this volume merely moves pieces around the board. Enjoy it while it lasts.

[Jaimie · Rating 5 out of 5]

With Mike Carey at the helm we see the return to a long-term plotline in this collection. Early chapters seem like one-off stories, but they artfully connect to the later plot and provide background details to further enrich the tale. As per usual, the issue-spanning saga has Constantine on hand to save the world again - or to at least try in his haphazard but sincere manner. Carey draws on multi-cultural legends (Celtic, South American, and Judeo-Christian) for Constantine's new foe - a dog-typed demon that seems to have the power to open the gates between the realms from the bad side, which is definitely not the norm. It seems that not all of the other realms denizens want this breach though, so Constantine may have some aid, even if it is unasked for and less than savoury.

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing my reread of Mike Carey’s run after I decided to go back and reread Warren Ellis run first. It took me a second to get back into it because of the hiatus but there are some stellar stories in this collection. This trade is illustrated by Jock, Lee Bermejo, and Marcelo Frusin, and even though the other two are phenomenal artists, Marcelo Frusin is again my favorite here, which really just solidifies him as my top Hellblazer artist. The highlight is the poker issue, a new favorite.

[Jack Carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike Carey’s take on Constantine was always interesting, hearkening all the way back to the early days where John was just barely getting by and looking even worse. Hunted by demons, facing trials from the an ancient cult of Cain, and dealing with his old sparring partner in charge of The Green, Carey puts Constantine through his paces and has to travel the world to put right an ancient threat. Different artists work on each chapter but bring a continuity that is welcome and any fan of HELLBLAZER will find this volume worthwhile.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hands down fantastic.

[Marta Sebastián · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha molado, pero se me ha hecho un poco corto. Quiero leer más de John Constantine

[Steven W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. Mostly a setup for the next arc but it's always good to see Constantine pushed to his limits.

[Vinicius Baroni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tive que reler algumas páginas porque têm passagens confusas e parece que sempre falta algo. Mas, de forma geral é um bom volume, só achei abaixo do primeiro.

[Mike Jozic · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carey's Hellblazer run has a bit of diminishing returns here. After the satisfying "Red Sepulchre" storyline, we have a well-written and well-drawn (courtesy of Jock) bridge from the previous story to this no one which involves a jokeless knock-knock.

We've got the usual independent but not thoroughly fleshed out female companion, a bit of family history, a ton of magic, and some mythology. But as the story plods on, it loses some of its lustre. The resolution to "Black Flowers" comes out of nowhere, and the less said about "Third Worlds", the better.

When I started the volume, there was a point with a scene that suggested it would become a rape scene, but didn't. And the character threw out a slur. I was going to point out that Carey uses this effectively, as having one terrible character use a slur once justifies the reader's dislike of the character. Even if it seems the character regrets using it. This is in contrast with Azzarello's run where every character uses slurs almost constantly.

Alas, later in the volume, it's no so much slurs that are the problem but the use of Christian symbolism and anti-Muslim propoganda that weigh the story down. I don't think it even mildly suggests Carey is Islamaphobic or a problematic writer. I think it's just indicative of the stories his generation grew up reading where characters from the part of the world America refers to as "The Middle East" are shifty and grudge holding. I don't think it's at all Carey's intention to paint an entire race of portion of the world with a stereotypical brush but there is some dialogue and plot points near the end of this run that were disappointing to read from an otherwise talented author. With the final two issues, I found myself reading not for enjoyment but to get to the end of the book so that I could read something else.

[Lauri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hea. Mike Carey käekirja tunneb ära igasuguste mütoloogiate kasutamise poolest, Luciferis juba oli näha et mees valdab teemat. Eriti just selliste natuke vähemtuntud ja eksootiliste, siin kasutab ta näiteks Walesi keltide oma vist, kõik need Surnute Jumala kärbsekujulised saadikud (ma polnud ennem näinudki selliste jõhkrate lihastega kärbest, ja Constantine'i remark saadiku pakkumisele ta selga võtta ja kuhugi kanda, et ei, tänan väga, aga parem on mitte riskida pealeoksendamise ja nahkapanemisega...;)) ja puust maskidega surnute karjased jne. Varjukoer jõuab järjest lähemale, see liin kulmineerub järgmises osas.
Üldiselt olen ma nüüd mitmeid mitmeid kordi kogu Hellblazeri sarja lugenuna hakanud Mike Carey osasid küllaltki hindama.

[Darrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It is the paradox of power. Those who have the least are always the most eager to use it."

Black Flowers is a collection of short stories in which John Constantine travels the world in search of clues leading him to the identity of his latest foe, the shadow dog. In the course of his search, he brings Swamp Thing out of retirement and grows closer to his latest girlfriend Angie. While he does possess an inordinate amount of occult knowledge, Constantine usually bests his opponents not by overpowering them, but by simply tricking them. If comic books are modern day mythology, Constantine is without a doubt the trickster god.

[Jenni Noordhoek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I debated for a while between 3 and 4 stars. It's more like a three and a half.

It's a definitely better story than Hard Time and I appreciate that. It's more of what I expected from a John Constantine story based on its reputation. More adventure, more supernatural baddies, etc.

I still want to know who John is and why he's important and (most importantly) why I should care about him as a character... so that's still a drawback. I think I have one more volume to read.

Also disappointing is that the arc was not finished in this volume and I have no access to the next volume. So I've no way of finding out about the 'shadow dog' anymore... =P

[Bayandur · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Black Flowers' is a state-of-art Hellblazer book, one you read and think - yep, that's what a John Constantine story should look like. The atmosphere, the art, the plot are great, suspense rises. Let's see how the "Shadow Dog" storyline goes on, I'd love to see how it turns out. Though there's one thing getting me worried - the storyline ends in the next book ('Staring at the wall'), and yet the previous two didn't reveal enough for the reader to get a full picture. I hope 'Staring at the wall' won't feel rushed or out of pace with the previous two.

[Jtumblepop · Rating 4 out of 5]

No sé cómo pudieron cancelar la serie que adaptaba Hellblazer con la cantidad de historias que ya tienen escritas. En este tomo hay desde pastores de la muerte celtas pastoreando en un manicomio, utilización de la magia negra para ganar una partida de Póker cuya apuesta es el alma o un juicio bastante peculiar a las puertas del Edén. me hubiera encantado ver en la serie un cameo de La Cosa del Pantano tan grandiosa como una de las dos que aparecen aquí, como una pita gigantesca y bien verde, aunque yo le habría dibujado unos cuantos de higos chumbos.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike Carey looks to be tying the already-impressive story arc from Red Sepulchre into something even larger. This bodes well for the series, which seems to be hitting its stride again after several stumbling story arcs while Brian Azzarello was at the reins. The series is harder to kill than Constantine himself, though, and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next. (note: I'm reading this a bit out of order, so this book is much, much later than the ones above)

[Drizztl · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.5/10

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a lot of surprises here, just Carey continuing to pump out great Constantine stories. This really starts tying in many of the elements established in the last trade, his history from previous runs, and lays the groundwork for what is to come. Essential for the writer's arc, fun to read, but a terrible place to start.

[Jon Arnold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Individually the tales that make up the volume work well together –the first with Constantine as prey, the second a village scarred by a horror hidden in the local asylum and the last a tale of a hidden gateway to paradise. The only downside is that it’s the middle volume of a bigger story and as such it’s a tad unsatisfying with the bigger story left hanging.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read these out of order. I found this definitely the weakest of the three Hellblazer collections by Mike Carey I'd read so far. It just felt a little disjoined and the travelling made little sense. Though I fear I may have spoilt myself by reading the volume that comes after this first. There were still some nice moments though and I did enjoy it.

[Marc Pastor · Rating 3 out of 5]

És curiós com no recordava haver llegit aquest número de Hellblazer. Només, vagament, la darrera història de Tasmania. Té moments inquietants, però en línies generals està per sota del que s'espera del personatge.

[Heather Domin · Rating 4 out of 5]

After I read it, I realized how far along this title was in the series. Whups. Well, it was the only one my library had! Time to make an ISBN list and start the hunt.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of the Constantine I love, especially the monsters.

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

These four were me catching up on Hellblazer since the last time I read it... Mmm, yummy. Still a goddamn bastard of the highest order, and I still want him to win.

[Jay Bullman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've tried on several occasions to read Hellblazer in issues with little success. I really like the trades much better.

[DeAnna Knippling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, not fantastic. A nice magical con in the center.