Hellblazer: Rare Cuts

Hellblazer (Single Issues) #11, 25–26, 35, 56, 84

by Jamie Delano, Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis

"[W]hat led a poor boy from Liverpool to become a magus powerful enough to take on the Devil and emerge triumphant? A new window onto Constantine's unique and harrowing life is now open with rare cuts, collecting six never-before-reprinted issues of thisgroundbreaking Vertigo series and showcasing some of the pivotal episodes in the working-class wizard's bloody history." -- p. [4] of cover.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Jamie Delano aka A. William James began writing comics professionally in the early 1980s. Latterly he has been writing prose fiction with "BOOK THIRTEEN" published by his own LEPUS BOOKS imprint (http://www.lepusbooks.co.uk) in 2012, "Leepus | DIZZY" in April 2014, and "Leepus | THE RIVER" in 2017.

Jamie lives in semi-rural Northamptonshire with his partner, Sue. They have three adult children and a considerable distraction of grandchildren.

Reviews

[M— · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is perhaps a bad idea to jump into reading the Hellblazer series by grabbing at whatever graphic-novel collection I happen to come across first, but... ah, well. At least I know enough about the overall content of the series to keep my head above water, plotline wise.

"Newcastle: A Taste of Things to Come" (Hellblazer #11), written by Jamie Delango, art by Richard Piers Rayner and Mark Buckingham.

Yay for the first story here being major background information. Thank you, publishing gods. I didn't care at all for the panel layout, though, and I found it hard to follow.

"Early Warning" (Hellbazer #25) and "How I Learned to Love the Bomb" (Hellblazer #26), written by Grant Morrison, art by David Lloyd.

I spend the entire story thinking, "Who is the woman in white?" Her name was never spoken until midway through the second half, and then she dies! Which really seems to be a normal occurrence for anyone who knows Constantine. Poor John. Why is it that everyone's hidden desires are awful? And seriously, Mr. Trucker, you find nothing at all suspicious about the mysterious man in the trench coat who you happen to drop off at a town that subsequently explodes and then you happen to pick him up again immediately after?

"Dead-Boy's Heart" (Hellblazer #35), written by Jamie Delango, art by Sean Phillips.

The stuff I really wanted to find out in this story was never reveled. Was the body even human? The artwork could equally well be depicting a dog's partial skeleton as a child's. And did the man in the quarry actually die? I know that the argument is that it's Constantine's belief in these things that matter in this story, that he killed the man and that he found a dead boy, that these beliefs were the important formulative part, not whatever the truth was. But I want to know. And seriously, Constantine never went back to check? Or maybe kept his ear to the ground to learn if the other kids had any further encounters with this man?

"This Is the Diary of Danny Drake" (Hellblazer #56), written by Garth Ennis, art by David Lloyd.

Creepy little story with a fantastically evil diary of doom. I love how the perspective started off on a different character and only later shifted to Constantine. I really, really like Ennis' work. And, look, Constantine successfully saves the innocent!

"In Another Part of Hell" (Hellblazer #84), written by Jamie Delango, art by Sean Phillips.

Another really great background story, this time with a literal monkey on the back. Oy, though, poor Chas. He's done very well for himself despite his mother's efforts, hasn't he? And isn't he the one of Constantine's friends who has stayed alive the longest?

"Years Gone By: A Hellblazer Timeline" and "John Constantine's London," written by Michael Bonner.

Nice information as a roadmap for the series, but not terribly useful to me right now.

Reading order: 1
Publication order: 11 (2005)
Chronological order: 5 (approximately)

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Rare Cuts" collects Hellblazer issues #11, #25, #26, #35, #56, and #84.

Speaking as a long-time Hellblazer fan and collector, this collection has its ups and downs.

This is a series that's been running for around 20 years now, with around 250 issues -- and most of those issues are not collected in trades, so if you want to read them, you have to spend years hunting around for the issues. So when I first heard they were making a Hellblazer book that collected some of the more hard-to-find issues from the earlier part of the series, I was enthusiastic. At the time, I still hadn't managed to find a copy of the much prized issue #11, nor had I managed to find #35, the second part to #34's "The Bogeyman". I'd seen #25 and #26 around occasionally, but the prices were high enough that I couldn't quite bring myself to get them. The others I had.

Looking at what it would cost me to order the four issues I didn't have from "Rare Cuts", if I could find them, I realized it was much cheaper to buy the book. And I hadn't seen any new Hellblazer trades for some time, it seemed they were slowing down production -- even the ones they had put out were patchy. They'd collected 1-9, then 41-46, then 62-83, then 129-133... pretty much just the Garth Ennis stuff, and one book of the Jamie Delano stuff, and after that they were only collecting the really recent stuff, issue #150 and up. So I was thrilled that they were putting out "Rare Cuts", overall, and I was glad to get it.

But once I had it, I found myself wondering. First of all, why didn't they collect #11 and the Newcastle story in a Book Two TPB, with issues #10 through whatever? Why were they holding back from collecting Delano's definitive and overall very good work from the first couple of years on the title? I wondered the same about #25 and #26, until I realized they were the only two issues written by Grant Morrison, while Delano was on vacation or something if I remember right, so maybe it was some legal thing about rights. That led me to thinking about Neil Gaiman, the guest writer who wrote #27, the haunting "Hold Me" one-shot. That's probably the rarest and most expensive of all the Hellblazer issues, with the possible exception of #1 -- why not include it in "Rare Cuts"? And when it came to it, why put #35 in there but not #34, when #35 was a continuation of the story started in #34?

But ah, well, I figured -- at least I had them, and could read them, even if it was a sort of patchwork sampling. Eventually I'd get the issues.

But now they've put out trades that makes issue #11's appearance in "Rare Cuts" redundant. They've finally published Hellblazer The Devil You Know, a nice fat book that collects issues #10-13 plus both issues of the Bloody Saint special and both issues of the Horrorist special. Then they've also put out Hellblazer The Fear Machine (collecting issues #14-22) and Hellblazer Family Man (collecting issues #23-24 and #28-33), so I guess that frames "Rare Cuts" inclusion of #25 and #26 nicely, though it only makes the absence of #27 more pointed.

I can only hope with mixed feelings that Delano's last storyline will be collected as a TPB soon (maybe called "The Golden Boy"?) -- mixed because though that would make #35 in rare cuts redundant, it would be nice to have that TPB to finish Delano's run. And in the same vein, it's great that they came out with Hellblazer Bloodlines (collecting issues 47-50, 52-55, 59-61), but if they had to skip #51 and #56-58, then why weren't all of those in "Rare Cuts"? #51 was by John Smith, so maybe there are legal or financial issues there, but #57 and #58 were both by Garth Ennis, the same guy who wrote #56 in "Rare Cuts".

I would imagine there are very good behind-the-scenes reasons for all of this, from writers demanding more money for reprinting than the execs want to pay, to legal issues, or whatever. And maybe there will eventually be a "Rare Cuts II" or something, collecting #27, #51, #57, #58, and some others -- maybe the bits from the Winter's Edge collections, or some stuff from the Paul Jenkins years that doesn't make it into his TPBs (which I hope they eventually print, to fill that huge gap!) Though it's a bit of a clumsy way to do things, maybe that's all we can get with retrofitting, and it might be worth doing.

So overall, again, I'd say: "Rare Cuts" is worth getting if you're a collector but not serious enough to be sure you'll eventually get the issues... or if you're new to the series and want to get an idea of what Hellblazer is about. If you want issue #11, you might want to just get it in Hellblazer The Devil You Know. The other issues in "Rare Cuts", while good, aren't as worthwhile as getting one of the books with complete storylines. So this book really only appeals to those who are serious enough to want these issues and to want to minimize holes in their collection, but not serious enough to go out and find the issues -- a select middle group. Good effort! Too bad there wasn't better planning and coordination with coming TPBs, though.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute prime Constantine- the art, the magic and the evil little sex pest monkey. John’s childhood misadventures and his younger days staying with Chas really help stretch out the world of Constantine even more and for the better. Everything here works and it works well, the short one off issues really get to shine in their weirdness without really relying too much on overarching plots or things; just let John deal with the weird magical world he lives in (and make sure he has some silk cuts luv)

[Acker. 467 · Rating 5 out of 5]

(warning for spoilers)

This is only for the Newcastle story:

So John sends a girl to hell.
Perfect for my first time at hell blazer.
We start with John in a junkyard followed by A flashback. And if you already had doubts that Delano can be political, he includes in the captions: “EXCITED, STRONG, THE WORLD WAS OURS TO SHAPE ACCORDING TO OUR WILL. BUT THAT WAS THEN. BEFORE THATCHER.
BEFORE THE FALKLANDS WAR. BEFORE THE
COLINTRY --STARVING--ATE OLIT ITS OWN HEART.”
Damn…….. weeks after reading I’m still looking back to those words. Personally I find myself relating for I too am looking back at a time that while lacked much of the political pain now contained all the personal pain that I feel today. Like Claremont, Delano has a way with making his comics wordy, but in my opinion unlike Claremont it has a more naturalistic more haunting tone and flow. And whoever is reading this review, I won’t bother with spoiling much, Just that the ending To the story is right to the beginning, this time with John reflecting, and this time with John knowing what he must do. It’s an incredible story especially when you know about the character. Can’t wait to read more of our favorite Chainsmoking haunted occult detective.

[Kamakana · Rating 4 out of 5]

030719: interested in hellblazer concept, i decide to look random, not rec, so no expectations. works in this collection. some great combinations of art and story, such as ‘early warning’, ‘danny’s diary’, most v good, more politics, social, religious, satire. have not read him before. will try more...

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saw the movie and series first which are high in my favorites, then I decided to get the comicbooks. Lucky with this sequence because I didn't expect the comics to be better.

Overall I enjoyed the [comics] ride a lot. My favorite part are his narrative thoughts. Delano, Morrison and the other writers raised my reading standards with their choice of words and articulation, complementing the scenes and Constantine's personality. The words further draw the picture and are not redundant with the scene. These thoughts are there almost throughout, which is a bonus too. And yet they are new every time, not monotonous.

Looking forward to continuing the series, eventually. Sometimes I read something more ordinary first then save these best ones for later.

[Maria Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

These awesome six stories are very pivotal to John being John.

[Francine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Includes the obligatory Newcastle chapter (which I've read umpteen times already, but it's good for first-time readers).

My personal favourite stories in this collection were the last three, particularly "This Is the Diary of Danny Drake". My favourite part is when John is like lay off for chrissake I'll help you just stay put jesus. Very on-brand, love the whole page. And the climax of the story is, to me, quintessential Hellblazer. John, he picks his battles unwisely.
And "In Another Part of Hell", I like the relationship John has with Chaz - it's awful: John takes advantage of Chaz and Chaz knows it - they both know it - and they can be themselves with each other, and be honest, and dishonest, and it's so messy and so simple at the same time. And Renee is so good for Chaz and John knows why she doesn't like him and he agrees and I do, too, with both of them. Oh, Chaz, my poor lad. Oh, John.

Anyway to end the review/ramble: thissa decent collection if you wanna read some random Constantine. I say read this if you want a broad taste test, and if you like the tone then you can hop on the hype train with the collected issues.

[Heider Carlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este é o melhor volume de Hellblazer de Origens até agora, rivalizando com Hábitos Perigosos como o melhor de toda série. É feita por um time de estrelas com James Delano, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Dave McKean e David Lloyd. Começa com um anual que pouco tem relação com o personagem, mas passa para uma história mostrando o terror presente no mundo real, vai para uma história absurdamente assustadora em suas implicações e termina com uma história de afastamento e isolação que assombra nossa própria moral. Os comentários pesados sobre Margareth Thatcher, armas nucleares e fascismo não deixa a obra datada. E eu nem digo isso pelas alegorias fáceis de serem feitas no mundo atual, mas porque o contexto mostra que o personagem está inserido no mundo real e que ele se mantém firme ao modo como foi criado. É honesto, direto e livre em suas críticas. Uma faceta que foi caindo com o personagem conforme a DC se higienizou e que faz muita falta.

[John Sowder · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Dead Boy's Heart' is my favorite Hellblazer story of all time. Absolutely haunting. I feel as though Delano's writing is divisive, to say the least. Not everyone is going to take to it. I personally feel as though Delano, more than even Moore or Gaiman or Morrison, was the first writer to really take a DC character and move him completely outside of the DCU and place him in our world. Revisiting his stories, you get the strong sense of time and location whether it's Thatcher's Britain circa 1980 or rural 1960s. I think that's what he does best, and that's what make these stories stand out IMO. But I was already reading this series back in the late 80s/early 90s. I'm not sure how people feel about these stories being haphazardly thrown together.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a disjointed first taste of JCHB, but it makes an excellent companion to the other series, movie, and tv. For example, the “Newcastle” incident is referenced constantly throughout the franchise but unlike Spider-Man or Batman, we don’t start every JC story with a flashback to an argument with parents or pearls rolling down an alley. Rare Cuts collects several of those moments that only appeared once or twice and fills in the gaps left by other sources. The writing and art is all a little different but solid, too!

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was difficult to decide how to rate this. From an artistic standpoint this graphic novel is fine (emphasis on the graphic though). This is very dark and gritty. Admittedly, I picked this up to gain more back-story on Constantine because I enjoy the televised version of his character and wanted to go to the source. This is a disjointed collection and too violent for my tastes. However, I did fine the timeline and map on the last four pages to be a good way to get the background information on his character.

[Stephen Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a first foray into the (printed) world of John Constantine, these standalone spooky stories are intriguing, stylish and a wonderful antidote to the interconnected universe obsessions I tend to find with DC comics. Not super, barely a hero and I'm ready for more.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 Stars to ennis' story about Triskele.
4 to Azarello's story about Queenie.
2 Stars to The one about Astra.
1 Star to the other 3 stories.

[Robert Hudder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the one offs collected. So, some I have read before but a few I hadn't seen.

[Frank Talk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is interesting and entertaining at the same time

[Daniel DeLappe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mehhh. Did like the art. The story was not impressive. I expect more from Ennis

[Radclyffe U-Haul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jamie Delano is The Hellblazer writer imho

[Index Purga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recopila "cortes raros" (lit.) de Hellblazer. Incluye los números #11, #25–26, #35, #56 y #84.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy, simple, pleasant read.

[Agroca AWOL · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is actually amanzing.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever since John Constantine began his migration back from the Vertigo imprint to the DC mainstream (a process that took several years, beginning in the pages of Brightest Day and ended in Justice League Dark, and made official by the shuttering of Hellblazer and the recent launch of Constantine), I've been itching to see how interesting the character actually is.

Earlier this year I ran across Constantine in the pages of Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and liked what I saw. The end of Hellblazer had me wondering if I should visit that way, but that didn't happen. So then I saw this collection at the library, and noticed that Grant Morrison is included in the several writers to contribute the odd story among several shorter works (like a lot of comic book characters, John likes his arcs).

To my surprised pleasure, the whole thing was pretty good. Constantine (perhaps better known to wide audiences for a Keanu Reeves movie that flipped some of his basic characteristics) is a dude steeped in arcane lore. The surprising thing about the Morrison story (which spans two issues) is that it's the one least steeped in the specifics, even though he's well-known to have talked about performing such rites himself. Although maybe it's appropriate, because as always his is the one with the widest scope, an entire town committing suicide.

Jamie Delano, one of the Vertigo stalwarts who mostly stuck to established properties (to my knowledge he never outright created something himself, or if he did it's since been lost to history), turns out to have the best work in the collection. He delves deeply into the title character, even when it's fairly oblique, making it all the wiser a choice for my having selected this as an entry point.

Even Garth Ennis, the third author included, serves himself well, and as I've noted before when I sampled his Hitman and Preacher, he really does seem to thrive best when his base cynicism is matched by the material, rather than him trying to force it on something else (the whole of The Boys, for instance). One of his notable runs was in fact on Hellblazer, and it shows why. It was a perfect fit.

Helpfully included in the back of the collection is a whole history of John Constantine, who some alternate existence could easily have been the subject of a TV show. And who knows, may yet still have such an honor.

[Felix · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories collected here are for for the most part very good and merit a special interest since they contain relevant information about Constantine's childhood and youth (e.g. the "Newcastle fiasco"). I'd rate the volume four stars, if it wasn't for the publishing policy behind the collection. I simply prefer reading the stories chronologically (in order of publication) in the context of the series than having to switch back and forth between volumes to find the next issue with some issues not collected at all, others twice...

Nevertheless, for everyone who wants to catch up on John Constantine's past without having to bother with hundreds of pages of back issues, this is definitely the place to look for it.

[Astrid Terese · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Constantine er hovedperson i tegneserien Hellblazer, men gjør også gjesteopptredener i andre forfatteres arbeid. Han er best beskrevet som en okkult detektiv og anti-helt. Han er opptatt av at den vanlige mann skal ha rett på et vanlig liv, og han håper dette inkluderer ham selv. Men der kommer til stadighet magi, demoner og mord i veien. Constantine opptrer i tegneserier utgitt av DC Comics, for det meste under forlaget Vertigo. Første gang han dukket opp var i The Saga of the Swamp Thing i 1985. Han ble skapt av Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben og Rick Veitch.
Hele min omtale finner du på bloggen min Betraktninger

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a volume made up of patchwork issues thrown together, this was really good.

My personal favorite was a two parter where scientists unleash a weapon on a small town that turns it into Hell on Earth. Written by Grant Morrison, it was really creepy and reminded me of a Clive Barker story. There's also the story of what happened on that infamous night in Newcastle in 1978. There's also a story of Constantine's childhood and some other creepy one shots.

Overall a really good volume showcasing that even shorter Hellblazer stories can pack a punch. Hellblazer fans should definitely read this one.

[Clark Provence · Rating 3 out of 5]

A compilation of long-unpublished Hellblazer tales which understandably turns out to be a rather hit-and-miss affair. There's a surprisingly forgettable entry from Garth Ennis (whose larger run on the title comprises some of his best work), three unconnected one-and-done issues from Hellblazer founding father Jamie Delano (one of which is excellent, one of which is a bit overstuffed and one of which is awful - I'll let you guess which one involves the evil chimpanzee) and a bleak, memorable, politically-charged two-parter from Grant Morrison (his only work on the series).

[Glennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this going off the advice of a list on the net since it seems the Hellblazer collections are not in sequential order. This is more of a series of stories that show Constantine in different flashbacks to earlier parts of his life. It is a good read and you could almost read this before the Original Sin collection but reading it right after it does give the events in Original Sin a new light. I enjoyed the book and I'll pick up more of them but probably not at the rate I was first reading Fables or Hellboy.

[Phoenix · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume would a good one to introduce new readers of the series to, I think. It started off with a previous issue (Newcastle) which explains one of the formative incidents of Constantine's life, and then continues on with a few separate episodes of instances that are common in the Occultist's life and line of "work." There's also a condensed timeline of what I believe are all the important moments of Constantine's storyline and a short special on historical magic spots in London (which I gave a glance over, it's more of an extra that I'd save for when I own a copy of this volume).

[Kars · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this because most stories are actual horror ones, and the art is generally good (to fantastic, in the case of Lloyd). We're also given a respite from the heavy-handed social commentary that really bugs me about the early Delano pieces, and when it does appear, in the case of Ennis' two-parter on small-town madness and nuclear paranoia, it doesn't get in the way of the horror, but enables it.

[Hmpf · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Recently reread.) A good collection of single-issue/two-issue stories, out of context. Completists beware: this is from the "older" era of Hellblazer trade paperbacks, when vast stretches of the series weren't collected at all. Several of the issues in this collection have since been reprinted chronologically in the new, large collections of the early years of the series. You're probably better off buying those, as Hellblazer is a series where context and chronology do matter.