Hellblazer: Freezes Over [Paperback]

Brian Azzarello (Author), Tim Bradstreet (Contributor)

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (June 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156389971X
• ISBN-13: 978-1563899713
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #887,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Constantine classic, July 22, 2003

By 

Johnny Rapture (Tampa, Fl) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hellblazer: Freezes Over (Paperback)

`Freeze's Over' is a great addition to any tpb collection. In this volume, you get not only the four-part title story, but also two others.

"...buried" is a single shot story, illustrated by former Preacher and Hellblazer artist Steve Dillon.

"Freeze's Over" centers on the legend of the `iceman', a killer reputed to have existed for over a hundred years. Outside a small town bar, a man is found impaled on an icicle, and John Constantine fast becomes a suspect. But when a group of strangers arrive, the true killer may be harder to identify.

"Lapdogs and Englishmen", featuring guest artist Guy Davis (of Sandman Mystery Theatre), gives us a glimpse of John's old days as a punk rocker.

Overall, this book may not stack up as a great when compared to some of the other Hellblazer trades, but this is still a very worthwhile book. The writing, all by Brian Azzarello, is snappy, and the multiple artists do nothing to distract from these stories.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Title story (and then the same again. And again), April 17, 2009

By 

J. Shurin "carnivore" (London) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hellblazer: Freezes Over (Paperback)

Hellblazer: Freezes Over (Azzarello / Frusin / Dillon / Davis) collects three story arcs in Brian Azzarello's run on the famous London occult detective.

The collection takes place midway through Constantine's travels across America. In all three stories, Constantine serves more as the catalyst than the protagonist - a type of narrative device that will be familiar to Azzarello's work on 100 Bullets. All three stories share a similar structure as well - an establishing set-up with the non-Constantine characters, the introduction of Constantine as an agent of change and a mysterious 'twist' ending that leaves some mystery alive for the future.

Individually, all three of the stories (especially the title one - "...Freezes Over") are pretty good. However, as a collection, it becomes a little repetitive. Three story arcs, each straight out of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, each with an unresolved mystery. This is too much of a good thing, and just changing artists isn't enough to disguise it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Constantine still freezes our souls..., January 3, 2004

By 

Vander G. Romano (Taubate, SP Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hellblazer: Freezes Over (Paperback)

Brian Azzarello (Eisner Award-winning writer) is the author of the 3 stories in this book. It's nice to see John Constantine in different atmospheres and situations, and how he deals with them.

The first story, "... And Buried" goes very well, but left an undefined end (or at least a question: "And so?"). Artist Steve Dillon does a good work on it. It's a shame he doesn't work on all the other stories.

"Freezes Over" is the second one, divided in four parts. It's interesting because it shows how John Constantine can involve magic in some atypical situations of the real world. He doesn't put rabbits out of the hat, nor generates lightning from quick gestures of his hands. His influence in the facts is almost subliminal, but persuasive (just reading to understand what I mean). His cynical smile is present all the time, like a logotype. Myth and reality are very connected in this tale, and very hard to distinguish one from the other.

Finally, "Lapdogs and Englishmen" is divided in two parts, and shows Constantine's rebel youth, when magic was yet a parallel activity and not a course. You'll see that he almost had his chance to know what harm all this magic stuff would cause to his life, but sometimes destiny is stronger. Very frightening!

This book is a good reading for all John Constantine fans, even the less informed about the character. The different artists styles in each story is a little disappointing (as I said, I'd rather prefer Steve Dillon to work on them all). But the rhythm and the creative arguments compensate any deficiency this book may bear.