Hellblazer: Good Intentions (John Constantine, Hellblazer) [Paperback]

Brian Azzarello (Author), Marcelo Frusin (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 140 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156389856X
• ISBN-13: 978-1563898563
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #588,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brian Azzarello has achieved both huge sales and acclaim with his comic 100 Bullets, and has also recently completed a run on Hellblazer, and Marvel's Cage. Lee Bermejo is the illustrator of Superman/Gen 13, and has contributed pin-ups to 100 Bullets and WildC.A.T.S.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars azzarello takes constantine down a dirty, scary road, May 23, 2004

By 

fuzzuck (toronto, canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hellblazer: Good Intentions (Hellblazer) (Paperback)

i'm writing this review because every other opinion of this story i've heard has been negative, and i feel obligated to say that i think this is one of the better hellblazer tales, particularly when taken as part of the larger azzarello/frusin run. i think brian azzarellos' writing is excellent here, bleakly funny, horrifying and quirky, with twists you couldn't have predicted without a working crystal ball.
the characters of richie and dickie are unforgettable, cold psychotic killers reminiscent of the classic 'jody and t.c.' in garth ennis' 'preacher' but with more gritty realism. this story is not without it's flaws, sometimes veering dangerously close to unintentional ridiculousness, but always manages to redeem itself with vicious humour, quirky characterizations, and brutal action.
and another thing: marcelo frusin is not given even a fraction of the praise he deserves. his dark, heavily stylized art is like a bastardization of (azzarellos' '100 bullets' partner) eduardo risso and ('hellboy' virtuoso) mike mignola. every panel displays his masterly sense of composition, his thick black linework radiating a sense of otherworldly menace and danger which rivals that of the aforementioned mike mignola, charles burns, and thomas ott, all masters of horror comics. frusins' run on hellblazer has, to my mind, cemented his place as one of the best artists in horror comics, and maybe comics in general.

2.0 out of 5 stars Out of character, and not in an interesting way, September 8, 2010

By 

Neven Mrgan (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hellblazer: Good Intentions (John Constantine, Hellblazer) (Paperback)

This is a rather confusing and preposterous story, incompatible with other depictions of Constantine, and not particularly interesting or internally consistent.

The art is very cool; great shading and restrained color. However, it also seems a bit inappropriate for Constantine; he's made to look like a Joker-style madman. His face seems to be stuck in a permanent long-chinned cackle of craziness. It doesn't help that the script gives him a few Constantine-worthy lines, but none of Constantine's wit or attitude. In addition to that, he first acts as a villainous jerk, than as a naive lost boy. Constantine is certainly a deeply divided character, but this seems to me a pretty literal and sloppy way of depicting his complexity. His motives are as muddled here as anyone else's, and the punchline to the story is quite ridiculous. A very strange failure of a storyline.

If you're looking to start with Hellblazer, consider John Constantine, Hellblazer: All His Engines, Hellblazer: Setting Sun, John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits, or the brilliant Saga of the Swamp Thing: Volume 1 in which Alan Moore first introduced Constantine.

4.0 out of 5 stars Darkly witty, and suspenseful., February 24, 2008

By 

Aileen Asphodel (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hellblazer: Good Intentions (John Constantine, Hellblazer) (Paperback)

The story told here is engaging, and Frusin's art is a delight as usual. Constantine, hitch-hiking through the backwoods of America, is at his best: cunning, devious, and sarcastic; more of a conman and a trickster in this volume than a magician (though he does play a rather satisfying trick on some nasty little boys).

The plot is as disturbing as Azzarello's plots usually are; there is deviant sex, corruption, explicitly ugly happenings, and naturally, a good deal of pain and death. Interestingly, Constantine turns out to be the least morally bankrupt of any of the main characters, though the other characters are displayed as pitiable desperate individuals with no choice but to behave in hideous and exploitive ways. I disagreed-- I found them repellent, and their actions seemed unnecessary and a little gimmicky at times. I was a little bothered by the author's treatment of their roles and left wondering how he himself felt about them.

All in all, an enjoyable book, but I prefer the following paperback by the same author-artist team, Freezes Over.