Hellblazer: Haunted [Paperback]

Warren Ellis (Author), John Higgins (Illustrator), Tim Bradstreet (Contributor)

Book Description

Release date: February 1, 2003

Hellblazer:Haunted comic book

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (February 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563898136
• ISBN-13: 978-1563898136
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 0.3 x 10.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,085,001 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

WARREN ELLIS is an author, graphic novelist, columnist and speaker. His new novel, GUN MACHINE, was released by Mulholland Books in January 2013, and is being developed for television by Chernin Entertainment and FOX.

CROOKED LITTLE VEIN, his last novel, was described by Joss Whedon as "Funny, inventive and blithely appalling... Dante on paint fumes."

His graphic novel RED was made into a successful film starring Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren, and its sequel film is released in August 2013. His other graphic novels, including TRANSMETROPOLITAN, PLANETARY, GLOBAL FREQUENCY and FREAKANGELS, have won multiple awards, including a Lifetime Achievement prize from the Eagle Awards and the NUIG Lit & Deb's President's Medal in recognition of support for free speech. MINISTRY OF SPACE became the first graphic novel to win the Sidewise Award for alternate history fiction. His GRAVEL sequence of graphic novels has been optioned by Legendary Pictures, with Tim Miller attached to direct.

Previously a commentator for Reuters and WIRED UK magazine, he is currently writing a weekly column for VICE.

His first non-fiction book, from Farrar, Straus & Giroux, is due in 2014. He lives mostly in Britain.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Bloody Great! July 22, 2003

By Johnny Rapture

Format:Paperback

The most interesting aspect of this book, and several of the others, is the fact that John Constantine rarely uses magic. It's his trademark, aside from arrogance and a trench coat, but I've found the best stories deal almost exclusively with the man.

In this volume, our chain-smoking hero tries to hunt down the killer of one of his ex's, whose spirit is now trapped on earth. Some familiar faces pop up, and John takes the reader on an interesting trip through London's history. The writing here is great, and the art crisp, and the story is self-contained enough that even if you've never read a Hellblazer comic before, you could follow along. A great buy.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Constantine, good Ellis. June 7, 2006

By Robert P. Beveridge HALL OF FAMEVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Warren Ellis, John Constantine, Hellblazer: Haunted (Vertigo, 2003)

I have to admit-- and this is a painful thing to admit, really-- Warren Ellis has never really done much for me. While I haven't yet read the series everyone seems to consider his magnum opus, his work on other series has always seemed to be phoned in-- especially his work on Hellblazer. Then the library finally, after seven months of searching, turned up their copy of Haunted, and I started seeing what all the fuss is about.

John stumbles upon a murder scene, and the victim is, coincidentally, an old girlfriend. Needless to say, John worms his way onto the case, and the game is afoot. Not terribly much of a plot, but there you go. It's Hellblazer, what do you want?

The focus of the book is a lot more on character than action, which seems to have disquieted a number of longtime Hellblazer fans. I'm not one of them. People sitting around nattering for pages and pages works for me, as long as there's some goal toward which the author is reaching-- even if that goal is just giving the reader more of an understanding of the character who's doing the nattering. We spend time hearing learning about John Constantine as much as we do learning about the case (and its, of course, unsavoury end). Ellis does his thing with a minimum of flash and a maximum of depth here, and it works, as long as you're not looking for nonstop action.

Not as good as Azzarello's run on the series, but certainly Ellis' best work on it, up to par with much of Ennis' Hellblazer work. Surprisingly good, especially given the reviews. *** ˝

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A GRIMY TALE OF REVENGE February 21, 2005

By Tim Janson HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

John Constantine is one of the more unique comic book characters. An anti-hero in every sense of the word. No super powers to speak of Constantine is a foul, and foul-mouthed, chain-smoking part wizard, part detective, part demonologist. His is a world lower than the most seedy underbelly. He's a man who has seen the kind of death, sorrow, and evil that would drive the average man insane, and perhaps has already done so to Constantine.

This Warren Ellis tale tells of an old lover named Isabelle who is horribly murdered. John investigates to find that his old friend had died as a cheap prostitute barely living on the fringes of society. John eventually finds out she came under the domination of a rival mage who did unspeakable things to her before killing her. REluctantly John needs help and calls upon a couple of old friends. The ending...well, to say the ending was one of the more disturbing things I've ever read or seen in a comic would be understating it. It's not pretty, but then that is Constantine's world. The graphic novel was illustrated by John Higgins and while I'm not crazy about some of these more abstract comic artists, his gritty style certainly fit the story.