John Constantine, Hellblazer: Black Flowers [Paperback]

Mike Carey (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up–The plot of any Constantine book is secondary to the man himself; readers will just enjoy the protagonists fearless, feckless attitude toward time travel, slime-spewing aliens, and the native women. Like Batman and X-Men comics, Constantine is now at the level that any copy will be heavily used, and imitations can try but will never supersede the original. A dark, complex, brainy book, Black Flowers is set in a wonderfully gritty London and then jumps to a haunted country mansion. When Constantine begins protecting Angie, a local woman, she blossoms into his equal in daring and together they embark on a desert vision quest. Best of all, every page has more John Constantine. Strong language makes this best suited for public libraries.–John Leighton, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The movie Constantine, in which a miscast Keanu Reeves portrayed the sardonic British sorcerer, may have fizzled, but its comic-book source soldiers on. In the first of the three interconnected stories here, Constantine's disembodied spirit flees through the streets of London, chased by vengeance-seeking demons. The next tale draws Constantine to Bedfordshire, where insane-asylum patients have been possessed by ancient Celtic spirits that begin to take over the surrounding town. The long third story, which will be continued in the series' next volume, takes Constantine and companion Angie Spatchcock to the Amazon rain forest, Iran, and Tasmania on the trail of an ancient magical being known as the Shadow Dog. Carey, the latest scripter to chronicle Constantine's mystic exploits, takes a less character-driven, more action-oriented approach than most of his predecessors. He comes through where it counts, though, capturing the character's cheeky insouciance and conjuring up an imaginative array of menacing monsters for him to battle. The stories are illustrated by a trio of artists; all do justice to the series' dark atmosphere. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401204996
• ISBN-13: 978-1401204990
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #335,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Carey's run continues to be stellar., August 14, 2006

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: John Constantine, Hellblazer: Black Flowers (Paperback)

Mike Carey, John Constantine, Hellblazer: Black Flowers (Vertigo, 2005)

This is the second book in Carey's series in the Hellblazer franchise, which teams Constantine up with Angie Spatchcock, a spunky lass who's new to the world of magic, but a quick study and an eager student. John and Angie are tracking down leads that opened up for them in Red Sepulchre thorough three interconnected tales (one of which brings back John's old acquaintance the Swamp Thing-- who has been getting closer and closer to Constantine in the past few years, popping up more and more often here).

It's the middle book of a trilogy, so you shouldn't expect the world, but it's good, solid Mike Carey work, and John Constantine is as engaging as ever. *** ½

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No apologies., October 14, 2005

By 

C. Selmek "CPhantom" (El Gorah, Egypt) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: John Constantine, Hellblazer: Black Flowers (Paperback)

Azrillo certainly did wierd things to Hellblazer. I would say only that before Hard Time John was a bastard, but he always seemed at least a little sorry for it. With Azrillo, the wishy washyness slipped completely away to reveal John for the conniving, sadistic unapologetic bastard everybody always thought he was.
Which isn't to say I liked Azrillo. He did horrible things to the character and the supporting cast, but in many ways his mark has been left.
If Carey's first collection, Red Sepulchre, attempted to crawl out of the ditch Hellblazer was left in, Black Flowers represents Carey, not to use an obvious metephor, in full bloom.
I expected great things from Carey the moment I heard he was takeing the reigns. Judging from the complex, continuing storylines of Lucifer, I figured this for a man who dreams up issues years ahead of schedule.
Yet for all its achievments with reoccuring plot threads, Hellblazer has never been much for one long, linked storyline. Until now...
I would not have believed he would try to tie in Red Sepulchre, in itself an impressive storyline, with anything larger. But in this I committed the inexcusible sin of underestimating Mike Carey. In this collection, he takes up the tone of his other magnificent works and makes Hellblazer unmistakably his own, without oweing apologies to anyone else.
His work is not at all choppy, each episode proceeds naturally into the next. But don't mistake continous and flowing for predictable, Carey is also the master of dropping little hints that never make sense until the puzzle is assembled. And then you realize what you thought of as the whole puzzle is but a piece of something larger. That is the joy.
But I'm rambling. The two-part title arc is perhaps the most other-wordly story I have read in some time, and the Three Doors story arc represents John at his con-man best. Nothing is ever as it seems, and Carey presents just enough information to let you think you know what's going on. When all is said and done, you feel like you should have known what was going to happen, but you never can.
And the best is yet to come. Judging by the hints dropped in this book, and the way they simply beg for more information, Black Flowers will have Hellblazer fans and lovers of mystery and dark fantasy stories pleading for more.
Mike Carey is just getting started.

3.0 out of 5 stars Graphic SF Reader, September 3, 2007

By 

Blue Tyson "- Research Finished" (Legion clubhouse) - See all my reviews

This review is from: John Constantine, Hellblazer: Black Flowers (Paperback)

More of your usual Constantine shenanigans, some not demons, mad people, and a card game for souls.

There are women involved, one that John fancies, and has fancied before, and she fancies him. One that doesn't like or trust him, and they are both of course going to be in serious danger.

This one does not end quite as badly, perhaps.