Customer Reviews

John Constantine Hellblazer: Scab

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There is always a tinge of excitement, especially considering its' lofty and star studded pedigree, whenever a new writer comes on board the legendary Hellblazer series, and this latest trade is no exception as it heralds the arrival of Peter Milligan's tenure on the title. Every writer thankfully brings their own distinct and nuanced style to the character, thus being a key to its' impressive longevity, so what better time to explore a slightly different direction with our favorite cynical misanthrope then by placing him squarely in the middle of a decidedly unmisanthropic convention, a standard love relationship, with John the one unconventionally bitten hard by the love bug. In his mystical and macabre milieu, this can possess a particularly nasty sting with some serious sinister side effects. Throw in two more love interests, one a sassy young alchemist who also happens to be the local Don's daughter, and the other a bizarre unisexual Babylonian imp, and things begin to really get interesting, all within the context of a unique and horrific perspective on labor relations as only Hellblazer can. Milligan's methodical design is to scatter smaller subplots throughout while simultaneously weaving everything into one larger tapestry, therefore leaving the reader anxious for more. What follows next time will tell, but for now he has deftly laid the foundation for what will assuredly be another superb run on this superlative book.

This volume collects the first issues of Peter Milligan's work on the long-running Hellblazer title from DC's Vertigo imprint. I have been a fan of the character many years, and the only run that I've not read any issues from are the Mike Carey and Paul Jenkins runs. Like the various James Bond actors, each new writer brings their own perspective and - often - their own baggage to the character, resulting in a prism of work that explores many facets of one of comics' most fascinating characters.

The past works of Milligan's I've read was often quirky - not as off-center as that of Grant Morrison, but still Peter showed himself to be a storyteller not interested in the mere prosaic repetition of familiar tropes. I wondered what sensibility he would bring to Constantine and he does not disappoint, introducing such instantly memorable characters as Constantine's new flame Phoebe - a strong woman who almost manages to knock John off balance - and Julian, a Babylonian ekkumu who ranks (to me) as one of John's most disturbing and memorable supporting characters.

This trade paperback covers Milligan's two initial stories. The first, the title story, concerns the growth of a large "scab" across Constantine's chest and the development of his relationship with Phoebe, a medical doctor who is one of Constantine's most normal girlfriends. Milligan's take on the Constantine character as is perfect - he seems to understand that while John can be capable of doing good things, he's more often pulled astray by the need to feed his demons and fulfill his own desires (contrast this by some who seem to see John as some kind of antihero), with the good that comes from his actions more incidentally. The second story involves John being haunted by a vision of a plague "doctor", and flashbacks reveal to him (and us) a crime that occurred during this dark time in London's history.

The art on the first story is handed by Giusieppe Cammuncoli, who had pencilled the book with a different inker during the Azzarello run; Cammuncoli's work here is sketchy and earthy, which suits the story and the tone of the book and character well, save for a few facial shots where the characters seem to be biting their lips (in a distractingly unlifelike manner). However, his work on the ekkumu Julian is memorable and scary. The second story is illustrated by Goran Sudzuka in a clean but unremarkable style.

All in all, a strong promise of what might be a great run on this classic character. Definitely worth checking out for Hellblazer fans, as well as those interested in a starting place to enjoy the character.

John Constantine has a lot of baggage. Most people carry their regrets will "crow's feet" or putting on a few extra pounds. JC does it originally, with a giant skin ailment. Just as JC suffered before, his lungs didn't get cancer from smoking but a "soul cancer" (very early JC:H issues). He shared a blood transfusion w/ a DEMON! Now his problem worries him and sees a doctor who she takes a shine to him. That's a bit of the plot of Peter Milligan's (Shade : TCM -1990's, other Marvel books) new story arc, "SCAB".
I love Peter's work and he's great here. The art, who I should be used to, I don't care for. Ohterwise, a slightly flawed collected book.

I have read quite a few peter millagan graphic novels such as enigma and skin and the extremist with ted mckeever and all were good to great for their genera and then it seemed like peter sort have disappeared only to pop up again at marvel on his historic and outragous run on x-force and it seemed at that point peter millagan had stepped his game up in my eyes from there he did the programe on wildstorm that was superb and NOW with his triumphant return to vertigo with Greek street and the esteemed honor of hellblazer I completely enjoyed this first trade paper back of mr.milligangs what I hope to be a long and fruitful run on hellblazer it was clever and funny and injected a political view I hadn't seen in the book since the jamie delano or garth ennis years also a kin to the ennis years we find johnny boy crushing pretty hard on a sassy doctor that might be smarter that the way johnny usually likes his women! read this book