John Constantine, Hellblazer: Rare Cuts [Paperback]

Jamie Delano (Author), Grant Morrison (Author), Garth Ennis (Author), David Lloyd (Illustrator), Sean Philips (Illustrator), Steve Dillon (Illustrator), Tim Bradstreet (Contributor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This selection of six issues from one of Vertigo's longest running series brings together a few of the morally ambiguous stops on John Constantine's journey through the bleak heart of humankind. The episodes, originally published from 1988 to 1994 and reprinted here for the first time, begin with Constantine's bitter memory of a time "before hell impaled and toasted us, writhing over the roaring fires of our own inadequacies." The series is legendary for its combination of political cynicism, magical exploration and occult horror. Constantine bends demons to his will at times, gets trounced by them at others, and always wonders if he and the rest of humanity are worth the effort. Marvelous storytelling from three of the series' best writers-Delano, Ennis and Morrison-will make the collection hard to resist for fans and a great way in for new readers. Morrison's two tales, "Early Warning" and "How I Learned to Love the Bomb," are especially riveting as a parade of suppressed human desires released by a combination of nuclear frequencies and pagan ritual threaten Constantine. Hyper-realistic art by Lloyd, Philips, Rayner and Buckingham gives powerful expression to the varied horrors of demonic force and human weakness. A timeline and map of "Constantine's London" at book's end is an appealing bonus.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In anticipation of the big-screen adaptation of Hellblazer, tarring Keanu Reeves as roguish British mage John Constantine, DC Comics has been flooding the market with titles featuring Constantine. This one is an odds-and-sods collection of short tales that haven't previously been collected. Which doesn't mean that they're unworthy--as the work of some of comics' leading writers, notably Grant Morrison and Garth Ennis, and artists including Sean Phillips (Sleeper) and David Lloyd (V for Vendetta, far from it. Several are succinctly effective horror tales, such as Morrison's depiction of a pagan festival in a downcast northern English town and Ennis' account of a man haunted by the diary containing his dirty secrets. Of greater interest to Hellblazer fans are the episodes scripted by Jamie Delano that offer glimpses of Constantine's first, childhood stab at magic; his teenage friendship with Chas Chandler; and, especially, the horribly botched exorcism at Newcastle that haunts Constantine to this day. Although the collection is aimed at longtime Hellblazer readers, its contents' uniformly high quality makes it good for newcomers, too. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401202403
• ISBN-13: 978-1401202408
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.3 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,645 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tim Bradstreet is an American artist and designer best known for his Eisner Award-nominated work in graphic novels. He currently works as a conceptual artist for film and entertainment media. Over the past twenty years Bradstreet has worked for a number of publishing houses, including Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics (as well as their imprints Vertigo, and Wildstorm), Fantasmagraphics, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, Marvel Comics, and White Wolf Studios.

In 2000, Bradstreet collaborated with director Guillermo Del Toro on the concept work for the film BLADE 2. In 2003, he provided the art for movie posters promoting the film PUNISHER, a film by Marvel & Lion's Gate. In 2007, he worked with actor/director Thomas Jane as the production designer for the independent film DARK COUNTRY.

Tim Bradstreet's website can be found at RawStudios.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's about time these issues were re-printed, May 6, 2005

By 

N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: John Constantine, Hellblazer: Rare Cuts (Paperback)

Ignore the one star review below, and make no mistake that Rare Cuts is essential Hellblazer reading. Mainly published to coincide with the release of the Constantine movie from Warner Bros., it has been long overdue for these issues to be re-printed in TPB form. Consisting of stories written by Jamie Delano, Garth Ennis, and Grant Morrison, with various art from Sean Phillips, Mark Buckingham, Richard Piers Rayner, and V For Vendetta artist David Lloyd; Rare Cuts is a gem. Delano scripts the infamous "Newcastle: A Taste of Things to Come", an important story that remains a pivotal event in the Hellblazer mythos to this day, while Morrison provides a great two part story involving John and some very blood curdling going's on's in a small town. Ennis' story isn't up to par with his other Hellblazer material, but it's still a solid story. The real standout here is Delano's "In Another Part of Hell" which examines the long relationship between John and his best mate Chas Chandler, and just what John did for him way back when. All in all, Rare Cuts is a gem for Hellblazer afficiondos, although newcomers may want to check out older titles first before digging into this.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some of the best Hellblazer work, April 24, 2005

By 

J.E. Remy "Die Wachen" (SLC UT, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: John Constantine, Hellblazer: Rare Cuts (Paperback)

Collecting a variety of Hellblazer comics that never made it to graphic novel print, this is the perfect start for someone who has never touched the comic in the past. Collecting Delano's "Newcastle: A Taste of Things to Come," Dead-Boy's Heart," and "In Another Part of Hell," Ennis' "This is the Diary of Danny Drake," and Morrison's "Early Warning" and "How I Learned to Love the Bomb," some of the best stories by these authors are written here (in fact, "In Another Part of Hell" arguably Delano's best Constantine story ever-detailing the reason Chas remains such a good friend to John).

5.0 out of 5 stars HELLBLAZER: A RARE CUTS REVIEW!!!, May 12, 2011

By 

REYES - See all my reviews

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This review is from: John Constantine, Hellblazer: Rare Cuts (Paperback)

For anyone who is starting to get into Hellblazer comics, I really do recommend RARE CUTS and ORIGINAL SINS, Rare cuts will especially give you a great introduction into this book and how it is well written and illustrated. Keep in minde this graphic novel jumps a bit into the series it is not very sequential. You will get these issues by great writers and artists below:
#11,25 and 26,36,56,and 84.

There is a cool companion piece at the end of the book by Michael Bonner who does a timeline of Hellblazer through the years which makes this even more incredible!

So all in all, this book is worth the cost and time to read. you do get your money's worth with this Hellblazer book. I am very happy to have purchased this book and enjoyed it immensely, i do reccomend you buy it and not miss this book!