John Constantine, Hellblazer: Red Sepulchre [Paperback]

Mike Carey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2005

With his business in America finally finished, John Constantine returns to England, much to the shock of everyone who thought hed perished in a prison riot. And as usual, his actions have had bad consequencesafter his disappearance, his niece Gemma ran away to London, leaving his sister to move into a new council building that shelters an addictive evil. Said evil provides a clue that puts Constantine on Gemmas trail, but her persistent interest in the family magic business has gotten her involved with a very bad crowdone that now thinks it can use her as a goad to make Constantine do their bidding. But Constantine has never been known for taking ordersor for his forgiving nature.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 11 Up–Set in the underside of Liverpool, England, this story opens with a man hanging himself in the dank basement of a crime-infested high-rise. John Constantine (our hero) turns up to visit his sister, who lives in the building, and learns of his niece Gemma's disappearance. As he walks around the building searching for her, he bumps into both petty criminals and syndicate-level thugs. He goes to lunch with their kingpin, who tries to stab him with a fork. As he learns where his niece is being held, he also teams up with an ancient woman living with her servants in a huge mansion. Clarice, as she's called, has a portal into Hell where she summons demons to wreak havoc. Having arranged a secret trick to save his niece, Constantine walks over to the kingpin's hideout, planning to rescue her. This title has crisp artwork with simple lines and a sleek, dark look. There are no manga-style exaggerations here; the characters are drawn without bulging muscles, eyes, or expressions. The dialogue between the sarcastic Constantine and everybody else is amusing, although in some episodes the street toughs are maybe a little too easily fooled. However, the language is extra graphic with explicit references to sex acts and constant profanity. Older teens will enjoy it.–John Leighton, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (June 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401204856
• ISBN-13: 978-1401204853
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 0.4 x 10.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #616,729 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The beginnings of Carey's fine run., 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: Red Sepulchre (Paperback)

Mike Carey, John Constantine, Hellblazer: Red Sepulchre (Vertigo, 2003)

Red Sepulchre is the first book in what ended up being a three-book miniseries focusing on Constantine and Angie Spatchcock, neophyte wizard. We're introduced to Angie here, as Constantine meets her while looking for his missing niece, Gemma, and the two of them try to figure out what on Earth's going on with the building where Gemma's parents live. We also get the first bits of information about the Shadow Dog, which we'll meet later on, in another volume.

Carey (Lucifer) was a good choice to bring into the Hellblazer universe; he's lower-key than Garth Ennis, but not so laid-back as Warren Ellis, and his books tend to strike the best balance of the various aspects of Constantine's character. Whether or not that's a good thing I'll leave to the reader to decide but I find them quite enjoyable. *** ½

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hellblazer's return to form, July 16, 2005

By 

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

100 Bullets writer Brian Azzarello's run on Hellblazer had it's share of up's and down's, so when Lucifer scribe Mike Carey took over the writing duties, many hailed this first storyarc as a triumphant return to form for the comic. Collecting the first six issues of Carey's current run on the title, Red Sepulchre finds black magic mage John Constantine returning to his native England and looking to pick up the pieces of the life he left behind. Soon enough though, John ends up smack in the middle of someone's super natural power trip, narrowingly escaping in the process. The second story is the focuspoint of this graphic novel, as John's niece Gemma Masters has disappeared. She herself has become tangled in a plot to find the Red Sepulchre, and John plays his most dangerous game in order to save his beloved niece as well as his own skin. From the first story on, Carey has returned Hellblazer to the gothic and cerebral horror story that Jamie Delano and Garth Ennis before him had made it, taking the series back to it's roots rather than taking a departure the way Azzarello did before him. Preacher artist Steve Dillon provides the pencils of the first story, while series stalwart Marcelo Frusin provides the art of the second story, which for the most part is solid. All in all, Red Sepulchre marks a fine return to form for Hellblazer, and this collection is definitely one of the best graphic novel collections of the entire series.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What is the Red Sepulchre?, June 2, 2008

By 

Jon Repesh (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: John Constantine, Hellblazer: Red Sepulchre (Paperback)

Everybody is after the Red Sepulchre. Acquaintances and strangers, friends and future foes of John Constantine have ostensibly merged their magical and mystical might in the pursuit of this enigmatic entity. The stakes are raised even higher when John's niece Gemma, and consequently John himself, are manipulated to enter the game, but on whose side. And that decision may cause yet another player, the mysterious Map, to ante up as well. Are all their goals the same, and can anyone be trusted? We do eventually learn of the divergent interests of these varied factions, with one wanting to use the Sepulchre to open the doors to the unknown, and the other half wanting to prevent its' appearance from ever occurring. So just what is the Red Sepulchre? By amazing coincidence, a forebear of Constantine's had a gruesome encounter with it years previously, so he knows about its' history and lore. With that knowledge he is able to discern its' location and quickly dispatch it. While this somewhat ineffectual and trite ending was a bit too pat, it did serve its' purpose of closing the current chapter while also setting the stage for another. This tale is the latter part of the trade. It opens with John's return to England from America in an intriguing short story of macabre addiction involving the illicit pleasure of enjoying other people's memories, specifically the sordid ones of tainted tarts, which directly segues into the main story. This compilation was the debut of writer Mike Carey on the title, and kudos to him for successfully continuing the legacy of high quality established by the distinguished writers that had preceded him.