From School Library Journal
Grade 10 Up–John Constantine learns–in part from clues provided in
Black Flowers (DC Comics, 2005)–that an animal spirit from the Garden of Eden escaped before Adam could name it, thus rendering it a protean evil spirit without form or boundary. He holds a séance to destroy it, but mistakenly makes it stronger, releasing its bloody, macabre vengeance upon all of humanity through the collective unconscious. With his niece, his sidekick Angie, and his friend Chas, Constantine makes a last-ditch sacrifice to distract the unnamed beast from his global tide of mutilation in order to save humankind. The volume begins with a short tale showing how Gemma is increasingly following in her uncle's crafty, manipulative footsteps. The artwork is scratchy and moody to good effect, and particularly good at capturing the canny surety of the antiheroic protagonist. The elements of mythology, apocrypha, and high-stakes drama are all in place, and the story is a worthy successor to the long line of mystic apocalypses that the character has faced in the past. However, to portray such infernal matters successfully, the series depicts matters of faith and violence with a particularly cynical hand. Despite excellent craftsmanship, such content and tone will prevent this series from being universally appealing.
–Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, MA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The latest
Hellblazer compilation picks up the exploits of cynical British mage John Constantine where
Black Flowers (2005) left off. As this arc opens, Constantine gathers the world's most powerful sorcerers in an abandoned hotel to prevent the imminent resurrection of the Shadow Dog, a mystical menace as old as mankind. The plan is to channel all the souls of London against the event, but things go terribly awry, and the surviving magicians learn that the Shadow Dog was only the harbinger of a graver threat. Long-standing
Hellblazer artist Marcelo Frusin contributes significantly to the tone of dread here, aided by moody, subtle coloring. Readers who've stuck with the series through its 20-year run will detect more than a whiff of familiarity in the overarching story of Constantine facing overwhelming odds to save the world from an all-powerful supernatural force and in such specifics as Constantine wallowing in self-pity for negligently causing the death of an ally. Well, Batman's been fighting the Joker for three times as many years, and few are complaining.
Gordon FlaggCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
