Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Garth's Stand-Alones are the Best, January 3, 2003
I'm not sure why everyone's so disappointed with this collection. I think it ranks right up there with DANGEROUS HABITS, Ennis' first collection. The mutli-part epic Hellblazer stories are always good, but you cannot beat Garth Ennis for small, personal stories, which TAINTED LOVE has in spades."Down all the Days" and "Rough Trade" are from issues #68 and #69 and feature the King of the Vampires (first introduced in #50). Forget Buffy for a second, Garth's take on vampires is fantastic and truly original (as fans of PREACHER already know). The King is as great a vampiric character as any ever created. "Tainted Love" was a short story from VERTIGO JAM #1. A great little horror story from John's past featuring a demonic adversary familiar to Constantine fans. "Heartland" is from #70, and focuses on Kit's return to Ireland. It's a testament to Garth's writing that a story about the main character's girlfriend is every bit as good as any regular issue. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't read a comic about Spider-Man's wife. "Finest Hour", from #71, is another all-time favorite story of mine. And again, John is barely in it (only a coincidence, it's not like I don't like him or something). John falls asleep near the grave of a fighter pilot and relives the last few moments of his life. "Confessional" is from the one-shot HELLBLAZER SPECIAL. It features a teenage John, an insane pederast preacher, and the First of the Fallen, and leads into the story arc "Rake at the Gates of Hell" from #78-83 (never collected, unfortunately). So yeah, John is drunk and homeless the entire time, there are no big demons or magic tricks, and no cons pulled. But these are still some damn good stories for fans of horror, drama, comedy and...well, just entertainment in general.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best of "Hellblazer," served in all temperatures., February 10, 2000
By A Customer
These stories are a revelation, both into the startling talents of Ennis and Dillon and for pointing the way towards a more emotionally mature mainstream comic industry.Sure, there's plenty of "Preacher"-style over the top stuff here: If Constantine isn't bleeding, he's vomitting or urinating, often on a humiliated enemy. But we also get emotional depths DC/Vertigo books are all alleged to have, but rarely do. In particular, the absolute finest "Hellblazer" story ever, "Heartland," doesn't ever feature John in the story directly, but his absence haunts Kit, his ex-girlfriend, as she flees home to Dublin. It's a story that conveys the bittersweet feeling of loving someone not good for you, and making that wise move of staying away from them, even through the pain. This is smart, funny, touching, scary and, yes, horrific stuff. Absolutely brilliant fiction.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sure it's depressing, but..., April 18, 2001
...but that's the whole point of it. And if you actually read it, instead of just looking for the most Preacheresque or horrific panel, there's a really touching story about the difficulties of fitting personal demons (not necessarily of the hoofed kind) and a sensible love story in the same life. Oh, and reading this book does make any subsequent cocky exploit of mr. Constantine even more exhilarating to read. Really.
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