Hellblazer #216 Book review

And here is another new vic… uhm.. Writer for the PCU, Vivek Gopal. Vivek is originally from India but has lived in the U.S. since he was 18. He recently received my B.A in comparative Literature from the University of Buffalo and is currently he is planning on going back to school for his Ph. D. You can reach him through the PCU for now.
Raised by wolves, he once fought off pirates on the coast of Mandalay while trying to protect a cargo of colorblind Chinese pandas.

Hellblazer is the comic that everyone reveres but no one reads (much like my beloved Arrested Development). In my many shame filled years of the love that dare not speak its name (comics and arguing whether Duckula could take on Darkwing Duck in mortal combat) I've rarely come across people buying Hellblazer. Sure, many diehard Sandman fans are familiar with John Constantine and his role in the Sandman mythos but most people I know were interested in the character of Constantine and the script the movie was based on (Garth Ennis' most excellent 'Bad Habits' arc) and would borrow/try a few titles.

So apart from the question of "Who reads Hellblazer?" our question for today is "How is Denise Mina's take on Constantine?" Mina is a celebrated crime novelist (and I must admit to unfamiliarity with her work) and her style is vastly different from the many other writers that have taken the Constantine challenge.

This is where reviewing this gets tricky as Hellblazer has over 200 issues, dedicated solely to John Constantine (and numerous one shots and specials). His character is pretty set at this point and there's not much that one can change so I sympathize with Mina's problem here.

When you are taking a title that has elements of everything (from Jamie Delan's anti-Thatcher runs to Warren Ellis' Magic-as-information run and even Garth Ennis' John-has-gotten-his-friends-killed run) there's not a whole lot you can do. Brian Azzarello being the exception as the only American writer on the series -who began his run by having Constantine incarcerated in an American prison complex- good stuff!!

Hellblazer 216 opens with a moping Constantine approached by a stranger who needs his help with a spell gone awry. Now this is familiar ground for Hellblazer readers and where Mina's style begins to show its flaws. Being a novelist, her narrative style is a little off, not fully taking advantage of Leonard Manco's art. At times we're not sure if the narrative is addressed at Constantine or us and it becomes hard to tell flashbacks from foreshadowed moments.

It's hard to judge the script fully since this is merely 1 of 7 issues that Mina is doing and based solely on 216 it looks like it might make a better novel than comic. Manco's art is fantastic, rough and raw in the right places, incredibly detailed and shadowed where called for.

If forced to assign a letter grade, I would give Hellblazer 216 a B- for what looks like it might be an interesting script and Manco's art and Lee Loughridge's colours. For first time Hellblazer readers, I'd recommend a trade of either Ennis's run or Mike Carey's 'All his Engines' which is a great stand alone story about John Constantine.