Posted in: Comics, DC Comics, Review | Tagged: carrie strachan, christian dalla vecchia, davide fabbri, dc comics, fantasy, hellblazer, huntress, john constantine, justice league, justice league dark, magic, occult, superheroes, tim seeley

Hellblazer #24 Review: A Mixed Bag Representative of Constantine Himself

John Constantine is at the mercy of a mob boss' spirit in the body of an ex-girlfriend. Burke Day is in the body of Margaret Ames, and the Huntress incapacitated across the room. This looks like it maybe it for the old Hellblazer as Burke sucks the soul from John's body. Constantine has one more gambit left in him, and that is turning Margaret into a vampire and offering the Huntress as a replacement body for Burke.

Thus, we return to the semi-regular show, "Josh takes a look at the last issue of an ending series." This week, we look at Hellblazer #24.

I've had some experience with John Constantine thanks to crossovers as well as the previous iterations of Justice League Dark and Constantine titles. I've not read the original Hellblazer series, so you can be mad at me for being young and under-read again.

Anyway, how does this one stack up? Mixed.

The non-stop cavalcade of Britishisms straddles the line of comedic and unbearable. John's goofiness makes him hard to take seriously at times, but, the next thing you know, he's opening a literal portal to Hell in his chest. Huntress comes off as a plot device, but then she has a dramatic character moment.

The comic simultaneously bites off more than it can chew while knowing exactly the kind of book it's selling.

In a way, that's about as John Constantine as it gets.

What is harder to apologize for is the artwork, which stays fairly mediocre throughout the book. Huntress and Margaret are given ludicrous proportions, and the stylism isn't distinct or appealing enough o make up for those choices. I'll admit Constantine's face is given some immaculate detailing, but that isn't prevalent enough to excuse the rest of it. The color work is solid though, often giving a good color gradient in decent number of panels. Even that is marred by some rather stark pages though.

Hellblazer #24 is a decent read. It has some distinctly Constantine moments and an enjoyably vague yet confident conclusion. There are some moments that don't quite click, and the art isn't great. However, the overall product amounts to more than the sum of its parts, and I can recommend it. Feel free to pick it up.

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