Rules are stupid.
Creative Staff:
Story: Ming Doyle, James Tynion IV
Art: Eryk Donovan
Colors: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Letters: Tom Napolitano
What They Say:
John Constantine has been to Hell so many times it feels like home-and he knows that it’s no place to leave two scared little girls trapped. He’s got one shot to save Oliver’s kids, but he’ll have to fight Faerie, Blythe, Papa Midnite and a host of even worse things while he tries to fix this latest mistake.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With this installment of Constantine: The Hellblazer, another of the “fringe” series has come to a close as Rebirth gets underway. I’ve long loved the character and I delighted at the approach that Doyle and Tynion worked out with the run, though the arcs were a tad longer than needed to be. But the series finishes off with this installment and a new creative team takes over in July when it becomes just Hellblazer. While the series wowed me with my first time seeing Riley Rossmo’s art back at the beginning, things close out here with Eryk Donovan once again, who brings a similar sense of style about it but with his own take that works well. The character has almost always had artists that provide things a little askew and Donovan fits in quite well within it and I could see him really warming up to the world with more time with the property.
In closing out this arc we get Doyle and Tynion doing what they need to in actually providing closure, to some degree. Constantine’s life is not one that will have closure even when he dies a final death so there’s an implicit understanding there. What we see here is him attempting to redeem himself to some degree but mostly just trying to do right after doing so much wrong by involving Oliver in his life. So seeing him working to stop Neron and what he’s doing means a whole lot of trickery on a grand scale since the entirety of New York City is on the line with its souls for decades to come. While I would have liked a little more Papa Midnite with it, watching how Constantine essentially regifts the entire city to Alexandriel is quite hilarious, even if it won’t be remembered in the long run as I’m assuming this series will mostly be jettisoned. But it’s a great sequence and the kind of playing of demons that I like watching.
When it goes to deal with the epilogue side of things for Oliver, well, you know things won’t go quite as planned. His intent to save Oliver’s daughter’s souls is the driving point behind a lot of what he did and he works that deal as you’d expect. I loved seeing him saying it point blank to Oliver that he’d done it, obviously not expecting anything and nearly insisting that Oliver will never see him again after that, but watching as the truth of what Oliver did while Constantine was away is brutal. It’s here that Donovan gets to shine with his artwork as we see the deal that Oliver made, the harsh nature of it when it comes to his kids, and the reality that he has to face with the foolish choice he made. It’s somewhat standard fare material for this genre, but the team here pulls it off and it’s one of those moments that’s leaving a black mark and weight on Constantine’s soul and heart.
In Summary:
Constantine: The Hellblazer ends solidly enough as it brings this arc and this series to a close. I love having Constantine as a part of my regular reading rotation and the team here did a really good job with it over the past year while trying to walk the balancing act of being in the mainstream DC universe while leaning heavily toward its old Vertigo side. With a lack of superheroes and just some brief cameos before for some of the other magical characters, it largely stood on its own which was a huge part of its appeal for me alongside Doctor Fate and The Omega Men, a trio of books that gave me some great reading during their runs. I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for these creators in the future as they produced some solid storytelling and I’ll definitely be back when Constantine is ready to take us through more of his slice of the world.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: June 8th, 2016
MSRP: $2.99
