Never make a deal with a fairy.
Creative Staff:
Story: Ming Doyle, James Tynion IV
Art: Travel Foreman, Joseph Silver
Colors: Ivan Plascencia
What They Say:
The demonic mogul Neron’s plans come to fruition as New York City becomes a one-stop shop for any and all kinds of magic, open to the public and completely unregulated. But John Constantine is trapped in the one place he hoped he’d never go: the magical realm of Faerie, home to tricksters so skilled that even the Hellblazer can’t bluff his way home in time to save humanity from itself.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Constantine’s exploits are the kind that definitely hit a certain sweet spot because we get to the underbelly of things in a way that, no matter how surreal, still manage to feel grounded. Doyle and Tynion have captured that well across this series so far in that we know these are seedy places, dangerous places, but there’s a real allure to it at the same time. Bringing these elements to life often come across as forced in other books, a kind of grittiness that doesn’t feel authentic, but when dealing with a world of magic and demons this team has found a way to actually make it feel authentic. Thankfully, guest artist Travel Foreman and Joseph Silver step into that world well here and captured that just right.
With Constantine’s journey now having landed him in the realm of the fairies, well, things are pretty bleak there. The opening couple of pages makes it very clear just how brutal and disturbing these characters can be and that there is a dark side beyond a dark side when it comes to them. This isn’t new to anyone who has followed fairy material across a range of literatures, but I like seeing how it’s presented here, especially with the gorgeous coloring we get digitally from Plascencia. his work across this series has been great, especially the demon world stuff, but the fairy material lets him cut loose in a really vibrant way that I don’t think would come through the same in print. Constantine’s adventure here isn’t exactly long, but I love how we get into the mindset of the fairy’s easily enough and discover exactly how to manipulate things. Constantine’s always got an edge of some sort, certainly not the most above the board type, and it comes in handy with his escape back to the real world.
While that dominates the first half, and we get a little more rumblings of what the demons are up to in their plan to gain a firm footing in the real world to expand with, a lot of the book focuses on the Constantine and Oliver dynamic. His rescue of Oliver is almost a little comical, almost a little sweet, but mostly filled with some right proper urgency in trying to get him out of the city since he knows what’s coming. It takes an odd turn, but not an unexpected one, when he discovers that Oliver has a couple of kids. Considering his own past and ties to magic there’s no surprise that he instantly cuts Oliver off no matter what he actually feels. Constantine’s lost so much over the years that involving kids is something he refuses to do so his reaction, though harsh and blunt, is exactly what you’d expect. The anger and frustration that we get from Oliver may feel a little forced considering how little they’ve known each other overall, but considering what he just saw it’s hard to imagine him not wanting to give it up, to try and understand that world a bit more.
In Summary:
Constantine is moving closer to the big event here and there’s a lot to like. This is a quieter book overall in a way yet it’s one that’s more personal. The back half plays to some good character material that makes me like Oliver more while still fully understanding Constantine’s reaction to everything. Watching his adventure with the fairy and knowing what’s coming has him essentially cutting back on connections now so as to not cause pain or to have pain inflicted upon him because of actions. Doyle and Tynion certainly handle it all well and Foreman and Silver are solid artists that capture the look of the book just right while not mimicking Rossmo’s style. There’s a good flow to it here and I like the layouts and designs, it just lacks some of the really neat hooks and tweaks that Rossmo puts into it. I’ve enjoyed Foreman’s work before and I definitely like what he brings to the table here.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: March 9th, 2016
MSRP: $2.99
