By: Jamie Delano
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Series: Hellblazer: New Editions (#1)
Summary: The very first Hellblazer collection Original Sins is available in a new edition that includes John Constantine’s appearances in Swamp Thing. This is the first of a series of new Hellblazer editions starring Vertigo’s longest running antihero, John Constantine, England’s chain-smoking, low-rent magus. This first collection is a loosely connected series of tales of John’s early years when Constantine was at his best and at his worst, all at the same time.
Review: John Constantine is an apathetic, somewhat amoral occultist who always comes out on top through a combination of luck, trickery, and genuine magic. Discover a protagonist who showcases both their greatest strengths and flaws in this innovative Vertigo comic series...
I was unsure whether to give this a one or two-star rating.
Until reading this, I never understood the hype for Hellblazer or John Constantine... Despite all the hype, I don’t understand why people are so excited about it.
All characters, including Constantine himself, say that he is cool. Aside from that, he sometimes works on paranormal events, making them worse and becoming dreadfully uninteresting.
Hellblazer challenges me. Despite its lame content, I’m tempted to read the second collection, probably because I cannot believe something this lame got so popular for some major leap in quality. It’s not all based on misremembered nostalgia from their youth that makes the world love this character so much? There’s a deeper phenomenon here that eludes me. I’m going to give the second collection a try to see what I can learn. I’m determined to find out why everyone loves this character so much.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see whether the second collection will provide the answer.