Posts Tagged by john constantine
The End is Really F$&*ing Nigh
| 29 November, 2012 | Posted by Erik Carlson under Uncategorized |
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The last great mainstream anti-hero gets sanitized for your protection…
Over the course of 20 some-odd years, you really get to know a man…even a fictional one. This February, Vertigo Comics puts out the flame that is Hellblazer. After 300 issues. After compelling and shocking stories. After dozens of the industry’s brightest minds and deftest hands. After watching John Constantine age, fall in an out of love, go to prison, go to an asylum, sacrifice his friends, and con his way in and out of Hell, it will be sad to watch him become another bland paper-thin hero in DC’s New 52. He was a magician whose name, in one series, scared the pants off of some of Hell’s most vile and yet the audience never saw the full extend of his magic. He was a rogue and a bastard and his will be missed.
Get your fill of back issues at Fantasy Zone Comics and check out their ebay store, too…
Panels and Troughs – November Previews
| 11 November, 2012 | Posted by Erik Carlson under Uncategorized |
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THE MASSIVE VOL. 1: BLACK PACIFIC TPB
In this first volume of Brian Wood’s new, sprawling postapocalyptic epic, follow the crew of the Kapital from the flooded remnants of Hong Kong to Unalaska, with stops in Antarctica and Mogadishu, as post-Crash ethics and economics are explored across a broken world. Collecting issues #1–#6 of the series, plus three eight page stories fromDark Horse Presents.
Hellblazer #299
DC can suck on rotten eggs. This was the last bastion of tough that the swill drinking company had in them…and it all ends at #300. In part 2 of “Death and Cigarettes,” it’s the funeral to end all funerals! Epiphany finds herself alone, in basic black, mourning the loss of her husband, urban occultist John Constantine.
Goths Rejoice! The Death statue from DC’s Cover Girl Series is here.
Legend of Luther Strode 2 of 6 Image Comics
Rebellion/2000AD went ‘sexy’ on the cover of the American Edition, but the stories are still way more psychedelic and violent than most other books out there…
Yeah, like you could possibly resist that awesomeness that is Frank Frazzetta’s Comet…Go ahead and try…I’ll wait.
Hate life? Despise intelligence? Think that a 4th grade reading level is something to envy…at 23? This is the book for you! Shame on you Paul Jenkins…I hope they drove a cement mixer out of cash to your house or got a relative out of a gulag for you.
Harlan Ellison is the only authority I recognize…
I also need to stop picking my comics two months in advance while under a few drinks in…
Something Nice – Swamp Thing #1
| 11 September, 2011 | Posted by Erik Carlson under Uncategorized |
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Swamp Thing #1
Written by Scott Snyder
Pencils by Yanick Paquette
Frankly, I feel that this is one of the books that will not get the relaunch attention it deserves; despite a guest appearance from Superman. Not because it is a bad book (it’s not), but because Swamp Thing never really gets big love from the masses. It’s presumably hard work to write various sticky situations for an earth elemental and he’s not really as glamorous as any of the big three or their multiple spin-offs.
For those unfamiliar with the saga of the Swamp Thing, scientist Alec Holland, while working on a bio-syrup cure for deserts, is blown up by the secretive Mr. E who wants the formula. Alec’s corpse merges with the formula becomingSwamp Thing who in turn becomes a god in search of self and solitude. Suffice it to say, the book was creepy, dark, and, in more than once instance, nightmare inducing. From original scribe Len Wein to Alan Moore to the more recent relaunch with Swamp Thing’s daughter Tefe this series has always been worth the money. Hell, it even introduced my favorite character of all time – John Constantine (but more on that with Justice League Dark).
Scott Snyder’s (American Vampire) premiere issue does a fantastic job bridging the gap between the glitz of capes and the horror that is trademark of the series. The issue begins with the synchronized death of a majority of earth’s animal population and a powerless Alec searching for life amongst dead wood. Then Superman shows up. And here is where Snyder and Paquette pull a fantastic visual trick that slowly immerses the reader into the nightmare world of Swamp Thing. With the visit of Supes, the sun is shining and Paquette puts that big red cape in every panel. It’s bright, bold, and it’s a great juxtaposition for the reds in the latter half of the book.
Essentially, the writing and art are so strong that it scarcely needs half the dialogue it has. It reminds me of the Alan Moore days when panels would be left wordless so the reader could soak in the horror.
The only detriment to the book is my fear that it will get lost amongst the 51 other titles; many of which are only sub-par at best but have connections to bigger books. I can only hope that the roots of Swamp Thing are deep enough and strong enough to survive the initial harvesting.
Writing: 4/5 – If anything it suffers from too much dialogue. The moodiness and imagery is so strong that most long terms readers are used to having pages of wordlessness. I do understand the necessity though for those just hoping on. However, if you need to have read Brightest Day to suss out why Alec is powerless and alive, you most likely don’t need the exposition.
Art: 5/5 – The panel work here is completely worth gushing over. When the action is calm the actual panels are solid and stable, even appearing as branches. As the evil big bad looms over the story the panels themselves react by shivering and shaking. Since Swamp Thing is connected to the world it makes total sense that such great evil would even shake the roots of the book itself. Brilliant.
Story: 5/5 – This opening tale is strong. Real strong. Support it.
Total: 93.3
Something Nice – Pros and Constantine
| 25 April, 2011 | Posted by Erik Carlson under Uncategorized |
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It was announced this weekend that John Constantine from Vertigo’s Hellblazer will make the move, in part, to the main DC universe. This may not mean much to you, but to me it sucks royally. I say this with full understanding that I promised to only post nice things on this page.
But seriously? What fan of Superman finds themselves thinking, as Hannah pointed out, “Gee, this book is great, but I wish it had a chain-smoking, magic wielding, con artist douche bag in it?” JC is a dark and frightening character who surrounds himself with pain and death. The driving force of the character is that everyone around him dies… horribly…usually mutilated by a demon who wears people’s faces and uses entrails as mittens.
I can only speculate that DC is making the move for one of several reasons:
1) To relaunch Swamp Thing and not have it suck
2) To sleep with Zatanna in the great Paul Dini series
3) To make him an animated, gum-chewing, smart-alec, Keanu Reeves animated Brave and Bold character
4) To piss off Allen Moore. Again.
5) To make a theme park ride at Universal
Make your own guess, but I am laying money on all five of mine.
