Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Review: The Hellblazer #4 (2016)

By Andy Frisk
November 29, 2016 - 21:47

Writer Simon Oliver continues to effectively capture the spirit of the classic Vertigo Hellblazer series. Politics, chicanery, and things that go bump in the night (not to exclude The Swamp Thing) reign here. Moritat's art is dark and moody, as well as reminiscent of legend Klaus Jansen's work, and it fits The Hellblazer perfectly.

Tied up by a bunch of neo-fascist street thugs, lead by a particular talkative thug named "White Boy," Constantine is coerced into teaching White Boy how to win at horses, of course via a little magic rather than luck. Constantine is a tricky bugger though, and things don't go so well for White Boy and his gang.

Oliver is obviously channeling the spirits of Hellblazer writers past and in doing so captures the essence of the character and the franchise perfectly. A dialogue heavy and politically charged as well as relevant story that more than anything forms an aside to the main multi-part story arc currently running through the book, "The Poison Truth Part 4," is the type of side story that made Constantine, as a character and a comic book, great. More importantly, the supernatural elements, while brilliantly handled by Moritat's skillful artwork, remain on the outskirts of the story showing up only in shadowy images, thus making the horror surrounding them even more powerful. Your imagination is always worse than what any one could draw, or show.

The closest John Constantine, as a character and franchise, has gotten to the original series, here's hoping Oliver and Moritat's run last a good long time.

Rating: 9 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12