Hellblazer (1988)

As promised, my latest blog about what I've been reading will be about comics! Those of youfollowing my terror on Facebook will know that I've been reading Hellblazer. A little background: the character of John Constantine first appeared in the DC comic "Swamp Thing" (which, as far as I can tell from a couple of issues, is about a swamp creature who falls in love with a human... Anyway...) and from there got his own series,"Hellblazer", as well as going on to appear in "Swamp Thing", "Sandman" and "Lucifer" occaisionally.

One of my favourite things about Constantine is that he breaks the mould of superheroes by having no super-powers to speak of. He's just a bloke, and not a particularly good bloke at that. When he jumps off a moving train he gets hurt (though luckily he has friends and enemies willing to help mortal out).

Altogether, the Hellblazer universe is different to what you might expect - it's gritty, grimy and, crucially, set in Britain. The storylines, while supernatural, address the kinds of problems besetting Britain at this point at the tail end of Thatcherism; bigotry, unemployment, pollution. That last one is tackled most thoroughly in the most disturbing issue of the run I've read: "On The Beach." It captures the paranoia around nuclear power and nuclear hollocaust in a horrific dream sequence.

And John Constantine is a very British hero in that he smokes like a chimney and has very few redeeming qualities. I do love a good anti-hero, and it doesn't get better than a man who manipulates everyone around him and loses them as a consequence, quite probably by getting them killed. What sustains the series is that this is a character who realises his tragic flaw but is never able to overcome it, only use it to his advantage (and to help him save the world). Even when he gets a little respite it's shortlived.

He also has an iconic look. It's a good bet that even if you don't have a scoobie what I'm on about you would recognise the image: dishevelled hair, tatty trenchcoat and suit and a cigarette always hanging from his mouth. I may have actually cheered when he shed the hippie look for the sharp and dangerous man you can't help but love. There's even a TV Tropes page about it! (And if you've never wasted any time on there before give it a try, it's addictive!) The most obvious rip-off to me is Castiel in Supernatural, which bears a lot of comparison to Hellblazer anyway, who was purposely modelled after JC.

I've been reading the very earliest issues, only the first two years' worth, and the artwork so far is a dark horse. Some panels are beautiful and perfectly done while others are horrible likenesses, barely recognisable as human expressions let alone the characters in question. Overall the writing carries the drawings when they're poor but I do think a few panels could have done with a redraft. The actual covers are brilliant - if I saw those on a stand I would be compelled to look further.

Now, since I've only skimmed the surface here I guess I had better get myself down to the Mitchell Library to enroll. It's one of the cruelest ironies that now that I have moved within touching distance of a good comic book store, I no longer have a regular job and can't afford to indulge. Let's just hope the library is well stocked, since I think that a little bit more of this could convert me from being a Marvel* girl to DC.

Oh, and for everyone's sake don't mention the film.


*though I still love the ensemble basis of the Marvel universe

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