I've been aware of Constantine for a long time, mostly through cross-overs with other comics, and the Reeves movie (which I actually liked sorry for the heresy) I hadn't really read through much of his actual stuff though.Jumping into Original Sins I was surprised at a few things, one is just how heavily politicized it was. Constantine takes on skin-heads, demons during election year, supports a friend with AIDS and pops over the U.S. to witness a Vietnam flashback. I dunno why I was so surprise...

I was in love with John Constantine.******This is a re-read for me. I originally read the graphic novels around 1990/91. The rating (given from memory so many years later) comes from the feeling that I had when I read these stories about Constantine - I loved these stories and the more I read, the more I loved them.The re-read stems from the fact that I'm watching the TV show Constantine. I wanted to refresh my memory about these stories. I'd forgotten so much. I had forgotten that Zed was a cha...

The fact that so many of these reviews say something along the lines of "It's not as good as the movie!" or "Too much political commentary and the art is dated!" just goes to show that some people - comic book readers in particular - are interested solely in watching entertainment with eyes glazed over. Others are more interested in learning something and seeking literary substance. Most comics merely provide the former, so just let us have a few intelligent comics without complaining that they

I don't know what keeps me coming back to the Hellblazer comic. Perhaps it's the fact that there's a good collection of them at the library, and I know more or less what to expect from them, at least in terms of literary quality. Perhaps it's the artwork, which is the usual Vertigo, very grisly and colorful and fun to look at. I certainly don't much like the overall joyless cynicism of this world, or the overtly, insulting and pandering political jabs that pop up every other issue. I don't like

Before I start my review of what is a truly good comic, I'd like to climb on my soapbox for a brief moment in response to Delano's Leftist screed, which for some reason was included in the intro of my volume, wherein he wastes my time declaring his hatred for Thatcher and Bush (the father). Um thanks for that Jamie Delano. But see..here's the thing- if I wanted to listen to leftist lectures I'd read Howard Zinn, who at least has a PhD from Columbia and did Post-Doc work at my Alma Mater (a littl...

It took me so long to read this that I've forgotten most of it. That's what having a two month old and sleeping like crap will do to you. I'll revisit Hellblazer again sometime down the road since I like the character.

2.5 stars. I was torn between 2 and 3 stars on this one and ended up with 2.5. Better than okay but not quite "I like it" material. Let's just call it pretty good. Part of the reason this doesn't rate higher is that I know some of the later Hellblazer work is outstanding and so this suffers from comparison.

Hellblazer is one of the more long-running of Vertigo’s graphic novel series and has had at least half a dozen different writers. I’d read one of the trade paperbacks before and wasn’t fantastically impressed, but Original Sins by Jamie Delano (who was the first writer to work on this series) has won me over. As written by Delano the notorious John Constantine, working-class sorcerer and bad boy, really is an intriguing character. He’s bad-tempered, arrogant, somewhat selfish, very unscrupulous,...

This is the very first volume that will span one of the longest running series for Vertigo, and I can honestly say that John Constantine was not an easy man to love at all. Fortunately enough for this comics, he curiously remains a readily compelling titular character for the Hellblazer series. A man of action, deep thought and snarky humor, Constantine can win us over if he'd just bother trying yet he also manages to effortlessly cruise the pages of this book with an enigmatic charm that manage...

Damn, Jamie Delano really did write the best version of Hellblazer. All John Constantine is and will be is already present in this one first novel. The first story, about Mnemoth, is perfect, all that Hellblazer is and should be. The Tatcher story is a cute and fitting gag, the third is mostly setup for John's family, the Damnation and Redemption armies, the vietnam story is horrifying. John comes across as the ultimate anti-hero, a coward, a basket case. It's amazing how our general image of hi...

I'm not sure I can say I like this. The subject matter is quite unpalatable, really. I do have this attraction to occult detective stories, and that's Hellblazer in a nutshell. Constantine is not what I'd call a good man. His compass is flawed, but in his own way, he does try to make things right or do the right thing, even if it's for selfish reasons. He considers himself neutral in the good versus evil war. However, his acts more often than not add to the good side of things. If not, I probabl...

This is where it all started. This first volume of Hellblazer set the tone for the decades of John Constantine stories to follow. And it was a pretty good start.We have here a horror comic that ventures well into the realm of the weird. It isn't so much the story itself but some of the happenings within the story. We start off with an African hunger demon loose in America. Then we find demons posing as yuppies trading human souls as commodities. (Some symbolism there to be sure.) Then we have a

I enjoyed the 80s British politics, with skinheads and Maggie Thatcher. Good writing and I liked the colour in this volume.

It says a lot for a horror/dark fantasy graphic novel series to have a successful run of nearly 30 years. That’s a good run in any genre, especially in the comic book industry. “John Constantine, the Hellblazer”, the longest-running series in the DC Vertigo line, started in 1987 and ran until 2013. It was resurrected in other titles, and, as of today, is still going. The series inspired a major motion picture and a short-lived NBC TV series.I’m not sure why I waited this long to finally read “He...

The 1992 and 1993 prints of "Original Sins" collect Hellblazer issues #1-9, the first nine issues of the series. The new 2011 printing also includes Swamp Thing #76 and #77, in which John makes his first comics appearance.These issues were originally published in 1987/1988, just as the Vertigo imprint was coming into existence -- while most other comics were still in the old "spandex-suited superheroes" game. So be aware -- the colors are often a bit garish and weird, the quality of the art lack...

There is just something about the asshole antihero that makes me weak in the knees -- and John Constantine is an A-grade asshole. He frequently (and sometimes randomly) abuses the people around him in a way that's both shameless and hilarious. Character aside, the plots work, they're fast-paced and they're twined together, and the comic book dialogue snaps and crackles when it's not drowning in deliciously cheesy bombast. To be honest, about the only criticism I have here is that some of these s...

You all know how much I love Constantine. I have brought it up quite a bit in every area of my life so I am obviously thrilled to be re-reading this amazing series. Constantine is my everything. I have loved him from the age of 12 when I first picked this exact collection up and I still adore him to this day.

I really *want* to love this. Creepy as all hell, and Constantine makes for an intriguing reluctant paranormal crusader anti-hero. Maybe it's just inherent to the medium of graphic novels and me not being used to it, but the storytelling feels disjointed and fragmentary and I just can't get invested.

The beginning is horrible. Especially the second story. And I didn't care much for the art either. It gets interesting towards the end where a story spans several issues and "the plot thickens" but overall it's not that interesting. [second read]: the first story seems better now (Constantine really is a bastard, and that story makes it clear from the beginning). Jamie Delano really hated Margaret Thatcher apparently, as the second story is full of associations between her and demons, devil spaw...

This totally throws you into the world of Constantine from beginning to end and it's just utter crackers and it's such a good read if you're after something slightly bizarre. Constantine is a proper geezer, his accent is all over the place he's a bit of a trash bag to be honest, he's a complete mess and nine times out of ten he just makes any situation worse, but that trench coat wearing trash bag tries his best. At first it comes across as a bunch of collected stories with Constantine having to...