hellblazer

[halo2994]

i just bought and read Stages of the Cross today, after rereading Stareing at the Walls.

I must say that no comic book has got me this interrested in a long time and no comic character has intreaged me quite like John Constatine.

but...those are the only two Hellblazer books i have read, so i still consider myself sort of a newb about it.

but after getting burned out on superheros several years ago, the very graphic and realistic setting is nice IMHO.

does anyone else here share my love with Constatine or am i alone? it has been years since i have even paid much attention to the comic scene, so can anyone give me a rough idea of how populare these books are and if the storyline is even still going on?

thanks guys.
-halo

[Dhavaer]

I've only read a few of the comics, and I don't think I've ever finished out, but yeah, they're good.

[Jack_Banzai]

If I were you, I'd go back to the very beginning and grab some of the Alan Moore Swamp Thing reprints in which the character is introduced. Then I'd grab Original Sins and work from there.

[Michael_Proteau]

I agree with Jack Banzai-check out Constantine's early appearances in Alan Moore's Swamp Thing. He also plays an interesting part in Neil Gaiman's Books of Magic which introduced the Tim Hunter character ( a young Brit boy introduced to a world of magic and the fantastic) years before Harry potter ever hit the shelves).

I like the character of Constantine, but I have to say I have felt he has always worked better as a supporting character in a larger story than as a protagonist carrying his own story. His solo series has always been uneven, some good stories mixed in with some bad ones, even within runs by the same creative teams. I like the early solo stories by Jamie Delano best, but other runs have had interesting takes on the character. Still, there were some stinkers of stories even among those.

-M

[comicshorse]

Hellblazer has about 224 issues and still going. It has had its up's and downs, though more up than down in my opinion.
My personal favourite storyline is Garth Ennis's 'Dangerous Habits', which has been collected in a book of the same name.

[halo2994]

it is funny.

when i was a kid Swamp Thing was a cartoon show on saturday morning, it was kind of like Captian Planet. there was also a Swamp Thing tv show on USA network that was kind of hit or miss, and then there were those Swamp Thing movies.

but i never have read a Swamp Thing comic, i never even knew it was a horror comic.

i think it is funny that something i liked so much as a kid would be the source of something i like so much later in life.

and yeah the art did take some getting used to though.

-halo

[Jack_Banzai]

Hellblazer has about 224 issues and still going. It has had its up's and downs, though more up than down in my opinion.
My personal favourite storyline is Garth Ennis's 'Dangerous Habits', which has been collected in a book of the same name.

Though I feel that Garth Ennis as a whole is an extremely overrated author (his run on Punisher was atrocious), the Dangerous Habits storyline really is a pretty decent read. I preferred his writing with Will Simpson's art to his later stuff with Steve Dillon, whose art I find to be rather uninspired.

[comicshorse]

Apologies for going off-topic for a minute but I feel compelled to defend Garth Ennis. While he has done some poor stuff ( 'Just a Pilgrim', springs to mind) he has done some of the best comics ever IMHO. Hellblazer, Kev.,Hitman and Demon are all fantastic books.
In reference to his Punisher run do you mean the first 12 issue maxi-series with Ma Gnucci ( o.k. to good), the second series ( very spotty, with some appalling guests spots but some great stories, particularly the Wolverine cross-over). You can't mean his current run : Kitchen Irish, the Slavers, etc have been some of the greates Punisher stories ever.

[comicshorse]

O.K. I know double posting is frowned on but as I seem to have shoot this thread in the head, let me try to revive it.
Votes on best supporting character in Hellblazer ( your not allowed Chas, as that is too obvious).
Who is it : Header, Ric the Vic, Brendan, Swamp Thing, Angie, etc.
Personally I'd go for Gemma Constantine, his neice. And the next Constantine

[Jack_Banzai]

O.K. I know double posting is frowned on but as I seem to have shoot this thread in the head, let me try to revive it.
Votes on best supporting character in Hellblazer ( your not allowed Chas, as that is too obvious).
Who is it : Header, Ric the Vic, Brendan, Swamp Thing, Angie, etc.
Personally I'd go for Gemma Constantine, his neice. And the next Constantine

Rick the Vic.

I'm sorry, Garth Ennis seems to me to be rewriting the same half-dozen stories or so again and again. His plotting seems to take a backseat to sensationalistically grotesque situations. And I am really, really sick of Brendan Behan being mentioned in MFing comic books.

[halo2994]

I've not read too many of them, but i am rathe fond of Gemma.

-halo