John Constantine, Hellblazer: The Fear Machine

Written by: Jamie Delano, illustrated by Mark Buckingham, Richard Piers Rayner, Mike Hoffman and Alfredo Alcala
Year of Publication: 2008, first published monthly as John Constantine, Hellblazer issue 14 (December 1988) to issue 22 (September 1989)
Number of Pages: 239 pages
Genre: Graphic novels, horror, supernatural

Summary: Occultist and magician John Constantine is accused of a murder he didn't commit. On the run in the English countryside he befriends a group of New Age travellers in particular a young girl named Mercury, who has strong psychic powers, and her mother Marj. He decides to join up with them, until one morning the camp is raided and Mercury is kidnapped. Constantine determines to track her down and follows the trail to London. He discovers that Mercury is being held by a sinister organization who want to use her psychic powers as part of a devestating new weapon known as the Fear Machine. However, Constantine soon realises that the Fear Machine is just part of a much wider conspiracy which reaches to the upper echelons of power in Britain. A conspiracy that is attempting to awaken a powerful supernatural force, older and more terrible than anything that Constantine has yet faced, and he may be far too late to stop it.

Opinions: One of the most striking things about the Hellblazer comic-book series is the way it blends supernatural horror with a recognisable, gritty reality. Another element that sets it apart is the character of John Constantine himself, a charismatic and fundamentally well-intentioned man who nevertheless is very much an antihero, who frequently manipulates, discards and endangers both friends and lovers, who frequently loses and who, when he does win, often does so more through luck than skill.
This story is a good example of early Hellblazer which, despite some of the aspects of the story coming across as quite dated now, nevertheless still stands up well. The only criticism really is that the conclusion is kind of rushed and leaves a lot of questions unanswered. However for the most part the story is interesting and complex and also very bleak, but it also features plenty of the comic's trademark strain of dark humour. Some of the artwork is a little crude when compared to more recent comics but it serves it's purpose, and the original issue covers by Dave McKean and Kent Williams (which are reproduced in this volume) are very impressive.
Another good point about the Hellblazer series is that it is relatively accessible to newcomers. Most of the storylines can be read without having read any of the others in the series, and this one is no exception although there are a few references early on to events that presumably occured in an earlier story.
While this might not be the ideal introduction to the Hellblazer universe, it can still be enjoyed by non-fans, and fans of the series will certainly like it.

John Constantine, Hellblazer: Original Sins

Written by: Jamie Delano, illustrated by John Ridgway and Alfredo Alcala
Year of Publication: 1992, first published monthly as John Constantine, Hellblazer issues 1-9 in 1988
Number of Pages: 256 pages
Genre: Graphic novel, horror, supernatural

Summary: John Constantine is at first glance an ordinary working-class Englishman from Liverpool. However he is a powerful magician and exists in a shadowy world of black magic, demonic forces and the ghosts of old friends and lovers. Here Constantine finds himself pitted against a grotesque hunger demon bent on consuming the inhabitants of New York, yuppies from Hell who are buying and selling with human souls as currancy, Vietnam ghosts attacking the inhabitants of a small town in America, and sinister religious cults at the vanguard of a catastrophic war between the forces of Heaven and Hell. Through it all only Constantine can save the world, providing he's stocked up on cigarettes and can get down to the pub before it shuts.

Opinions: John Constantine was originally created by Alan Moore in 1985 in the ground-breaking The Saga of the Swamp Thing comic-book series. The Swamp Thing itself, by the way, has a brief cameo in this book. Constantine came about because the artists Stephen R. Bissette and John Totleben, who were both fans of the rock group The Police, approached Moore with the desire a character who looked like Sting. In 1988 Constantine made his debut in his own monthly comic-book John Constantine, Hellblazer which has been published continuously since. Incidentally, the title was originally going to be Hellraiser but was changed to avoid confusion with the 1987 Clive Barker film of the same name.
This book contains the first nine issues of Hellblazer. The book mostly consists of one or two part stories but soon introduces an overall story arch linking them. This is as good an introduction to the Hellblazer universe as anything, although one of the advantages of the comic series is that it is very accessible to newcomers. The series belongs to the genre of urban horror. It takes place in a recognisable time and place, and deals with a lot of the real world political and social problems. It was orginally published in the late 1980s and there is a lot about life in Margaret Thatcher's Britain. Constantine himself is a very morally ambiguous character. Essentially a good person, with a conscience, he tries to do the right thing but is severely flawed and is not averse to using his friends and lovers even if it costs them their lives, and lives with horrible guilt because of it. He is also cowardly and something of a con-man.
The stories are well written and witty and complemented by some decent artwork.