What issues correspond to what writers? Which were the best arcs and by whom? Thx.
Wiki has a pretty good reference of all the TPBs and which issues they collect.
We mentioned Hellblazer a couple weeks ago in P. Giddy’s TPB Thread, but basically I think if you’re just looking for a good starting point, you can’t go wrong with Dangerous Habits by Garth Ennis. Lots of people feel it’s the quintessential Hellblazer story.
Other good starting points would be Haunted (Warren Ellis), Empathy Is The Enemy (Denise Mina), and the original graphic novel All His Engines (Mike Carey).
For your reference D.Ronny, and to inflate Zephy’s already out of control comic book nerd ego - here is pretty much all the essential discussion required regarding Hellblazer.
http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?p=4486280#post4486280
To recap…Dangerous Habits (Ennis) is probably the best story, and a good starting point in the trades. Other good trades include Haunted (Ellis) and also Hard Times (Azzarello) which is one of my favourite Hellblazer stories, and I thought Freezes Over (Azzarello) was good too in addition to Empathy Is The Enemy. Those are the highlights.
Definitely pick up All His Engines as well, which as a standalone graphic novel.
Anyone see the Constantine movie? I thought it was pretty decent for a movie, and provided sufficient unintentional comedy from Keanu who honestly wasn’t THAT bad…but just as long as you view it as completely separate from the Hellblazer comic book stories.
so i’ll just skip Delano’s whole original sins+ others run, then. thanks, gents.
i actually own the Dangerous Habits TPB, and it was the first Constantine work i was exposed to (aside from the movie, and as we all know, movies based on comics are usually Bastardized Amalgamations of Random Crap Not to Be Taken Seriously). constantine’s letter to his cab driver buddy was really what drove the story home for me. lvl. 3 graphic novel super right there.
just wanna pop and say i really enjoyed the hellblazer movie even though i fully knew ahead of time the crap they pulled. it still was really enjoyable to me.
[LIST]
[]the entire Ennis run, from Dangerous Habits to Rake at the Gates of Hell
[]the entire Azzarello run, from Hard Time to Highwater
[]Mike Carey’s All His Engines
[]Ellis’ Haunted
[*]anything Old School Delano if you can get your hands on it
[/LIST]
That should be it.
Yeah, I didn’t mean to say that you should skip Delano’s stuff. I am sure most or all of it is good work. I have read some of it and it’s easily just as good as any other Hellblazer run. The Horrorist story was particularly memorable. Alan Moore created Constantine but I think it is fair to say that Delano greatly helped shape him into what he is today. And I’ve read a bunch of Delano’s other stuff and he’s a consistently great writer who’s just under appreciated 'cause he writes books that push the envelope even for Vertigo. Like that one miniseries, World Without End - until I read The Filth, that comic had the title of Mind Breaker. How’s that for comic book nerd ego, Clinty? Boo ya.
Also, Paul Jenkins had a lengthy run on Hellblazer that hasn’t been collected at all for some stupid reason. I have only read a handful of his issues, but they are some damn fine comics. Sean Phillips did the art on Jenkins’ run and to me, Phillips is maybe my favorite Hellblazer artist. I think Hellblazer might’ve been the book that put Phillips on the map, back before he started making bank on Marvel Zombies.
I have never seen the Constantine movie but I am not sure I want to. I remember the trailers and commercials made it really seem like an action movie 'cause he had his holy shotgun. I don’t know what was up with that, dude. I admit I haven’t read even half of every Hellblazer comic ever, but I have never even seen John use a pistol or a firearm of any sort. What was the movie all about? John blowing away demons with a holy shotgun? I don’t know man, that just doesn’t sound like Hellblazer to me. Did Keanu try to act with a British accent or did they just make John an American dude? If I remember correctly, the voice in the trailer called him “ConstanTEEN” and not “Constantine” with the long I sound.
it was a loose adaption of dangerous habits.
the cover the changes in the wiki of the film:
So I just read maxxy’s wiki link. The movie doesn’t sound like it captures the spirit of Hellblazer at all. They could have just called it something else. It’s a good thing Time Warner owns the character. Otherwise the studio would have wasted some money to buy the licensing rights.
a friend of mine picked up the first appearance of John Constantine for like, seven bucks at Mid-Ohio Con today!
Read all but skip the “Fear Machine” arc. If you are going to read it, maybe take some meth or cocaine before you read it so you don’t fall asleep.