Review: The Hellblazer #17

[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]

Writer: Richard Kadrey

Artists: Davide Fabbri, José Marzán Jr. & Carrie Strachan

 

Summary

A group of magicians blame Constantine for some recent murders and he has to prove that someone else is behind it.

Positives

The cover by Jesus Merino and Carrie Strachan is really cool. I love how colorful it is. Constantine is also very detailed and looks great. I like that he’s wearing a basic t-shirt as opposed to his usual dress shirt and tie.

The interior art features pencils by Davide Fabbri, inks by José Marzán Jr. and colors by Carrie Strachan. It is solid work throughout the issue. The characters are expressive and distinct.

I like the situation Constantine is put in by the end. He has spent the entire issue trying to prove himself trustworthy and there is no way anyone could trust him now. He has such a bad reputation that it’s easy to believe him guilty even when he’s innocent.

 

Negatives

While the ending is exciting and cool, the rest of the story is fairly dull. A lot of time is spent on Constantine recapping the events of the previous issue without much else happening. It’s not terrible but it isn’t engaging for me.

 

Verdict

This is an okay issue. The art is solid throughout and the story takes an interesting direction at the end, but it’s a little dull with too much time spent on recap. The issue works, but is a little dry.

 

 

Sean Blumenshine

Sean Blumenshine

I am currently a senior at Wichita State University studying communications. I started reading comics in 2013 because of how much I loved Man of Steel and season one of Arrow. My favorite hero is the Green Arrow and my favorite villain is the Joker.