About book Constantine, Vol. 1: The Spark And The Flame (2014)
3.5 Stars.This having been my first foray (sort of) into the comic world of John Constantine (never read Hellblazer, but have read some JLD), I'm impressed so far. Another great outing from Jeff Lemire... really liking all his New 52 work.Art style fits very well with the story and Constantine himself shows a lot of depth and inner turmoil.Looking forward to seeing where the DC realm of magic is taken through him.Recommend, especially is you like Lemire or unconventional heroes. As a longtime reader of Vertigo's Hellblazer, I cringed when I found out they were doing a New 52 Constantine. Would they try to fancy up John, make him more kid-friendly? While there is a bit of that, we still get the core of what Constantine is about - John deals with all the really nasty mystic baddies so nobody else has to. Ok, it's not all altruism; he does get some benefits. And like he says in about the second issue, the magical power is like a drug; he'd be doing magic even if it cost him everything he had - and really, it just about has.The thing I liked least: making Zatarra and Sargon bad guys. Mister E has always answered to a different set of morals, but Z and Sargon were always good guys in the old books.One of the things I liked most: the bit with Captain Marvel. If you read the book you know what I'm talking about. Just wish it'd lasted longer. I'm a big fan of those "what if X had the power of Y" Elseworlds comics.
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Smart, complex, and one of the best characters in the New 52. Great read!
—Logidude
