Blitz Review: Constantine-The Hellblazer #1- Soft John the Hipster

Writers: Ming Doyle & James Tynion IV
Artist: Riley Rossmo
Publisher: DC Comics
Released: 10th June 2015


If you want to read about a fresh-faced, boyband looking hipster John Constantine showing off to a generic comic book cool pink haired girl, flirting with a big bearded man (he's bi-sexual, I know) and having casual sex with a trustafarian girl, then this is the book for you.

The tone is cosy and safe, the art has grit that the story lacks, and there are demons and cigarettes in it. John looks cool in comics, dated on television, so he’s probably best left to the comics. If you want to see him do the usual stuff, here he is.

I can’t be bothered with it. I don’t really see the point. The book isn’t trying to do anything other than be cute. The story was predictable, and the twist at the end was no twist at all.

There’s no edge to the book, no sense of urgency, and no connection to anything that is happening in the real world.

Playing up the bi-sexuality of Constantine in 2015 isn’t edgy, controversial or interesting. It’s tiresome, predictable and extremely politically correct, and probably not even worth me commenting upon here.

Constantine-Hellblazer #1 is a comfortable comic book with an entirely forgettable main narrative. It’s not going to offend anyone, and I guess that’s the entire point. There’s nothing here to get excited about, so it’s one and out for me.

I’ll come back later and check out on John, just to see if anything new, interesting, exciting or relevant is happening. At the moment, he’s just another cute and cuddly character in a mainstream comic book.


Rating: 4/10 (Unthreatening, soft and redundant)