Hellblazer: Haunted

Rating:
Summary: After reading this book, you might need a shower
Review: I'm a fan of the 'Hellblazer' series and John Constantine. I'm a fan of Warren Ellis' work on 'Transmetropolitan' and 'The Authority'. I can't say I'm a fan of John Higgins, but I enjoyed his work on Garth Ennis' 'War Stories: D-Day Dodgers'. But in 'Haunted', there's a problem. Something's missing.

The story is interesting, but not fantastically so. It's a murder, but not much of a mystery. Constantine knows who the killer is pretty soon into the narrative, and we just have to wait to see how he deals with him. 'Haunted' is not a tale for the uninitiated reader. All of the John Constantine stories rely heavily on the rich continuity of the character, and this one is no exception. There are only a couple of characters in this story that aren't loathsome in one way or another. London is pictured as the hell of urban hells, or written that way, rather, since Higgins' art is a bit too clean to comunicate the vision that Ellis seems to have in mind. This book really just gives you an icky feeling.
Overall, there's just not enough impact in this tale. There are a few good moments, but the web that holds them together is weak and ratty, and not really worth following unless you're a dedicated Ellis and/or Hellblazer fan.

Rating:
Summary: A GRIMY TALE OF REVENGE
Review: John Constantine is one of the more unique comic book characters. An anti-hero in every sense of the word. No super powers to speak of Constantine is a foul, and foul-mouthed, chain-smoking part wizard, part detective, part demonologist. His is a world lower than the most seedy underbelly. He's a man who has seen the kind of death, sorrow, and evil that would drive the average man insane, and perhaps has already done so to Constantine.

This Warren Ellis tale tells of an old lover named Isabelle who is horribly murdered. John investigates to find that his old friend had died as a cheap prostitute barely living on the fringes of society. John eventually finds out she came under the domination of a rival mage who did unspeakable things to her before killing her. REluctantly John needs help and calls upon a couple of old friends. The ending...well, to say the ending was one of the more disturbing things I've ever read or seen in a comic would be understating it. It's not pretty, but then that is Constantine's world. The graphic novel was illustrated by John Higgins and while I'm not crazy about some of these more abstract comic artists, his gritty style certainly fit the story.

Rating:
Summary: Haunted again, Revenge, again
Review: Not one of the better Constantine tales; this time out Constantine is out to get a fellow magician who destroyed an old girlfriend, by way of Aleister Crowley's "Scarlet Woman." With rather stiff art by John Higgins, this standard tale of vengeance is only enhanced by Ellis's glimpses of the down and dirty side of London. Perhaps this is the actual reason for the story; it gives Ellis the option to wax poetic. If so, it's too bad he couldn't have attached it to a more compelling story.

Rating:
Summary: Haunted again, Revenge, again
Review: Not one of the better Constantine tales; this time out Constantine is out to get a fellow magician who destroyed an old girlfriend, by way of Aleister Crowley's "Scarlet Woman." With rather stiff art by John Higgins, this standard tale of vengeance is only enhanced by Ellis's glimpses of the down and dirty side of London. Perhaps this is the actual reason for the story; it gives Ellis the option to wax poetic. If so, it's too bad he couldn't have attached it to a more compelling story.

Rating:
Summary: Bloody Great!
Review: The most interesting aspect of this book, and several of the others, is the fact that John Constantine rarely uses magic. It's his trademark, aside from arrogance and a trench coat, but I've found the best stories deal almost exclusively with the man.

In this volume, our chain-smoking hero tries to hunt down the killer of one of his ex's, whose spirit is now trapped on earth. Some familiar faces pop up, and John takes the reader on an interesting trip through London's history. The writing here is great, and the art crisp, and the story is self-contained enough that even if you've never read a Hellblazer comic before, you could follow along. A great buy.

Rating:
Summary: Constantine is always good, but....
Review: Warren Ellis (The Preacher, Planetary, Transmetropolitan) is one of the most prolific and edgy authors we've got today, ranking up there in my book with Garth Ennis, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller and Grant Morrison.
This time around there was something that just didn't click with me. Yea, the story was great and the imagery was well thought out but John Higgins' artwork kind of ruined it for me. Those of you who are used to seeing John as a ragged, disheveled mystery man will be shocked by the artwork that portrays him almost as a buffed model! His featured are much too chisled and his head is way too pretty for my taste.
This time around we see John pining over yet another girlfriend's death (how many of his exes survive? No wonder Kit left!) (sorry, casual reader. Constantine fans will know what that means.) He feels obliged to poke around to find the one responsible as it was a particularily grisly murder and mutilation. He drags in favors from both the police and his underworld contacts, as usual, and in his usual machievellian manner. He finally realizes that the killer was using the girl as the focus of his arcane power and offed her when she dried up. Tracking him down proves to be difficult when John is beaten up when he gets too close. (The echo of Bugs Bunny's "This means war" comes to mind at this point.) It's a noir tale, a detective story, possibly a Chandler homage, who knows?
The story doesn't really offer many surprises, but it does speak on a noir level, and the atmosphere and ambiance is great to get into. I wouldn't really say that the story is predictable, but it doesn't surpass storylines such as "Dangerous Habits" or even the flawed "Good Intentions". I don't want to give anything away about the identity of the killer, but suffice it to say that the buildup far surpasses the payoff. Constantine's method of retribution is quite clever, not to mention vicious, which is typical of Hellblazer.
Get this book for another great constantine story, but be forwarned: he acts typicallly like, but doesn't really look much like the John we know and love. A good, but not great chapter in the life of everyone favorite chain-smoking sorcerer.