Hellblazer: Freezes Over

Rating:
Summary: Another Constantine classic
Review: 'Freeze's Over' is a great addition to any tpb collection. In this volume, you get not only the four-part title story, but also two others.

"...buried" is a single shot story, illustrated by former Preacher and Hellblazer artist Steve Dillon.

"Freeze's Over" centers on the legend of the 'iceman', a killer reputed to have existed for over a hundred years. Outside a small town bar, a man is found impaled on an icicle, and John Constantine fast becomes a suspect. But when a group of strangers arrive, the true killer may be harder to identify.

"Lapdogs and Englishmen", featuring guest artist Guy Davis (of Sandman Mystery Theatre), gives us a glimpse of John's old days as a punk rocker.

Overall, this book may not stack up as a great when compared to some of the other Hellblazer trades, but this is still a very worthwhile book. The writing, all by Brian Azzarello, is snappy, and the multiple artists do nothing to distract from these stories.

Rating:
Summary: Constantine still freezes our souls...
Review: Brian Azzarello (Eisner Award-winning writer) is the author of the 3 stories in this book. It's nice to see John Constantine in different atmospheres and situations, and how he deals with them.

The first story, "... And Buried" goes very well, but left an undefined end (or at least a question: "And so?"). Artist Steve Dillon does a good work on it. It's a shame he doesn't work on all the other stories.

"Freezes Over" is the second one, divided in four parts. It's interesting because it shows how John Constantine can involve magic in some atypical situations of the real world. He doesn't put rabbits out of the hat, nor generates lightning from quick gestures of his hands. His influence in the facts is almost subliminal, but persuasive (just reading to understand what I mean). His cynical smile is present all the time, like a logotype. Myth and reality are very connected in this tale, and very hard to distinguish one from the other.

Finally, "Lapdogs and Englishmen" is divided in two parts, and shows Constantine's rebel youth, when magic was yet a parallel activity and not a course. You'll see that he almost had his chance to know what harm all this magic stuff would cause to his life, but sometimes destiny is stronger. Very frightening!

This book is a good reading for all John Constantine fans, even the less informed about the character. The different artists styles in each story is a little disappointing (as I said, I'd rather prefer Steve Dillon to work on them all). But the rhythm and the creative arguments compensate any deficiency this book may bear.

Rating:
Summary: Another Constantine classic
Review: `Freeze's Over' is a great addition to any tpb collection. In this volume, you get not only the four-part title story, but also two others.

"...buried" is a single shot story, illustrated by former Preacher and Hellblazer artist Steve Dillon.

"Freeze's Over" centers on the legend of the `iceman', a killer reputed to have existed for over a hundred years. Outside a small town bar, a man is found impaled on an icicle, and John Constantine fast becomes a suspect. But when a group of strangers arrive, the true killer may be harder to identify.

"Lapdogs and Englishmen", featuring guest artist Guy Davis (of Sandman Mystery Theatre), gives us a glimpse of John's old days as a punk rocker.

Overall, this book may not stack up as a great when compared to some of the other Hellblazer trades, but this is still a very worthwhile book. The writing, all by Brian Azzarello, is snappy, and the multiple artists do nothing to distract from these stories.