I really do have a thing for urban fantasy specifically dealing with demons and angels, good and evil, especially if it twists it all around. Constantine does that in spades.
I watched the 2005 film well before I knew it was based on a comic (so sue me), so Keanu Reeves is forever going to be stuck in my head as the true Constantine, but I’ve also watched just about all of the new wave of DC shows, including the 2014 version of Constantine plus his appearances on Legends of Tomorrow. Not quite the same, but I still loved the character.
I really do have a thing for urban fantasy specifically dealing with demons and angels, good and evil, especially if it twists it all around. Constantine does that in spades.
I watched the 2005 film well before I knew it was based on a comic (so sue me), so Keanu Reeves is forever going to be stuck in my head as the true Constantine, but I’ve also watched just about all of the new wave of DC shows, including the 2014 version of Constantine plus his appearances on Legends of Tomorrow. Not quite the same, but I still loved the character.
In any case, now I’m going back to the beginning. Constantine back when he’s so very blonde and British, but still dark and twisted with a questionable history and a penchant for at least trying to do the right thing when demonic possession is concerned.
In this first volume…
- Hunger: A solid entry and a terrifying foe loose in New York.
- Waiting for the Main: Well that was rather creepy. Anything with young kids hits harder now, having my own.
- When Johnny Comes Marching Home: Oh boy. Boys long dead at war may have come home… but they’ll never leave the war behind. That hurts. Constantine can’t always win…
- Resurrection & Damnation: Getting into bigger universe stuff with Constantine making/winning a deal with the devil. The idea of devils having a soul stock market is amusing.
- Swamp Thing: This… isn’t Constantine. I know they’re linked at the beginning and that’s just something to deal with in comics, but I could have skipped over this.
Onward!
Screencaps that particularly hit home (potential spoilers):
The heart of a banker and the soul of a gambler is an amusing description…
Now that’s quite a picture. Amusing to have it be comic books… in a comic book.
Well that’s a wonderful description of a city. Oy.
And… he’s crazy. Or in this world… is he?
Midnite is a walking stereotype, but an interesting one at least. I like allies that aren’t strictly on your side.
Demon Yuppies. Soul-Brokers From Hell.
I love it.
Where do any of us come from? The sordid passions of our parents?
Oh that’s a turn of phrase…
Well that’s wonderfully gross.
And… the Resurrection Crusade is creepy. Fundamentalism turned to 11 in a world where magic is real.
That’s a fascinating take for the time period. And ends about exactly as I expected.
A deal with a devil. Because of course we’d have to go there.
Darkseid. Because we have to have references to other related properties. I like standalones, but this isn’t a terrible way to do it at least.