Hellblazer: Fear and Loathing

We mentioned in the review of the previous Hellblazer book that we felt writer Garth Ennis' scripts were let down by the art. Perhaps the publishers felt the same way because, in this collection, Ennis is working with Steve Dillon, a partnership that will go on to create the inimitable Preacher series. And the art is a vast improvement, though this volume doesn't showcase Dillon at his absolute best.

In this book Ennis moves the lead character of John Constantine away from the usual supernatural problems and throws a selection of very real, very human issues at him. More of his friendships and relationships are thrown into jeopardy because of the often-violent nature of his work, though the powers of evil at work are all too human. As a result, Constantine is shown as a vulnerable character, incapable of controlling his own destiny and generally walking a path guaranteed to make things worse rather than better. Ennis' Constantine is a tragic figure with nowhere to go and no one to go with, as his life spirals out of control.

There is still a bit of modernised religious mythology in the mix to remind the reader what it is they're reading, though the plot could work just as well without it. This is a book about Constantine the man, not Constantine the magician, and Ennis has done a great job of getting convincingly inside the character's head.