Tom Mandrake

Rating: 4.5 stars

Collecting the earliest John Constantine stories from Hellblazer(and Swamp Thing). The stories here are horror, true, but they are also political, in a good way. John's character quickly establishes itself as a manipulating former punk turned mage who is haunted by the ghosts of the actions of his past. Hard drinking, hard smoking - but trying to help humanity - even if his reasons aren't the most altruistic.

Great stuff. A classic in comics horror.

I really liked the Constantine parts, but I think I was expecting this to read like a graphic novel instead of a hodgepodge with Swamp Thing at the end. It's like a whole bunch of arcs started, but none of them ended. I suppose then I must continue my Constantine search elsewhere.

A promising start, with some very good stories, but also some not so great stories. The Swamp Thing story in particular was a bit off, with Constantine apparently being raped(?!) for his sperm in one issue and not really minding all that much the next. All in all, not the best thing I've ever read, but it's definitely left me wanting more.