Picking up from the events from the first issue, A Feast of Friends offered a lot more than a resolution for the paranormal case at hand. It also allowed readers to see John Constantine in a perspective that's not exactly flattering or uplifting but one that definitely challenges the norm for the titular hero we're supposed to root for.
To recap: a hunger demon by the name of Mnemoth invades New York, the city that never sleeps. It starts to feed on the corporal greed and desires of people as any supernatural parasite ought to. Mnemoth was recently in Sudan, Africa, plaguing malnourished children until a shaman entraps it, using a child as a host, and sells it to a slavery market. When Constantine confronts the shaman, he admits that his actions are regrettable, and helps Constantine find a way to get rid of Mnemoth once and for all.
In the midst of all this, Constantine encounters Gary Lester who unknowingly exorcised Mnemoth from the child in the first place. Sadly, because Gary is recovering from a drug addiction, the hunger demon became drawn to this weakness and consumed him. Constantine also crossed paths with Papa Midnite, a notorious crime boss who supplies and indulges many of the city's sins and proclivities. Though at odds with each other, Constantine asked for Papa Midnite's help in binding Mnemoth.
I'm pleased that the hunger demon storyline ends here because there really is no point to stretch this plot further. As for the resolution, I thought it was the only appropriate ending possible. It was not a surprising twist, really.
We knew that Constantine needs to entrap the demon again and save the rest of New York City from the infestation, and that he will succeed in doing so. However, what is striking about this issue as a whole is the way our lead character goes about it. There is a callousness and unpleasantness to John Constantine that would irritate us every once in a while. But it's not like he's a pompous ass about it either. No, his general temperament seems to be that of solemn resignation that manages to come off like what he's doing and what he's going through are inconveniences.
Now given that I read Hellblazer irregularly before (I started with the fifth volume of the series), I actually already have a strong opinion pertaining to Constantine as a character and that is that I love him to pieces because there's always something new he offers the more you get to know him under that snark and duplicitous charm. However, in the two issues so far, I'm not sure I like him but I still do understand him. His motivation is not exactly admirable at all times and it's probably because readers can feel the distaste on his part; that there is a begrudging sort of duty in the way he does things. Needless to say, the bottom line is that Constantine doesn't hesitate to make hard decisions and that is what makes him a compelling hero to read. He may have doubts. He may have reservations. But Constantine is always able to look at the big picture and decide for the greater good's sake, knowing inaction will only screw him quick so he better get ahead then. Having said that, the shocker for this issue is the fact that Constantine sacrifices his own friend Gary Lester to ensure the city's safety.
He did so by choosing Gary as the host he will entrap Mnemoth in. He justifies this by saying that Gary is already a lost cause (given his addiction) and that Mnemoth was drawn to him in the first place which meant that binding him back to Gary's body will be easier. Another crucial reason is that he simply does not have time to look for a viable host especially with the restricted time they have to perform the ritual. In all pragmatic sense, Gary is the perfect, if not the only, candidate. Of course, Gary does not volunteer himself wholeheartedly. Constantine had to coax him, using the friendship and trust between them to lure Gary into giving up control of his body.
We can look at it in two ways. A popular perspective is that Constantine is a sociopathic jerk for not at least attempting to save both his friend and the city. A noble hero would go down fighting for both causes and not make a choice which one should be prioritized over the other. The other perspective which is I think what made the writing for this issue so extraordinarily cut-dry and honest is that Constantine knows he doesn't have the luxury to hit two birds with one stone. It needs to be a choice between one life against a million others. He does not dwell on whether or not he's a bad or good person for letting one his best friends become bait for a demon. He just does it. One notable scene is when four of his friends who passed away (including his ex Emma) started appearing in his bedroom the night before the ritual just so they could haunt him, as if to discourage him from sacrificing Gary Lester. Constantine shuts them out.
Now I believe that both perspectives are justifiable. Constantine was kind of a dick for doing that to his friend, given that readers were also able to see that he had a history of losing his friends whether through his own actions or because he placed them in harm's way unintentionally. However, I would like to point out that Constantine did stay with Gary to the bitter end. He spent hours sitting outside Gary's jail cell, listening to him adjust to the pain of the demon inside him. Constantine could have easily called it a day after the ritual and go some place to clear his mind. But no, he chose to drink himself into stupor while listening to Gary's torturous screams for the rest of the night.
The issue ends with a sharp kind of poignancy. Once Gary's corpse mummified, Papa Midnite had his cell bricked up to make sure Mnemoth never escapes again. Constantine then walks out to the street and sees the rest of the ghosts from his past. He thinks that they were waiting for him but instead it was Gary's ghost that they were waving at to join them. They didn't even glance at Constantine as all of them went their merry way. Weirdly enough, Constantine is hurt by this. The anger from these dead loved ones was to be expected but their casual rejection apparently wasn't. Constantine brushes it off with an instant "Well, fuck it" attitude, but there's an unmistakable loneliness about that scene that emphasizes that as a man who has to make hard decisions, John Constantine had lost people he cares about along the way. When this issue ended, the readers will get the sense that this was the first time that Constantine felt like he was the one who was left alone to die.
RECOMMENDED: 8/10
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