Okay. Now this is more like it.
The last issue ended with one of the knights of King Arthur visiting John Constantine while he's alone in bed, presumably because Dani was at work. It was early morning, and he just woke up to some stranger in a suit talking about a doomsday prophesy with medieval contexts. John hasn't even put on pants or have a ciggie, and this knight named Sandda (or Sanddef, I believe) urges him to help them find Arthur's rightful heir in this modern era. Much like John, I myself wonder why they appointed him this task.
Just on the merit that he's a Constantine? We all know that he's a descendant from a long line of occultists and mages. And a lot of of the supernatural folks had employed him before. Still, I'd understand if it's a demon or an angel who wanted to seek his aid, or even a jilted vengeful ghost--but noble knights of legends? Especially when these knights seem to uphold John as an honorable man. Well, if you want to get super technical about his track record, then he ain't exactly living up to chivalrous standards of ol' Albion's time. Also, it's not as if he's demonstrated that much stellar work from his more recent cases like the Mendw and Yorkshire werewolves. He's also enjoying domesticity right now, ya know. Can't be arsed to play squire.
But when a higher calling wants John, it's best he at least checks it out if only to give himself a peace of mind that the risks aren't too detrimental. A guy named Dez, who's a 'nethead' (this was written during the early days of the internet so people like him are still considered weirdos for liking the internet so much), helped John discover a certain government building bypasses through every sacred site in Britain, disrupting the ley line energy that runs throughout the country. It's why supernatural creatures are being brought to the surface.
When John meets the Court of Arthur for a rendezvous later on to inform them of what's happeing, he doesn't get much further with the knights when they were brutally gunned down by goons working for no other than Myrddin who did show up since the last issue. It's Merlin, the same wizard who taught King Arthur a lot of the big stuff, as legends have it. (We find out that the knights can't die, but they can be killed temporarily, so we will be definitel seeing them again).
John finds out (after Myrddin and his goons take him for a car ride) that the two had a big argument long ago which Myrddin prefaced by telling a story about the 'Eternals' whom I would assume are...angels? Because they were the first beings created by God before humans, and when the humans came--flawed with no powers and only free will--God neglected this Eternals. I don't remember how that ties up to Myrddin's problem except for the fact he was one of the Eternals, known as the Dragon. He's looking for a box. This box contained a power he wants for himself. It's all vague at the moment, but it is most definitely what we have come to know as the Holy Grail, this fucking box.
But before all this plot progression, John spent some time with his girlfriend Dani and his pal Rich first to appreciate about how good he's had it with them for a while. Now Rich and his family made an appearance in an earlier arc in which their son was kidnapped because of John. I would have to go back myself to read my reviews of that since I read it almost five years ago, so for your own recap, just read my reviews about that arc HERE. I don't know anything else about Dani since she was introduced a couple issues back, and I certainly hope Jenkins will flesh her out at some point much like Ennis did with the incomparable Kit Ryan who has a rich personality and was not just defined by her relationship with John. So far, Dani seems happy with him, so I can only surmise he was good to her in all the ways he's forgotten to be when he and Kit started fighting in the past. I wonder how Dani would feel once she learns what John does, since I get the sense she might not entirely know all the sordid details of John Constantine, but we'll see if Jenkins would devote some time for that in the next issues.
Myrddin soon drops off John but not after imparting him with the severed hand of his nethead friend Dez for intimidation purposes and it worked. John was unhappy that another friend had to die again just so an enemy could prove his nefarious point and get him to do something in return. While grieving in a remote park that same night, Jack (an elemental from Abaton) visits him to give hand him this revelation:
There's another cliffhanger, of course, regarding the identity of Arthur's heir, which comes to a shock to John. I think I'll be revealing that in my review for the next issue instead. I like where this is heading, honestly, because the story is certainly nothing like I had read in Hellblazer before. There's not much gore and doom either, and everything seems straightforward enough. It has more fantasy elements too and not just horror, which I feel would suit this new version of John Constantine for Jenkins' nineties run.
I don't want to get ahead of myself since there are three more issues to go, but I'm interested to keep going based on what I've seen. I also want to curb my expectations because already Jenkins' tonality for his stories has been a well-balanced combination from Delano and Ennis's previous styles while I feel he's beginning to cement his own signature for this arc in particular.
RECOMMENDED: 8/10
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