Hellblazer by Garth Ennis issue #61

The concluding piece for this arc might be considered a tad anticlimactic but I still liked it any way. Guys and Dolls was all about the grudge that the First of the Fallen have been harboring against John Constantine ever since said mortal had duped him into accepting a dubious contract about his soul which he had to share with his other two brothers. That meant none of them can get John's soul lest they rage a war among each other which is just too darn costly in the long-term. John did all of this just so he can evade dying from terminal lung cancer and I gotta say that he is not wasting his second shot at life. He's making amends and he's in a stable relationship with a woman who loves him simply for who he is and not for what he does. And that's pretty damn comforting!

This issue opens with John watching said woman one quiet afternoon at their place and telling her that he's so lucky to have her in his life. It was a nice moment. I suppose one of the reasons Ennis' run so far hasn't been that enticing for me was because I was so used to all the abusive, poignant and murky stories and characterization that predecessor Jamie Delano has offered in the first forty or so issues. I won't deny that I miss my John walking the dark paths and being such a shitty piece of self-annihilation, but I'm also not complaining to see how much personal growth and development he's showcasing quite splendidly here in Ennis' writing. 

I just have to admit that I'm a masochist and that most of Delano's painful and gritty characterization of Constantine has worked for me that now I can't shake it off and sometimes I find myself struggling to really focus and discuss Ennis' contribution to this series which has been great, really, though I know I don't have much to say about it unlike last year with Delano's run.

I did enjoy Guys and Dolls overall. That being said, there are some parts of this entire arc that weren't completely resolved mostly because they weren't completely explained either. I feel as if this was rushed. The two earlier installments were great pieces but this one had to bear the weight of the climax, falling action and resolution. The climactic part of this issue was simple in execution that it diluted its impact once we reach the supposedly falling action and the ambiguous resolution didn't really help. I just thought that it would have been better if we get another issue to wrap things up more neatly and with more power behind the punch. Ennis is not exactly a risk-taker when it comes to endings. I've noticed that he tends to go for the easier, more predictable route. The bad guys don't win and suffer the consequences, John lives to fight another day--it's a stark opposite to Delano's own approach for this series. Ennis' formulaic style of narrative is still okay for me at this point but if this keeps up in the next issue I may get annoyed. It's only acceptable now because I want to believe Ennis is still finding his stride as well as his definitive voice but Hellblazer is such an exceptional and flexible series and I just feel that he's not making most of its potentials. 

This arc is problematic because its brevity was not the best course of action to tell this story, in my honest opinion. I was only beginning to get interested in Ellie and her circumstances and I sure hope Ennis brings her back again. I also know this isn't the last time Constantine will encounter and get away humiliating the First of the Fallen. I'm sure FotF has something macabre and terrible in store for John later so I suppose I should treat this issue as the calm before the storm. In any case, I'm not as pleased about it but will reserve my final judgments once Ennis touches upon FoTF and his beef with John in the upcoming issues, sooner rather than later.

RECOMMENDED: 7/10

Hellblazer by Garth Ennis issue #60

It needs to be said yet again: JOHN CONSTANTINE MAKES THE WORST ENEMIES.

This second installment for the Guys and Dolls story arc is such a delight. It was a brisk twenty-five-paged flashback piece about dramatic revelations concerning yet another scintillating cornerstone of John's sordid past. 

Ennis as a writer is starting to grow on me too. With the exception of This is the Diary of Danny Drake, he's been giving me average, entertaining stories in the meantime but that was until we get to this one which is proving to be a riveting story.

We discover the connection between John and Ellie by the time the first page starts. Apparently, post-Newcastle during Christmas, John was visited by an odd couple in the most literal sense. They were seeking not only shelter but his help. The woman is with child and the man is anxious to keep her safe. They reveal themselves as the most unlikely pair imaginable; John even dubbed them as "Romeo and Juliet on acid". 

It turns out that the man is an angel named Tali seduced by the pregnant woman in question, Chantinelle (or Ellie, for short) who is a succubus. Their forbidden union was blessed/cursed with a baby on the way. 

They sought out Constantine because he doesn't play favorites and because up to that point he was reckless enough to dare help them. And he was, just because he's curious to see what kind of progeny/abomination is about to be unleashed from Ellie's womb.

He started asking around to see if Hell was privy of this and found out that they weren't at all. After stashing away the lovers in some house protected by spells, he stumbled upon Ellie who is just about to give birth, only for it to be hijacked by a bunch of white-hooded men I am not at all familiar with but they seem to be legitimately powerful enough to take away the baby after brutally obliterating the angel-father and then leaving the succubus-mother to almost bleed to death. John was cowering in a corner while this was all happening, too fearful and out of his depth to even attempt to stop whatever atrocity is being committed. He just closed his eyes, placed his hands on his face and hoped that whatever that thing was, it was disposed of in case its creation is a harbinger of destruction on Earth. Still, a small part of him hopes that it did live because as a human being, he would still look at that monster as an innocent child who didn't ask to be born the way it had been. So he does owe Ellie big.

We then jump back to the present with Ellie trying to seduce John but he just dismisses her and goes off to prepare for the war that is about to smack him in the face courtesy of the First of the Fallen. Speaking of that amusing bastard: he's busy tormenting Nergal, the Newcastle demon enemy of John who condemned the little girl Astra to Hell, for the sole reason that he failed to eliminate Constantine when he had the chance. FotF easily reversed Nergal's demonic nature to render him back into his mortal form just so his tortures would be a thousand times more painful to bear. That was honestly creepy to witness. FotF later claims that, unlike Lucifer, he doesn't get bored with power. He doesn't stall or soliloquy about the unfairness of eternal damnation. He fucking loves being the king of Hell and he is determined to bring down John Constantine because, apparently, he is his main adversary, the only thing standing in his way to...I don't know. 

At this point, FotF's motivation still perplexes me. His ego was wounded so now he's lashing out. That's basically it. He couldn't stand the fact that he was duped by a mortal. Poor sod.

That means he's going to steal John's soul, right? And that would affect the contracts John has with the other two demon kings which really means war will happen...and all because John Constantine got his fingers all lubed up and stuck in those tight asscheeks owned by the most ferocious leaders of Hell itself. It looks like his reputation is catching up to him in such an untimely manner especially now that he's finally wiser and happier with what he does, little by little forgiving himself for the man he once was.

RECOMMENDED: 8/10

Hellblazer by Garth Ennis issue #59

So here we are at the very start of the trilogy story arc by current Hellblazer writer Garth Ennis entitled Guys and Dolls which focuses on John Constantine's battle with the First of the Fallen. This opener issue simply establishes the important points of the plot so this is all just basic exposition but one that unmistakably piqued my interest already. This seems like a big fuss.

In Fallen Women, we get a succinct introduction to the First of the Fallen by immediately abolishing all notions that he is the same person as Lucifer Morningstar, a character whom Neil Gaiman is currently using for another Vertigo title, The Sandman, specifically for his Seasons of Mists storyline. Both series are being written side by side back then so it's best to differentiate between Lucifer and the First of the Fallen who remains nameless at this point save the ominous title.

In fact, there were brief mentions of Gaiman's story concerning Morpheus' travel to hell in search of his helmet. His encounter with Lucifer was not pleasant but around the second time they met so Morpheus could free his former lover after he damned her to hell for rejecting him (and we think John has issues with intimacy and women!), Lucifer was much more forthcoming about things, complaining about his role as one of the kings of Hell and outright quits his post and gives Morpheus the keys to Hell which the dream-lord bequeaths to the two angels from heaven. 

This is the timeline where Guys and Dolls start in. 

The First of the Fallen contemplates about Lucifer's weakness since an angel like him could never really rule Hell wholeheartedly, as well as give hints to whatever grudge he may have against our titular hero. He was supposed to use this woman named Ellie who seemed connected to John somehow (it's a secret though...for now), but she escaped Hell in the brink of time and John finds her easily enough. She proceeds to warn him about his impeding doom.

I wonder what her connection is with John. She could be yet another former flame he doomed or left behind. Whoever she is, John readily helps her, going so far as not telling Kit about it, at least not yet. I wonder how this is going to impact their newfound and stable relationship since I know that this is the first time in a long time John has someone who serves as an anchor that could save him from his own self-annihilation--and he intends to make it work for both of them. There was even a panel earlier where John thought about quitting the occult and the twisted complexities that come with it but decided against it because he knows he has a score to settle with a lot of people, and tons of shit to make up for because of past transgressions. So far I don't have a clue where this plot is going and what was the First of the Fallen's gripe with him. Is it because of the Dangerous Habits arc mishap? It's been seven months since I read Hellblazer so my memory fails me. And yet they never mention this here in this opener but I will go ahead and assume FotF was one of the demons John fooled into claiming his soul and now he's going to do whatever it takes to own Constantine for himself alone without the other Hell-kings getting in the way. And Ellie seems to be the key to that.

Overall, this is a promising issue. I can't wait to see how this unravels in the next two installments ahead.

RECOMMENDED: 8/10