Constantine Vol. 1: The Spark and the Flame (The New 52)

No conocia al personaje pero fue una grata sorpresa descubrirlo. El comic de gran calidad en papel y edicion. Detalle malo venia ligeramente doblado pues lo pusieron en una caja un poco mas chica que el comic mismo pero bueno no afecto. La historia interesante y el dibujado espectacular por cierto.

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed this! I've been with JC since his first appearance in Alan Moore's Swamp Thing and into the first 100 or so issues of his own Vertigo title. Moore was always somewhat apologetic about writing superheroes (even though he does it brilliantly) and would probably have approved of the Vertigo separation from the DC Universe. But now Constantine is back in the thick of it and shaping up to be DC's street-savvy version of Dr Strange. Give the cover version a Dr Strange cape and you'll see what I mean. This is not to everybody's taste but this is a brilliantly creative artistic team and their efforts should be judged for what they are - expertly crafted and full of characterisation. My only gripe is with the revamp of Mister E who is not recognisable from his previous incarnation in the Books of Magic. He's been rendered rather two-dimensionally as a bog-standard mystical super baddy. The new Sargon the Sorceress is a bit more interesting and we have some new supporting characters as John has had to relocate to New York. London in this storyline still features heavily though. As does plenty of gore! I'm surprised there's no mature readers only advisory. Magic, mayhem and John Constantine unleashed in the DC Universe. What's there not to like? Personally I don't like having to wait until August for Volume 2!

Being a fan of the original Constantine comic (Hellblazer), I was intrigue in the New 52 version. It did not let me down! The story is great and the art is amazing! I for sure recommend purchasing this comic!

Now this is not Hellblazer it is no way related to the long running Vertigo series, although the two characters share the same name and a lot of the same character traits this is very much the new JLD (Justice League Dark) Constantine rather then the anarchic amoral spell slinger from the now defunct Vertigo series. This is very much a mission statement for John, bits and pieces of his past have been revealed in JLD but this is more a explanation of his place in the wider DC universe as the dividing line between the dark and the rest off the world and also set out his methods and real lack of morals and his willingness to go to any lengths to stop the bad guy, now this works well by the end you get a very good sense off who and what John is and why it's dangerous to be around him, less well covered is the actual plot which is a bit thin due to the need to set the scene for the evil cult of the cold flame, which are actually decent enough enemies, and also John's allies who boil down to a bartender and a woman who owns a pet shop, past that there is some twists and turns surrounding a compass and a demon or two but it's all a bit thin on the ground, added to that an issue featuring Shazam which doesn't fit well (Trinity War crossovers on the whole aren't that great) and generally a sense it's all a bit predictable that leaves a bit off a feeling off a missed opportunity. All that said the parts where John is faced with some of the members of the cold flame, especially the bosses work quite well, it's good to see John use tricks and his wits to out manoeuvre the bad guy and even with him being the man he is you still feel you can root for him, which is very important. If you have been reading JLD and have liked it and the New 52 John Constantine then I would recommend this, John still is very much the magical con-man although if you have been a fan of the Vertigo series you may feel he has lost some of his edge (and you may well be right in that) and you may well want to knock a couple of stars off my score, really this is a strong three and a half but I've rounded it up to four because I enjoyed these first six issues and I like this new version of Constantine, he may not be what he was but he is still a mighty fine character and I hope as the series goes on this initial groundwork can pay off with some better plots.

its a nice read