Instead, the last issue or two takes a weird detour into Swamp Thing that feels irrelevant to everything that’s happened so far (tw: rape). Unfortunately, like with a lot of collections, it isn’t resolved here. I flew through the middle/second half when the major plot started kicking in, and I was really invested in the characters. I really enjoy all the nuances of his character. He’s often an asshole, frequently takes the wrong approach, and sometimes does things for the wrong reasons, but despite his demons, he’s still trying to save people. There’s no perfect, charming Clark Kent here. He fully embodies the morally gray limbo and cheerfully straddles the line between hero and anti-hero.

Sometimes John can outwit the villain, and sometimes there’s absolutely nothing he can do. Innocent people die, often in horrible ways. The Vietnam War one, in particular, feels a tad preachy given that John plays almost no role whatsoever in the outcome.īut that’s also one of the things I like about this.

I like that it’s gutsy enough to take on issues like race, sexuality, and the Vietnam War (all a bigger risk back in the 80s than they would be now), but it occasionally comes over a bit heavy-handed. It’s a bit episodic at first, with each issue more or less presenting and resolving its own problem, although there’s groundwork being laid for the overarching plot of the collection. The vintage vibe definitely adds something. This is absolutely not a collection for younger audiences, and it doesn’t hold back from venturing into some dark places. The art is all bright colors and cheesy 80s gore, which occasionally feels at odds with the horror going on, but it was a different era. Of the three, the comics are definitely the grimmest though, and this starts off with a one-two punch of pure horror. They’re all quite distinct, all kind of do their own thing, and I sort of like having all the different versions in my head. Between the comics, the movie, the show, and the rest of the Arrowverse, it would be hard to have no familiarity whatsoever with John Constantine. Thoughts: This has been on my TBR forever because it’s basically a darker Supernatural with a different protagonist. Never look back’s a good motto in our line of business.

Original sins jamie delano