caitri | A Book a Day: Hellblazer Omnibus

Every day I'm sharing an image of a book I like. I bought this one as soon as it came out in February, read it in chunks in the ensuing months, and finished it this past weekend.

I read bits and pieces of Hellblazer in the late 90s and mid-2000s, but never in any sort of order. Containing the entirety of Ennis’s run from 1991-1999, including John Constantine’s character-defining Dangerous Habits arc which was (loosely) adapted into the 2005 film Constantine, this massive book displays Constantine’s evolution from bit character to anti-hero. Some parts age better than others: race riots and dirty cops show how little has really changed over the decades, while a scene in which cabbie Chas is laughed out of a poker game for his extra cash-on-the-side idea of picking up food from the pub for delivery is just straight-up ironic at this point. A lot of modern urban fantasy owes a debt to Hellblazer, and Constantine’s emerging media popularity in a much tamer form makes this collection both a treat and an education.