Constantine #1 – Review

By: Ray Fawkes & Jeff Lemire (story), Renato Guedes (art), Marcelo Maiolo (colors)

The Story: Never make friends with a man who wears a trenchcoat indoors.

The Review: When you hear discussion about John Constantine as reintroduced into the mainstream DCU, the word you most often hear to describe him is “neutered.”  I confess that I’m probably the least appropriate to make a judgment on this point.  I’ve barely read Hellblazer and my knowledge of Constantine lore is minimal at best.  But I do know that in the Vertigo universe, he’s a much more cunning, canny, witty, and biting character than he is now.

Given the general dissatisfaction with Constantine’s portrayal in Justice League Dark, I’m not sure exactly what the people in charge at DC were thinking in choosing to release a solo ongoing featuring the antihero, especially written by the same duo responsible for the “neutered” image he has in his team book.  That said, Fawkes-Lemire do bring a fairly different side of John to this title, one that provides a bridge between his Vertigo and JLD sides.