Constantine: The Hellblazer Vol. 1: Going Down by Ming Doyle

Constantine: The Hellblazer Vol. 1: Going Down by Ming Doyle

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is Constantine’s new solo book and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the story. It has a nice mix of what Constantine’s up to in the present day and flashbacks that explain some of what has shaped the character. Most of this book is really about John’s relationships. He seems to be pretty lonely in a lot of respects; like he uses snark to hide behind. He’s sort of a jerk. He chain smokes. He has promiscuous sex with otherworldly entities.

In the past we find out that John’s first love was a girl he knew named Veronica Delacroix; and we get to see how that ended. In the present day he meets a guy named Oliver who owns a restaurant. It’s pretty clear that John is interested in hooking up with Oliver. I was not previously aware that John Constantine was a bisexual character. Apparently this was revealed in an older storyline that I’d never heard about until I looked it up after reading this. It made me want to pick up some older trades and find out more about the character. It will be interesting to see how it continues in the next volume, even though there’s a solid conclusion for the supernatural story that these events unfold around.

The whole book has great flow. I wasn’t crazy about the art but it’s ok. I liked the look of John back in his rock star days the best.

I think the ways that the hair and eyes are drawn in these panels is a little weird.

John has ghosts, this one is his old friend Gary.

Gary and John outside a bar in the past.

And this is Georgie, someone John knew in the past but she doesn’t like him very much; of course she ends up working with him because of some reasons.

I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for feedback and a review.

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