Hellblazer: Ciudad de Demonios

Hellblazer: Miniseries

by Si Spencer, Sean Gordon Murphy

Se apoderan de Londres, con una cerveza a la vez.

La Magia está en la sangre de John Constantine. Literal.

Gracias a una transfusión de demonio años atrás, hay un poder oscuro mezclado con todo el alcohol y nicotina que fluyen a través de las venas del hechicero callejero de Londres. En una que otra ocasión, lo ha sacado de apuros... y metido en otros de igual manera.

Pero donde hay poder, hay hombres que desean aprovecharlo. Y mientras que la magia de Constantine —por no mencionar su enorme mentalidad— lo ayuda a mantener controlada la sangre de demonio, unas cuantas gotas en el sistema de la persona equivocada podrían crear un monstruo.

O una ciudad entera llena de ellos.

Lo único que se necesita es un accidente grave para emboscar a Constantine en una horrible conspiración para convertir a Londres en el Infierno sobre la Tierra. ¿Podrá drenar la ciudad de sus demonios o esta se trata de una infección que ni Constantine puede curar?

El escritor Si Spencer (THE VINYL UNDERGROUND) abre en canal el vientre urbano para mirar lo que emana de ahí en HELLBLAZER: CIUDAD DE DEMONIOS, ilustrada sensacionalmente por Sean Murphy (JOE THE BARBARIAN, PUNK ROCK JESUS & BATMAN WHITE KNIGHT). Esta recopilacion también presenta “Otra Maldita Navidad”, una historia especial extra de John Constantine, por el artista y escritor Dave Gibbons (WATCHMEN).

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fantasy, Comic Book, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 24, 2011

About the author

British Writer and editor for both comics and television. Best known in the US for his work at DC/Vertigo.

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ah, John Constantine. Poor bugger can’t enjoy a quiet pint down his local boozer without some rudeboys pulling out knives on him (to be fair, that’s most North London pubs, whether or not you’re Constantine)! And then the evening’s coup de grace: getting knocked over by a Land Rover!

While in the ER, John’s demon blood is stolen by satanic doctors for their mental experiments. Surprisingly, said mental experiments to funnel demon blood into ordinary people don’t go well and innocents are turned into psychotic murderers. Such is life if you’re called the Hellblazer.

City of Demons is a pre-New 52 Constantine mini-series meaning all the years of continuity are still in play. Not having been much of a Hellblazer fan, I didn’t know John had demon blood in him but I believe it – guy walks on the wild side! I liked how Si Spencer wrote John. The language, the devil-may-care attitude, the sarcasm and gallows humour – brilliant. So much better than how Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes wrote him in the New 52 as a dull weeny.

Unfortunately the rest of the book is pretty crap. The story isn’t very gripping as we know who’s doing what (except for the cheap twist at the end) so we have to watch and wait as John catches up with us. The murders are gratuitously gory without adding anything. And basically a whole lot of nothing happens in between! It’s not very clear either what the satanic doctors think they’re going to get out of injecting demon blood into people, though it probably has to do with power or something generic.

The finale is a little too pat with Constantine pulling out a well-worn trick we’ve seen him do before. I did like that generally though his magic is muted, subtle, and appropriately street level. It’s not flashy like Doctor Strange, it’s almost like he’s doing nothing at all. He tends to talk his way out of trouble instead.

I’m not really a fan of Sean Murphy’s art either. The heads are always way too angular, as is John’s here, and I have no idea why there’s so much cross-hatching on his face. Some panels it’s clear, the next there’s so many lines and scratches – awful!

I liked Si Spencer’s recent Vertigo book Bodies, which is why I went back to find other titles by him, but I didn’t like City of Demons much. It’s a standalone book and fairly accessible, it’s just his Constantine is much too forgettable to recommend. Go for a quiet pint yourself instead.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an OK Hellblazer story, although it blatantly doesn’t fit into the continuity where the lists say it does (unless Constantine’s thumb has magically grown back and they just didn’t think to mention it). There were just too many clichés on display for me to rate it any higher. I mean, I used to be a nurse and can absolutely assure you that the sexy female nurse who looks like she’s just stepped off the Paris catwalk, with her long, luscious locks flowing everywhere just does not exist. At the very least, she’d tie her hair back the first time she got a patient’s bodily excreta in it… As for the pre-finale twist; give me a break!

I loved Sean Murphy’s artwork for the most part but every now and then there’s a page where the visual storytelling doesn’t flow that well and once in a while there’s a slightly ‘off’ panel. Nitpicky, perhaps, but enough to stop me giving the artwork 5 stars.

Story: 2 stars
Artwork: 4 stars
Overall: 3 stars

[Sud666 · Rating 2 out of 5]

What do you get when you take a single issue storyline and stretch it into one TPB? Hellblazer City of Demons. It's been awhile since I enjoyed a good Hellblazer tale as the New 53 rendition of John Constantine lacks his particular style and wit. Si Spencer's version doesn't have that problem. This is JC being JC. So naturally it starts in a pub.

Constantine, being Constantine, is in a pub when things take a turn towards "it's going to be a bad day". After a brief stay in the hospital it seems all will be well. But two Doctors, with a penchant for releasing Hell on Earth, have stolen his blood. Way back in the original run of Hellblazer JC managed to get himself an infusion of demon blood-specifically Nergal. Well a transfusion of JC's blood will turn a normal human into a demon possessed thrall. That's pretty much it. That's the plan. Take his blood. Infect people. Have people do "really bad things". Have Constantine find them and send them back to Hell. Oh and deal with the two idiot Doctors. That's it. This pedestrian story is backed up by some putrid artwork. It's a lot like a sketchpad with color. Constantine looks like a shrew. But he is not tamed! Si Spencer's characterization of Constantine is spot on.

So it's a great Constantine character trapped in a pedestrian storyline accompanied by subpar art. Makes you want to run out and buy this immediately. I see many higher rating and that's fine-but if you want a good Hellblazer story check out any of the original Hellblazer works where truly talented writers told some great tales. Just as an example we are talking : Jamie Delano; Grant Morrison; Neil Gaiman; Garth Ennis; Brian Azzarello;Mike Carey and Warren Ellis to name but a few. Si Spencer's Constantine has merit but the story is lacking.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

City of Demons didn't actually make the main Hellblazer title, so it got released as a five issue mini-series. It's not a bad effort either. The first issue sort of stands a bit apart from the rest of the issues. Constantine screws with the heads of a couple of young muggers but carelessly gets run over by a Land Rover. He gets rushed to ER with his out of body spirit tagging along for the ride. Then we get a typical Constantine set up of him perched between life and death, sorting through local ghosts of the recently departed trying to find out which demon is messing with him this time. I suppose when all the nasties in Hell want to get their claws into you it's going to make you just a bit paranoid. Issues 2 to 5 gets to the real story, first with Constantine enduring some serious hospital time, then the headaches start and always near ex patients of the hospital he was at. Si Spencer writes good Constantine dialogue. He gets the mix of humour and horror just about right. He has some nice ideas but doesn't really pay them off, so all though the story gets rounded off with some typically cock-sure Constantine insouciance, there's no real punch to it. Never mind, Sean Murphy's art is good enough to cover up the too tidy wrap up. He draws a pretty grizzled Constantine though, older, thinner and scarred. He's all spiky punk-noir that oozes body language. Great stuff. I love how he uses light in some of his low lit panels to convey atmosphere and how he has the light reflecting a deferred glow to faces, especially if it's Constantine's face getting the treatment. I think I forgot to mention, Constantine's nose is like a lethal bloody weapon it's so sharp. So I guess if you like your Constantine extra spiky, this one's for you.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

All Constantine wanted was a quite drink, but on stepping out of the bar for a lung opener, he confronts a duo of "tough" boys who try to shiv him, but they're no match, naturally. However, they rattle Constantine enough for him not to see the truck coming his way. At St. Bartholomew hospital, after a much protracted battle to revive him, Constantine has about a litre of his blood drawn once he's stabilized, recovery scheduled to last three months... All well that ends well, right? No, shit starts to hit the fan in major ways when a couple of doctors splice his blood, which has Negrals as well into other patients and setting them free to start up some chaos. Constantine has his work cut out for him for he's not fully recovered, but him being him, we know we're in for one hell of a ride.

And that's exactly what this book was, one hell of a ride. Si Spencer and Sean Murphy are a great team.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Constantine is DC Comics' demon-hunter and dark magician.
Although I adore John Constantine as a character and a concept, the only John Constantine stories I have thoroughly enjoyed were the early ones by Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman. Since then, the unrelenting grossness of the stories, and defeatism of the character, have kept me at arm's length. It had been a long time since I really enjoyed a Constantine story.
This author, Si Spencer, is new to me, and this was the best characterization of Constantine that I've seen in a long while. The art wasn't good, but it wasn't annoying, either.
The story has its twists and turns, involving people who go to a certain hospital in London, who are given transfusions based on John Constantine's demon-laced blood as an experimental program by a doctor who wants a city of demons. Or something. It was witty, it was fun, it had nice twists and turn of plot... And, okay, it was also gory and sometimes disgusting, but not unduly so. The ending was predictable: Constantine, having defeated the demons and the doctor, goes to bed with the lovely nurse who has helped him courageously all along, only to discover that she is in fact one of the demon creatures. Constantine's life is just like that.
As a bonus, there was an illustrated John Constantine Christmas story by Dave Gibbons.

[Ola G · Rating 2 out of 5]

4/10 stars

Why do some creators think that mature content must inevitably boil down to boobs and blood? What happened to complex story lines and ambiguous characters? City of Demons is a perfect example of this creative dead end, aggravated by a weird father-figure complex/fetish and underdeveloped plot.

It starts well enough, utilizing consequences of events hearkening back to Original Sins, when Nergal infused Constantine with his blood. This twist had such a potential (even though it reminded me of The Spider Island plot line, which didn't end well either). But Si Spencer sees the demonic blood only as a disease vector somehow changing all infected into zombie-like creatures bent on devouring and shagging everything that moves, and treating Constantine as a father figure (all the sexy partly undressed gals call him "daddy," and it's as cringe-worthy as it sounds). Our special snowflake Constantine is the only one who can control his blood, in him or in the others - just gets some headaches. And the bad guys are two top neurosurgeons from the hospital who want Hell to take notice. Aargh. How very original.

Sean Murhpy's style continues to baffle me. I generally don't like it. Every male looks the same. Every female looks the same. I had a hard time distinguishing between some of the secondary characters, or even comics. Constantine looks like Batman looks like Jack Napier looks like... You get the gist. Still, all these ugly mugs work pretty well in the shadowy, muted colors of this comic, and whatever else I say about Murphy's art, it is atmospheric. And it's the only thing that saves this comic from an even lower rating.

[Amanda Setasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

ALRIGHT SO. There's a LOT of weird art frames here. Random and flat butt shots (of John). His jacket keeps changing colors and lengths. He says "Gods bless you." A lot of the shading doesn't match up with previous Hellblazer comics. I'm really confused. It was hard enough to focus on the story with all this going on.

[Marla Hectic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disfruto como una enana con este capullo con una luz que por mucho que se esfuerza nunca desaparece del todo
Ya había leído este comic en su día en modo piratilla, pero esto de los bolsillos a menos de diez euros...poder volver a enfrascarme en una historia sencilla pero muy efectiva sobre humanos tratando de acaparar más de lo que pueden (su final es delicioso) y sus brutales consecuencias es un placer

[Carlos Gutierrez sanchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buena historia de el sinico de liverpool con algo de gore algo de decadencia humana y algo de magia

[Whereforekrig · Rating 3 out of 5]

That nurse is so hot

[Andrew Sorrentino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spooky story, atmospheric art. Surprised by the level of violence and blood. Prose story at the end is great.

[Ihor Kolesnyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Нехай буде 5/5, хоч дещо спрощений сюжет, але тут він такий жорсткий і цинічний!

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Si Spencer's graphic novella for me harkens back to John Constantine's heyday as a character. Sarcastic, but for whatever reason motivated to do the right thing while terrible things are happening to people around him. Unfortunately for John, here he is the catalyst for events. His blood, which also contains some demon blood (from a long ago story) is being used by doctors to conduct experiments on people to horrible ends. How John ends up in the hospital, and what happens as the larger story unfolds is well executed. There is a small twist at the tale's end that arguably I should have seen coming but that I also enjoyed.

[Wombo Combo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this because Sean Murphy's art, as usual, is absolutely fantastic. His gritty art really works fits Hellblazer and the colors are excellent. The issue with this trade comes from the writing. It felt like the writer has an idea of who Constantine is, but didn't understand the intricacies of the character. Yes, Constantine was a punk rocker, but it feels out of character for him to wear a Misfits t shirt and make jokes about Joy Division, though I can forgive that. I think that the biggest issue with this is that the premise is great, but never lives up to its full potential. The idea to do something with Constantine's demon blood, which he's had since, i think, issue 9 of the original series, is brilliant because that's an aspect of the character everyone forgets about. However, the antagonists have no character other than "evil dudes who like hell". They're boring. Also, there's a twist near the end that makes little sense and adds nothing to the story, which is really baffling. The first issue of this feels like an R rated ripoff of the first issue of Dr Strange: The Oath. Basically, Strange, or in this case, Constantine, watches over his body while it's being operated on after being injured. This story could've been great, but it's underwhelming. In the hands of a more talented writer, this could have been one of Constantine's best.

[Alfredo Torres · Rating 2 out of 5]

Voy a ser sincero, me gustó, me entretuvo. Pero hasta ahí. Leyendo algunas reseñas por aquí vi que se quejaban y decían que "no necesitan poner sangre, semidesnudos o groserías para hacer un cómic maduro". Primero que nada, Hellblazer ya contaba con viñetas muy gráficas, contenido erótico y bastantes maldiciones desde sus inicios, así que este comentario para desmeritar es absurdo. Sí hay más contenido gráfico, se nota, pero hasta ahí. Donde si doy la razón es en lo pobre que es la historia. No sé cuál fue el contexto del cómic pero al parecer se esperaba mucho y terminó decepcionado. Se tomó la idea de explorar la sangre demoníaca de Constantine, algo muy interesante pero al final sólo terminó siendo un recurso. Los villanos fueron un chiste y todo terminó se podría decir de manera sencilla. Yo lo tomé como un arco más, sólo quería ver a uno de mis personajes favoritos en acción. Algo que sí tengo que resaltar es el dibujo de Sean Murphy, es genial. Me encanta su estilo y los colores utilizados pero de ahí nada más qué decir. Una historia más de John Constantine para pasar el rato.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a (more or less) standalone graphic novel. You don't really need to read any of the previous stories in the John Constantine saga, but it helps fill in some gaps. I do recommend at least reading Original Sins, if nothing else.

This is more horrifying to me than most of the John Constantine series, or Hannibal Lecter, or Edgar Allen Poe, or even a lot of Stephen King, for that matter, because I'm an animal lover. There is a lot of animal abuse in here. LOTS. There is also a strong, albeit subliminal, message against animal testing. A sicko doctor uses his kid's Jack Russell in an experiment, and the dog eats himself. His name is Biko. I'm a Peter Gabriel fan, so that was a double whammy.

The artwork is very detailed in places. The artist surely knew his animal anatomy, anyway. The author was well familiar with Constantine's character. For me, this was one of the more memorable stories in the series.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nehody se prostě stávají. Když Johna nabere džíp a hematom ho dostane do rukou dvou vykutálených doktorů z nemocnice svatého Bartoloměje začnou se dít věci. Hybridní plazma člověka a démona, která Constantinovi koluje tělem se stane pokusnou směsí dvou vykuků, kteří si přejí potěšit Belzebuba a jeho kamarády. Infikovaní návštěvníků nemocnice a jejich následná aktivace vymýtí každému čtenáři případnou návštěvu nemocnice z hlavy. Jehly zapíchané v očích, umělecké mučení nebo stará dobrá recyklace těl jsou jen střípky z chaosu, který páni doktoři rozpoutali. Naštěstí je tu detektivní dvojce Johny C. a sličná sestřička Marie, která pátrá po krvavé stopě. Spencerovo pojetí je cynické, temné a nebere si s ničím servítky. Migranti, retardi i staří dobří pokrytci. Nešetří nikoho. Murphyho expresivní kresba je super. "John Constantine - rozuměl si s děckama. To by měl být můj epitaf."

[David Turko · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very mixed comic for me. City of Demon's is pretty much a stand alone story about Constantine's blood being used by some twisted doctors to make demons on some poor folks. Si Spencer truly understand John. The language, sarcasm, jadedness it's all Constantine. But the rest of the writing is disjointed and didn't really add anything exciting to the story. Sean Murphy's art on the other hand was amazing in this book. I know a lot of people are mixed on his art style but I really love it and I think it works well in this comic. Overall I think fans of Constantine would enjoy this but everyone else should pass on this.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Checked all the Constantine boxes:
- grim art that captures the tone
- in a world of devils and demons, humans are the worst villain
- people close to John suffering
- excessive gore
- John's personality on full display

Not too much character development or back story but who cares? We know what this title is about.

[lana · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars) i’m totally sympathetic towards john constantine bc ALL he wanted was a quiet pint but noooooo he got sucked into this crazy quasi-nazi demon cult with daddy issues ?!!???? anyway i’m in love with him and the art is delicious i love how grimy both john AND the entirety of london are! super realistic! kudos to sean murphy for this one tbh !!!!

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a a pretty fun self contained story set in the Vertigo Hellblazer continuity, someplace towards the end. The story is about Constantine’s demon blood being weaponized, and it’s a pretty fun premise. Spencer’s writing is a little hard to follow at times, but Sean Murphy’s art is always great, and he’s a good match for Constantine.

[Robert Hudder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Welcome addition to the one offs. Self contained Constantine. I found this one disturbing. Follows the killers hand type of horror but adds some disturbing parts on top of it. Interesting choice for an all souls day read but fun.

[Julian Dexter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art was cool, but the plot seemed a little all over the place and rushed. I'm not sure if this was supposed to be part of some larger arc, but it felt like that at times. I think I might just enjoy movies and TV shows featuring this character more than the comics.

[The Geeky Viking · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast-paced, fun, breezy (if anything Constantine can be considered breezy) tale of everyone's favourite supernatural detective. Fantastic artwork by the always excellent Sean Murphy certainly helps and I had a great time with this.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Constantine has demon blood running through his veins. While laid up in hospital, some doctors use samples of his blood to infect other people and turn them evil as a way of attracting Hell. Bad things happen.

The writing was okay. The art was pretty good.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has a classic Hellblazer feel to it. But the cast is gone. And the plot is shallow. And the art is weird. Still not a bad story. The art's not great but it's not bad. There's just not all that much too this. And it's hard to care. But it wasn't bad.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those comics where the art, characters and story is interesting but I have absolutely no idea how the plot works.

[Beatrix Tung · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good. all the hallmarks of a classic constantine story. but lacks the emotional sucker punch of the original hellblazer run.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so awesome.