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Hellblazer (Single Issues)
Hellblazer #52
In part 1 of the 4-part "Royal Blood," a series of grisly murders leads John Constantine on a demon-hunt across London. The quest leads to an incredibly depraved, exclusive club, where the highest elements of society indulge in their most obscene pleasures.
26 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 31, 1992
21 people want to read
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,630 books3,192 followersEnnis began his comic-writing career in 1989 with the series Troubled Souls. Appearing in the short-lived but critically-acclaimed British anthology Crisis and illustrated by McCrea, it told the story of a young, apolitical Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish 'Troubles'. It spawned a sequel, For a Few Troubles More, a broad Belfast-based comedy featuring two supporting characters from Troubled Souls, Dougie and Ivor, who would later get their own American comics series, Dicks, from Caliber in 1997, and several follow-ups from Avatar.
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 4, 2015
Garth Ennis takes the reigns full-time starting with this issue. In In this issue of Hellblazer, John Constantine wakes up happy. He was actually freaking happy. Seeing a smile on Johnny's face is odd for me because I was so used to him being such a complete downer in the past issues, what with damning a girl's soul to hell, getting a few of his chums killed and almost dying because of terminal lung cancer and all that. Such shitty events are enough to get someone depressed for a lifetime. But now, my baby has got something to smile about. And it's a lady. He's been shacking up with the lovely Kit who also happens to be the former lady-love of his late close friend. John was at first hesitant to get it on with her, given his track record of getting his girlfriends into trouble but Kit proves to be worth that risk. So now John has someone to look forward to seeing and enjoy spending time with. Good for Johnny. The man could use the break from the darkness and pain.
Speaking of darkness and pain: John Constantine once again has trouble finding him, this time in a form of an acquaintance named Marstan; some wealthy motherfucker who participates in questionable and depraved activities in an exclusive club for fellow money-spenders who have bizarre appetites and can afford to indulge in the debauchery of such. John was taken to said establishment and has to see for himself the extent of these indulgences which quickly puts him in a sour mood. Marstan seeks to employ him because of his expertise in the occult and he took John to a crime scene with turned out to be a botched summoning ritual of some sort. Nothing more annoying than some stuck-up priveleged asshole trying his hand on satanic rituals, that's what I find and John looked pissed about this current predicament. Upon discretion, Marstan wants to hire him to secure the location of one of their clientele who turned out to be a member of the royal British family.
This client has been involved in gruesome murders for this story. He's been hacking his way through the city, leaving entrails and other disgusting mutilated body parts and possibly feeding on them too while he's at it. I think John is sort of intrigued as to the identity of this illustrious client which is probably the only reason he is agreeing to the job. Cleaning up scum is a civil duty for this paranormal detective. Unfortunately, Kit is not a supporter of John's proclivities. She loves him and is totes cool about him moving in with her but she's not having any of the bad juju that entails being with John Constantine. I wonder how this is going to affect their relationship. I'm hoping there's a compromise because I like Kit and she makes John happy. Freaking John Constantine is happy and that in itself is a noteworthy accomplishment.
So, yeah. John is looking for a royal prince or duke or something who happens to be serial-killing around and may or may not be possessed by a demon. Yay? Sounds interesting enough and not exactly a bad start for Garth Ennis' run after Dangerous Habits arc.
RECOMMENDED: 7/10
DO READ MY REVIEWS AT:
Speaking of darkness and pain: John Constantine once again has trouble finding him, this time in a form of an acquaintance named Marstan; some wealthy motherfucker who participates in questionable and depraved activities in an exclusive club for fellow money-spenders who have bizarre appetites and can afford to indulge in the debauchery of such. John was taken to said establishment and has to see for himself the extent of these indulgences which quickly puts him in a sour mood. Marstan seeks to employ him because of his expertise in the occult and he took John to a crime scene with turned out to be a botched summoning ritual of some sort. Nothing more annoying than some stuck-up priveleged asshole trying his hand on satanic rituals, that's what I find and John looked pissed about this current predicament. Upon discretion, Marstan wants to hire him to secure the location of one of their clientele who turned out to be a member of the royal British family.
This client has been involved in gruesome murders for this story. He's been hacking his way through the city, leaving entrails and other disgusting mutilated body parts and possibly feeding on them too while he's at it. I think John is sort of intrigued as to the identity of this illustrious client which is probably the only reason he is agreeing to the job. Cleaning up scum is a civil duty for this paranormal detective. Unfortunately, Kit is not a supporter of John's proclivities. She loves him and is totes cool about him moving in with her but she's not having any of the bad juju that entails being with John Constantine. I wonder how this is going to affect their relationship. I'm hoping there's a compromise because I like Kit and she makes John happy. Freaking John Constantine is happy and that in itself is a noteworthy accomplishment.
So, yeah. John is looking for a royal prince or duke or something who happens to be serial-killing around and may or may not be possessed by a demon. Yay? Sounds interesting enough and not exactly a bad start for Garth Ennis' run after Dangerous Habits arc.
RECOMMENDED: 7/10
DO READ MY REVIEWS AT:
September 30, 2017
"I've had enough of this, Marston. Either you tell me what you want me for right now or I send you straight to Hell. What's it to be?"
That's another thing Marston dislikes Constantine for - he's never quite sure what the man is. Just when you've got him off balance in your home ground, he says something like that and tips the scales in an instant.
Threat or belief?
Surely Constantine couldn't send him to...
Yep, this has got Garth Ennis written all over it.
What a story! *Shivers*
That's another thing Marston dislikes Constantine for - he's never quite sure what the man is. Just when you've got him off balance in your home ground, he says something like that and tips the scales in an instant.
Threat or belief?
Surely Constantine couldn't send him to...
Yep, this has got Garth Ennis written all over it.
What a story! *Shivers*
January 18, 2025
Again with the bad art of William Simpson. And again, why bother colouring the sodding comic?
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews