Rating: 4/5
I just finished this last night, and I feel like it took me forever to read. Mostly because of general life stuff creeping in, but this is a long book and pretty dense. It stands up there with some of the other Vertigo titles that I've read and enjoyed immensely though.
It has a slow build. Which I think is fantastic. Sometimes that can make books drag on. It's executed very well in this case though. The slow reveals allow time to learn more about Constantine, his place in the world, and the types of situations he has to deal with. It's not as action packed as the movie (at least from what I can remember) and it doesn't need to be. This is a great character driven story that mixes in elements of heaven/hell, religion, and morality. I like that it doesn't shy away from some of the nastier aspects of humanity. And it does so in a way that doesn't feel incredibly bleak.
The couple of Swamp Thing issues thrown in at the end were a surprise. I was aware that Constantine and Swamp Thing had some sort of connection, but those issues go way beyond anything that I knew about. That part isn't really necessary to the book as a whole. I'm glad it is included because it expands on the characters and the setting. Plus, it is rather creepy to have Swamp Thing taking over Constantine's body. The details are a little sketchy though.
I thought the art was great. Sure, it's a bit rougher than we might be used to reading now, but the grittiness of the drawings fit so well with the tone of the book. Some of the color choices are more jarring than the pencils. I am interested in reading more stories about this character, but I don't think that will happen anytime soon.
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