DC Comics Black Label 2019
Written by Simon Spurrier
Illustrated by Matías Bergara
Coloured by Jordie Bellaire
Lettered by Aditya Bidikar
John Constantine has just been named the One True Magelord of All England. Please pray for England.
John is one of my all-time favourite characters in comics. His you're all twats and wankers attitude hiding his own insecurity has endeared him to me in ways that touch my soul. He's that one enigma that can never solved and yet keeps us fascinated to no end. Also through myriad of reboots that DC has done he's been kind of consistent in how he's portrayed which makes him unique in the DCU. I will not tell a lie, Simon writing this is like crack to me, I simply cannot get enough and cannot wait for my next fix. Side note I have never been a person hooked on crack I just imagine that that fits.
The way that this is being told is utterly bloody brilliant in my humble opinion. In this day and age to see the way this issue opens up and of course John's second thought after wondering what he was sleeping on well yeah I want to see more of this. Let John get drunk off his arse and wake up in men's beds more often or heck a male love interest that would be something. The story & plot development that we see here is amazing in how we see the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information. There is this pure unique quality to John that Simon understands and it works it's way into the writing of the story and the characters as it moves forward. Which leads me to the character development we are seeing. I love the character development we see here and how they continue to grow with the situations and circumstances they encounter. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages we see how it all works together to create the books ebb & flow.
With the introduction of new characters, new destinies and all the sundry things that come with that well it all continues to build and grow this amazing cast of characters that expand John Constantine's world and universe. I am enamoured with this in ways I wasn't expecting and then I find myself wanting to go deeper and deeper into England's mystic realm.
Honestly I looked at the interiors and I thought that this was a little off and then I turned the page and saw Tommy Willowtree and I understood Matais' mindset and choice. This is beautiful work and the way that pages are constructed with the utilisation of the page layouts and the backgrounds which provide depth perception, scale and the overall sense of size and scope for the book. The linework is exquisite and the varying weights help us see the attention to detail that's needed it just all works so incredibly well. The colour is beyond beautiful with the way we see the various hues and tones within the colours showing us this eye which knows how colour works and how to make the most of its range. Together this mindbogglingly good work that keeps this whole sense of a magical reality.
This a dream come true really. John is running around being himself and the creative team isn't being held to some archaic standard of what they can and cannot show him doing. Though nudity is something they won't do unfortunately and in this day and age that's a shame. I wouldn't mind finding out just how much John has to offer. Regardless this is one of if not the best book DC has right now and it's a pure joy to read.