John Constantine, All His Engines...

[fajrdrako]

Read the Mike Carey graphic novel John Constnatine Hellblazer: All His Engines. The layouts and art by Leonardo Manco were sometimes brilliant, sometimes groanworthy: there's a style to Hellblazer demons that I find unimpressive. I like it better when they look like Supernatural's Alastair than when they're made out of sand and wrinkly leather. Isn't the Cthulhu look passé yet?

The story: the granddaughter of Constantine's friend Chaz is taken by an imperialistic demon and hidden in his heart, while her body stays in a coma - along with many others. Constantine and Chaz go to Los Angeles to fight, outwit, cheat and outsmart the demon (and others) with the help of the death god Mictlantecuhtli, which must have been fun for the letterer. The art is a mix of dramatic and clichéd, but I liked the way Manco draws Constantine, and the splash pages were terrific.

The title is from Milton. Where would demonic myth be without Milton?

Good lines:

• Chas to Constnatine: "It's a game for one player, isn't it, Constantine? Your life, I mean."
  
• Constantine to himself after being beaten up in a bar brawl: "Nothing broken. They must've liked my accent."
  
• Constantine doing dark magic to contact demons with cockroaches: "Periplanteta, they're they're called. Wherever we build. Wherever we eat or sleep. In the carcks in the concrete, in the secret places of the earth. I spread the word. Let's see who RSVPs."
  
• Constantine to himself: "Can't decide if I've been given a second chance, or I'm just wading in deeper. Making worse deals with bigger bastards. Twelve noon. A hundred and twelve degrees, and I swear to God I'm shivering."

And there's a nice description of Constantine on the flyleaf:

John Constantine is a man of many talents - a golden-tongued con man, a blue-collar mage, a sneering punk and an absolute bastard.... A guy who's on a first-name-basis with all the demons of Hell.

There's a list of the John Constantine graphic novels which I'll copy for my own reference.

1. Original Sins Jamie Delano/John Ridgway/Alfredo Alcala
   
2. Dangerous Habits Garth Ennis/Will Simpson
   
3. Fear and Loathing Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon
   
4. Tainted Love Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon
   
5. Damnation's Flame Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon/William Simpson/Peter Snejbjerg
   
6. Rake at the Gates of Hell Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon
   
7. Son of Man Garth Ennis/John Higgins
   
8. Haunted Warren Ellis/John Higgins
   
9. Hard Time Brian Azarello/Richard Corben
   
10. Good Intentions Brian Azarello/Marcelo Frusin
    
11. Freezes Over Brian Azarello/Marcelo Frusin
    
12. Highwater Brian Azarello/Marcelo Frusin
    
13. Setting Sun Warren Ellis/Various
    
14. Rare Cuts Jamie Delano/Grant Morrison/Garth Ennis/Sean Phillips/David Lloyd
    
    I'm not even sure how many of these I have read; and I should look for stories that come later.