The Sandman Universe: Hellblazer #1

This could be the best Hellblazer story in at least a decade. Longtime fans will be ecstatic to see the return of an older and more jaded Constantine, while new readers will have a rich and exciting jumping-on point. Read Full Review

This is a welcome return to Constantine of old, a chain-smoking, swearing, back stabbing, conniving, haunted, snarky, lying bastard. Welcome back. Can't wait to see what you do next. Read Full Review

Overall, The Sandman Universe Presents:Hellblazer #1is a gorgeous exploration into John Constantine's mind, his torment, and how he constructs his identity. I'm in love with this one-shot's beauty but also the pain that is shows Constantine moves through. I'm a trauma-mangled person too and the way that Spurrier explains Constantine's constant state of madness, as well as the world inflicting it on him, is well-done. Spurrier's Constantine is someone I've bought into because of this one-shot and now, I can't wait for John Constantine, Hellblazer. Read Full Review

Highly recommended to neophytes and old mates, this is the Constantine comic we've been waiting for! Read Full Review

The art and colours are the best Ive seen come out of the Sandman Universe. Some pages seem to barely contain the swirling kaleidoscope of chaos as realities are torn apart and stitched back together. The set pieces and visual elements are utterly mesmerizing, and there are quite a few details referenced from The Road to Nowhere. The heavy-handed dark shading and thick, black backdrop swallows this comic in darkness, with flares of colour illuminating the panels like the strike of a match. Read Full Review

The Sandman Universe Presents Hellblazer #1 is a strong reintroduction to John Constantine, and bodes well for a strong new John Constantine, Hellblazer series launching next month. It doesnt bode well for Constantine himself, though, as his new status quo is as uneven as ever, and hes got a terrifying new antagonist. Read Full Review

This is a Constantine we haven't seen in a while " a desperate, depressed man neck-deep in bad deals and all too willing to sacrifice those closest to him. Read Full Review

This is a good one, full stop. Read Full Review

Marcio Takara provides some impressive, dark and beautiful visuals throughout this issue and many of the pages are a feast for the eyes. Read Full Review

This special is an easy access to the world of John Constantine while also referencing the characters long history within comics. It is beautifully written and expertly rendered by the art team. It is almost a masterclass in modern comic book storytelling. Read Full Review

Hellblazer #1 features Spurrier at his sharpest, dazzling visuals from Takara and Peter and excellent lettering from Bidikar. Read Full Review

Hellblazer #1 features Spurrier at his sharpest, dazzling visuals from Takara and Peter and excellent lettering from Bidikar. Read Full Review

Overall, this is a pretty good issue and a definite step in the right direction for this character. Read Full Review

If you know your history of John Constantine, then I think we're in for some interesting times ahead. Regardless, don't forget to pick up Books of Magic #14 in November before starting this regular series next month.  This has some potential! Read Full Review

Readers might have to wait for John Constantine, Hellblazer #1 to know if the first readable Constatine comic in years has finally arrived, but this one-shot makes it seem far more likely as all of the right elements are finally back on the page. Read Full Review

John Constantine seems to be a perfect addition to The Sandman Universe. The Sandman Universe Presents Hellblazer one-shot sets up what is expected to be a great series with a classic character. With a great creative team, the one-shot is perfectly paced with great writing and art. New and old readers should have no problem with getting into the one-shot as well as the series starting in November. Read Full Review

gustave154

Oct 31, 2019

DC finally gave fans what they wanted. HELLBLAZER BABYYY

Br'er Lapin AKA 20-Ish Ceiln

Nov 09, 2019

Very meta while remaining very true to Hellblazer's past.

Robert Alexander Auclair-Miran

May 14, 2021

John Constantine is brought back to life in this fantastic one-shot story that reintroduces the character for the modern world. The story that simon spurrier lays out "feels" very in the spirit of the original Vertigo Hellblazer. Which is a good thing. For all the pros' of the recent iterations of the foul mouthed brit, the grit has been missing. This is not a knock on the past entries as much as its a statements towards the heart of this story. Off the bat, we are familiarized with constantine's recurring problem of losing those who are closest to him in horrible ways. Chas, The long-time taxi drive for constantine has long been the sole survivor of constantine's many friends. usually dragged along and against his will most of the time , Chas is generally pulled out for comic relief. Instead this series opens with a clear message that chas' time is most definitely up. Chas sacrifices himself and we are shown a vignette of the multiverse and the essential resetting of things. We are introduced to an Older Constantine, far older. this is a fascinating addition, as constantine is unique among comic character in that he ages in real time. Meaning in his debut year of 1987, theres an issue of him celebrating his 35th birthday. 5 years later an issue references his 40th birthday. in 2021 he would be in his 60s, thus The older constantine we see in this issue is presumably the same constantine from the vertigo continuity. this is an addition that is both a wink to the the audience and stands to show the attention to detail. in many ways, this comic does a fantastic way of being a jumping in point for fans of the series , old and new. The kicker in this issue is the revelation that Chas (in the restarted continuity) is dying of cancer. Confused John is hurt and asks how could this happen? Chas never smoked. this is the gut punch, Chas responds with "no but, You Did". Constantine once again faces another lost friend, because of his own actions. Prior to the introduction of the Overarching title of "Sandman Universe", The world of Dream and the Endless had been a Pillar To DC's legacy in the comic medium. with this new designated line of comics, Hellblazer flourishes and stands out amongst the pack as a unique and fresh take on John Constantine. more

Simon DelMonte

Oct 31, 2019

As much as I like some of Constantine's appearances in the DCU, and loved the short lived series by Tynion and Doyle and Rossmo, we need to have back full on classic Constantine, don't we?

Azrael

Oct 31, 2019

A great start to the series albeit a bit drawn out in parts. However I love the darker tone and especially the Brexit jokes.

drwasheewashee

Nov 25, 2019

Constantine is back. And he’s an arsehole.

Psycamorean

Oct 30, 2019

There's a lot to talk about with this issue. I'll start with the most positive thing about it. John Constantine is written well here. And I don't mean DCU/New 52 John Constantine. I mean, this Constantine mostly acts like Vertigo Constantine. And that's a good thing! This is the Constantine readers want and deserve! From here on out, I'll refer to this Constantine as NuConstantine. Because there's multiple Constantines and that's a problem I have with this issue. I don't know much about NuConstantine and the 90s Books of Magic series that this issue ties into at the beginning, so I can't say much for how the characters are here. But it seems like peak Constantine. The trouble begins when the original Vertigo Constantine shows up. He's old, he's happy and he's willing to make a deal with NuConstantine. I *hate* this version of the character because this version of the character is from the final creative run on the original Hellblazer series. Peter Milligan tainted the character, frequently wrote him poorly and outright contradicted established canon multiple times. So, I understand why Milligan Constantine is part of this, but they are seemingly tying this book into that run far too much for my liking. Once NuConstantine is brought to the present, I think that all the Constantines have been merged into NuConstantine. So everything we've read matters, but we can move on to #MakeConstantineGreatAgain. But that doesn't seem to be the case? Because later, this same Milligan Constantine fuck is running around, planting his old sentient coat in a storefront so NuConstantine grabs it, as John Constantine's ghost pals bow down to him. I hate everything that scene implies. I want to move on from this version of the character because he's such an inferior version. I don't even mind that the Vertigo canon is, seemingly, continued with all of John's supporting cast being old or dead. (Maybe now Epiphany Grieves is the proper age for NuConstantine. If they bring her back, we should all riot.) But I'm wondering, what's the timeline here? Did New 52 happen? Is Batman and Superman and the rest in this universe? Is there yet another PG-13 Constantine running around in North America being the JL Dark's honorary cheerleader? Does that mean NuConstantine can get a new Chas? NuConstantine's mantra to "focus on what matters right now" bothers me. I feel like they aren't going to resolve these issues. I feel like they're going to do what they did with The Question and ignore all the variant characters. I'm very anxious about this run. And all that is why. But that's mostly baggage. The issue itself was solid. Good. The Doomsday Clock diss for that awful Constantine cameo was by far my favorite part of the issue. more

Spacey Medicine

Nov 02, 2019

The one good thing about the New 52, literally the only thing, was how it erased Milligan's taint from Constantine's history. Please don't screw me on this, Spurrier.

Jonn McLoed

Dec 11, 2023

I picked up this copy of a few years back to get me up to speed with the new mini series starting next month. As a long time Hellblazer fan I found this an over written and poorly drawn episode in a drama that should never really have come to life in the first place. There was bits of good writing and bits of informative art that could really have used an editor that knew the character and was able to use his voice better over the back drop of his mind. John is a very complicated character that only really Is understood when he uses his voice as his thoughts and seldom the other way around. Nice try but I prefer John like in Original Sins and less like that trash at the end of the 300 issues.