John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 20: Systems of Control

It is a great continuation of the storylines that have built over the previous 19 volumes.

Very awesome book. Good quality 👌

Short version: It's an excellent book both visually and storywise. Andy Diggle is a new name for John Constantine fans (he's done Lady Constantine limited series before but didn't work on the main series until that point) and he does not disappoint. Most of the art is by Leonardo Manco who often but not always delivers great Hellblazer visuals. So, this book contains both the start of Andy Diggle's run and Mike Carey's graphic novel, All His Engines. What I immediately liked is that the first scene has Constantine tied to a wharf pile with his would-be killer waiting for the tide to kill him. Constantine is in his underdog role which suits him best. The story works from that and it's good, having in equal parts the crime and the occult. What I liked even more is that next it continues to unfold into a cleansing arc. Constantine goes back to Ravenscar (which is now a gambling house) to purge his great burden of guilt that accumulated over the course of past hundreds of issues. He emerges an arrogant bastard we all know and love. The next story is the best out of Diggle's run so far. It has all the elements that Constantine story needs - big city as a background, social issues intertwined with dark magic, an interesting cult and a nasty manipulative bureaucrat who is also a lord as is the custom in Britain. Starting with the small group of murdering young delinquents the story proceeds to nicely layer in the aforementioned aspects resulting in a great story that plays well and leaves with a promise of more. The last part of the book is the graphic novel. It has Constantine reluctantly working with a demon from LA that is opening up Hell here on Earth to save a little girl's soul. It also has a dubious honor of having a DC animation made based on it and it just shows how much better the novel is. Significant parts of the plot were used but then a lot of garbage was added on top to "make it work better" and have a more complete story. The original version got diluted into your usual Hell and Redemption rubbish that Constantine flicks devolve into. I'm surprised they left the Aztec death god in. Well, at least we didn't get the Constantine throwing fireballs and that's a good thing, right? Anyways, the grapnic novel is great, too, Carey is great on Hellblazer. Of special mention are the covers. I'm not the biggest fan of Lee Bermejo but his Constantine looks positively badass.

Loved it

The wheel turns, and Hellblazer goes to yet another writer, though Mike Carey doesn't appear to want to let go. Andy Diggle takes over the main series, while Carey's 'All his Engines special makes up the back half of this volume. It was a pretty entertaining read, if not anything ground-breaking. At the end of Carey's run, Contantine didn't want to be involved with magic anymore. But you know comics, just when you thing you're out, they pull you back in. After doing a favor for a friend and escaping danger (you know, the usual) Constantine decides that if he's going to get back into the game, he's going to do it the right way. And so he's off for a trip to the past to get his mojo back. Diggle's supernatural horror is on point, and I definitely look forward to his next volume. Carey, meanwhile, used his arc to fix the relationship between John and his old friend Chas. Those two didn't exactly leave on the best of terms in Carey's original run, but when Chas's granddaughter falls into a mysterious coma, John is on the case. Carey was always good at supernatural detective stories, and All his Engines did not disappoint. See you at the next volume.

This book was a fun one. Plenty of supernatural elements and great stories; although the one about the river entity felt incomplete. The artwork varies between good and great thanks in great part of Manco's artwork. Solid stuff.

I’m a huge fan, and slowly finishing the collection, so I’m very lucky I found this seller. Came reasonably fast, great condition.

Another great JC novel