Review: Constantine Vol. 2- Blight

Quick Summary

Pros: The situation surrounding the Cult of the Blue Flame is more interesting than before.

Cons: The opening story arc is rushed. Sexual assault is handled extremely poorly. The transition into the Forever Evil: Blight event is way too sudden and massively interrupts the flow of this entire series. The Forever Evil: Blight event is poorly explained. The book’s art styles clash with one another.

Overall: This is an extremely troubled volume from start to finish. It starts out with a problematic continuation to Constantine’s ongoing story. Then, this continuation is cut short and a crossover event is launched. This crossover comes with little to no explanation and is presented in a way that is hard to understand. The problems here make it hard to recommend this book to anyone, especially those looking for good Constantine stories.

Review Notes

Most of this collection is a part of an intense crossover forming the Forever Evil: Blight event. Reading only the pieces of the event that are collected within this volume will lead to an extremely fragmented reading process. Readers interested in experiencing a less fragmented reading process should check out the entire Forever Evil: Blight event.

ComicBookWire’s review for the entire event can be found here and our reading order explaining the structure of the event can be found here.

Story

Constantine Vol. 2- Blight, by Ray Fawkes, is a collection that is genuinely hard to enjoy, no matter how much you like the characters inside The volume starts out by quickly addressing the end of the previous arc, in a way that doesn’t feel satisfying at all. Then, it completely switches gears and jumps into the Forever Evil: Blight (Review) (Reading Order) event. Not only is this a poor transition, the way it is presented here makes it almost impossible to read, as it explains so little about everything that is missing. This gives an already troubled volume even more problems and makes for a collection with few redeeming qualities.

(spoilers start here)

Blight opens with Constantine’s war against the Cult of the Blue Flame. He essentially loses all of the progress he has made and falls victim to the schemes of the Cult. Though this puts him in a tense and interesting situation, it happens so quickly that it is not nearly as entertaining as it should be. The impact of failing the people he has lost, the impact of his work being undone, and the gravity of the entire situation is minimized by the fact that this all takes place over two short chapters.

This opening story arc is also marred by the fact that this portion of the story poorly handles sexual assault. Sargon rapes John Constantine with the threat of death over his head and it is played off as a minor inconvenience. This is troubling to see and does absolutely nothing to enhance the narrative.

At this point, the entire narrative in Blight switches from the story that is currently being told to the middle of the Forever Evil: Blight (Review) (Reading Order) event. It is an incredibly jarring changeup that leaves the reader wondering what just happened and if any of the ongoing storylines are even going to be continued.

To make matters worse, the way this event is approached makes it even harder to read. Almost no explanation or context is given to readers going into this event. Some explanation is given in between chapters but not nearly enough to explain the massive time gaps between these chapters. Unless readers have already read Forever Evil: Blight or are reading this volume alongside the other chapters from this event, they are unlikely to understand what is going on here.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The artwork in Blight is better than the story but is still troubled. Both ACO and Beni Lobel are able to properly present the unique characters and mystical events found throughout this volume. However, the styles used by these artists clash. ACO’s intense linework and chaotic structures are a far departure from Lobel’s softer presentations and more traditional structures. Going from one artist to the other in almost every chapter dramatically interrupts the flow of the story and adds some frustration into the reading experience. When paired with an already messy story, this makes the collection’s flaws more noticeable and makes for a worse volume overall.

Continuity

Constantine Vol. 2: Blight continues the story started in Constantine Vol. 1: The Spark and the Flame (Review). Most of this volume is also a significantly tied to what is taking place in the Forever Evil: Blight (Review) (Reading Order) event.

The story started here is continued in Constantine Vol. 3: The Voice in the Fire (Review).

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• The events of Trinity War (Review) (Reading Order), specifically those involving Shazam in Justice League Dark #23, are mentioned here.
• The second half of this book is a tie-in to the Forever Evil: Blight (Review) (Reading Order) event.
• Constantine’s past with Nick Necro is detailed across Justice League Dark #0, #12, #13, and Annual #1, all of which is collected in Justice League Dark Vol. 2: The Books of Magic (Review).