Review: The Hellblazer Vol. 1- Poison Truth
Quick Summary
Pros: The main storyline is fun and exciting. Subtle political takes spice up the reading experience. The series starts to incorporate elements from Constantine’s past, which add weight to the story and are just nice to see once again. Most of the book’s artwork looks good.
Cons: Some scenes feel superfluous to the plot. Some of the book’s artwork is less pleasing.
Overall: This is a solid comic book and a promising start to Constantine’s Rebirth adventures. This volume has a compelling main storyline, good artwork, and smart characters. It also returns to many of the elements from Constantine’s older stories. There are a few less appealing chapters but the volume, as a whole, is very enjoyable. Fans of Constantine, especially those interested in the return of some of his pre-New 52 stories, should consider reading this volume.
Story
The Hellblazer Vol. 1: Poison Touch, by Simon Oliver, is a wonderful return to form for Constantine and his solo comic series. The conflict here has Constantine trying to outwit a powerful villain who presents a direct threat to the city of London. The resulting conflict is exciting, smart, and tense, yet relies on planning and persuasion more than over-the-top and flashy shows of magic. In this way, the book feels closer to its pre-New 52 ancestor series rather than its New 52 predecessor, a fact further driven home by the return of some pre-New 52 history. In the end, this comic will appeal to readers who enjoyed the smart writing in Hellblazer comics rather than the action-focused adventures in the Constantine series.
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The central narrative in Poison Truth focuses on a battle between Constantine and his allies and a nefarious djinn and his allies. The battle is written to emphasize that this djinn has the ability to directly damage anyone in his path, which he does to Swamp Thing, or to indirectly threaten them, as he does to the entirety of London’s underworld. It makes him an intimidating villain, which makes the fight against him more exciting. Meanwhile, Constantine demonstrates his characteristic ability to think ahead and talk his way out of situations, rather than just conjuring up some over-the-top spell to beat the bad guy. He is a smartly written character here, something that extends to a bit of humor, which is always appreciated.
However, there are a few moments along the way that feel unnecessary. Constantine’s escape from gambling debts feels like an intrusion in the main narrative and most of the scenes between the djinn and Clarice feel like filler.
Outside of the story, it is neat to see Poison Truth take a hint from the original Hellblazer series and start working political and social messages into the narrative. The volume opens with a pretty direct critique against modern-American conservatives, in a vein similar to the criticisms that were launched against conservatives in the original Hellblazer series. Then, it goes on to tackle the issue from a British perspective. None of this feels too heavy handed or forced, which allows it to work well into the theme of this series.
Poison Touch also does a lot to bring back elements from Constantine’s pre-New 52 comics. Before Flashpoint (Review) wiped out Constantine’s past, he had a long and rich comic book history. Many fans were dismayed to see this history erased from existence, especially since some of the stories were incredible and accomplished a lot of character development. Bringing back elements of that history is sure to be a welcome change to longtime fans of this character. It also just gives Constantine more of a past to refer to within this series, which adds to his present adventures.
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Art
The artwork in Poison Truth starts out strong. Moritat’s opening chapters are well-structured and appropriately convey the emotions present in scenes. I also particularly enjoyed the way in which Moritat draws locations. This allows scenes in the countryside to look calm and idyllic and scenes in the city to look energetic and majestic.
However, the volume’s closing chapters don’t look quite as nice. Pia Guerra’s work flows well and looks alright but the scenes are less detailed and the characters are often more static in their movements. As a whole, the volume still looks nice but these final chapters do not add to its visual success.
Continuity
The Hellblazer Vol. 1: Poison Truth starts The Hellblazer series. This volume directly follows the events of the last volume in the previous Constantine series, Constantine: The Hellblazer Vol. 2: The Art of the Deal (Review). It also incorporates many elements of Constantine’s history from his Vertigo series, which began with Hellblazer Vol. 1: Original Sins.
The story started here is continued in The Hellblazer Vol. 2: The Smokeless Fire (Review).
This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:
- Constantine was exiled from London back in Constantine #3, collected in Constantine Vol. 1: The Spark and the Flame (Review).
- Shazam does not trust Constantine due to the events of Constantine #5, collected in Constantine Vol. 1: The Spark and the Flame (Review) or in Trinity War (Review) (Reading Order).
- The death of Constantine’s father happened in Hellblazer #28, collected in Hellblazer Vol. 4: The Family Man.
- The references to Astrid are likely references to Astra, a girl sent to hell in Hellblazer #11, collected in Hellblazer Vol. 2: The Devil You Know.
- Constantine mentions a time where Swamp Thing used his body. This happened in Swamp Thing #76, collected in Hellblazer Vol. 1: Original Sins.
- Swamp Thing and Abby parted ways, for the most part, in Swamp Thing #18, collected in Swamp Thing Vol. 3: Rotworld- The Green Kingdom (Review) (Reading Order).
- Constantine’s past with Mercury is detailed across Hellblazer #14-22, collected in Hellblazer Vol. 3: The Fear Machine, and Hellblazer #34-40, collected in Hellblazer Vol. 5: Dangerous Habits.
- Constantine’s time in an asylum is shown as early as Hellblazer #8, collected in Hellblazer Vol. 1: Original Sins.