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Post by HoM on May 15, 2018 15:38:16 GMT -5
Surprise!
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Post by HoM on May 15, 2018 15:51:51 GMT -5
I think it bears saying, as loudly and as gleefully as possible, but I was really lucky to stumble upon DrunkRadio's art during one of my DeviantArt trawls, and even luckier when he agree to let me use his art for a cover! There's so much intensity and drama in his work, and it absolutely drips 'Constantine'. All in all, I hope you enjoy the issue, but if you want to have a look at more of the stellar cover artist's brilliant work, you can find it at this link: drunkradio.deviantart.com/ I hope we get to see more of him as we move forward! In addition, I think it's worth sharing the undressed version of the art, something you might have sneaked a peak at when I was releasing teasers for the series!  Ugh, so pretty. |
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Post by UltimateDC on May 16, 2018 3:39:41 GMT -5
I haven't read a lot of Hellblazer myself so I'm not as familiar with Constantine's supporting cast, so this was a good intro to them. Chas as the sort-of everyman/grounding element and Zed as someone on the same level as John but with one foot still in reality made for some fun characterization and interplay, and I look forward to seeing more of that in the future. Likewise, Nememiah makes for a good X-factor in the mix; I get the sense that there's more to her than what we or the blokes are seeing. The mystery is an interesting one, the bar fight is fun, and that cover really is an absolute treat to behold. Good stuff all around.
-UDC
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Post by oblique on May 22, 2018 16:41:05 GMT -5
“Mate, I give the biggest shit. It’s all well and good being a cynical bugger, but what’s the point of hating on everything if there isn’t anything left to hate on?”
John Constantine in a nutshell, ladies and gentlemen! You've got a great grasp of the characters, mate!
Great issue and a solid setup for the first story. I want to see where this cosmic crisis from #0 will lead Mr. Constantine, but also love that he's so far refused to get involved and is off on (what seems like) an unrelated mission! Like UDC said, this is a great introduction to his supporting cast. I don't know much about them either, but this was clear, precise, and easy to follow. There's an appropriate level of violence and sex for an M-Rated title that all felt natural, not forced.
Nememiah is definitely Up To Something; it's kind of funny how angels get such a bad rap in urban fantasy, I guess in part because devils and demons have been played out for so long! We'll see...
Cheerio!
-Oblique
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Post by HoM on May 24, 2018 14:43:35 GMT -5
Next issue...  Cover by Lucius-Ferguson, click his name to see his DeviantArt profile! |
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Post by oblique on May 25, 2018 7:17:49 GMT -5
Damn, these are some great covers!
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Post by HoM on May 25, 2018 10:59:49 GMT -5
I haven't read a lot of Hellblazer myself so I'm not as familiar with Constantine's supporting cast, so this was a good intro to them. Chas as the sort-of everyman/grounding element and Zed as someone on the same level as John but with one foot still in reality made for some fun characterization and interplay, and I look forward to seeing more of that in the future. Thanks for the kind words, UDC! I knew I wanted to give the concept a soft reboot, alluding to a history without saddling the reader with it all in the first arc. I think this might be one of my most approachable first issues for a while (considering how dense I got with Checkmate #1, the most DC2 of DC2 titles). One of my favourite things about the Constantine show was the handling of the Chas character, and while I wanted to keep him decidedly British, I wanted to eschew his characterisation from the comics and bring him into line with Charles Halford’s portrayal. You’ll see that quiet stoicism as we move forward, and I have a really interesting arc planned for him. You’ve seen some of it foreshadowed already in his interactions with Zed, and I’m excited to get #2 out there. I should probably start on that now that I’ve secured a cover! Zed was great in the show as well, and I enjoyed Angelica Celaya’s work with her, but I’m going in a different direction. This issue alludes to her appearance in the original comics, but it’s not necessary reading. She played a massive role in Jamie Delano’s original run, and I wanted to pay homage to that but not re-tread old ground. I’m leaning into my banterous repertoire for this series, and I like the positioning of Chas and John as best, old friends. Some of the verbal interplay is going to be lifted from the sort of random nonsense my friends and I dance around with, because I think that a solid, British sense of humour has its foundation in absurdism, and nowhere else on the site allows me to play around with it. Apologies in advance. Likewise, Nememiah makes for a good X-factor in the mix; I get the sense that there's more to her than what we or the blokes are seeing. The mystery is an interesting one, the bar fight is fun, and that cover really is an absolute treat to behold. Good stuff all around. One of the conversations you and I have had is about the “season” model of stories, where-in we have X amount of issues and a plan for X amount of story, with a big bad and a season finale all plotted into the tapestry of the run way in advance. Nemamiah (I had to copy and paste that damn name every time it appeared in the story) is going to be one of the threads of my first season that you’ll see interwoven with the stories as we proceed, as well as the Hellish contingent’s representatives. I’ve been really lucky on covers. One of the things I do is trawl DeviantArt for art featuring a character in a story I’m writing, and message the artist to see if I could use the art for covers. They’re not doing original art for me, and sometimes they’ll say no, but I’ve been lucky enough for folks to say yes. For every cover that appears though, I’ve probably asked twenty people for permission to use theirs. It’s an exhausting slog! Anyway, I have to go finish #2, please bear with! |
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Post by HoM on May 25, 2018 13:34:04 GMT -5
“Mate, I give the biggest shit. It’s all well and good being a cynical bugger, but what’s the point of hating on everything if there isn’t anything left to hate on?” John Constantine in a nutshell, ladies and gentlemen! You've got a great grasp of the characters, mate! One of the things I find interesting about Geoff Johns, is his heralded ability to get to the root of a character through a few lines of dialogue. He catches you up to who a character is via that character’s own dialogue or other character’s dialogue about said character. This Comics Alliance article really hits the nail on the head about it. ‘Johnsian Literalism’, they call it. In a way, I’m trying to approach the character similar to that. What’s a character’s mission statement? How do they want to be considered? Where’s our glimpse into the character’s mindset? And how do I put that out there to the reader? And how do I make it as on the nose as Geoff Johns does? One of the things I’m trying to do with John is make him opaque. Have other people interpret him, sure, but never have him be the leading narrative voice. That’s why it’s important for Chas to be around, so he can read into what’s going on and tell the reader what his view of the situation is. Anyway… Great issue and a solid setup for the first story. I want to see where this cosmic crisis from #0 will lead Mr. Constantine, but also love that he's so far refused to get involved and is off on (what seems like) an unrelated mission! Like UDC said, this is a great introduction to his supporting cast. I don't know much about them either, but this was clear, precise, and easy to follow. Thanks! The thing with John is that no matter what, he’s a small fish in a massive pond. There have been so many cool runs that I’ve enjoyed him in, and I’m trying to find my streamlined version of that, and him scoffing in the face of cosmic responsibility is really on brand. Of course, his tendency to wander into trouble means that just because he’s refused to get involved so far, doesn’t mean the crisis won’t involve itself with him. There's an appropriate level of violence and sex for an M-Rated title that all felt natural, not forced. I mentioned it to you before, but that was one of my biggest concerns! I don’t want it to seem like I’m writing erotica for my own amusement, but I want to lean into the M-Rating because the only other title that did so in DC2 history, New Outsiders, is so seminal. Oh, crap, that reminds me. I put so much swearing in Checkmate #1. I might have to address that. Nememiah is definitely Up To Something; it's kind of funny how angels get such a bad rap in urban fantasy, I guess in part because devils and demons have been played out for so long! We'll see... Someone told me off once about having angels being bad guys. Kevin or Don, I think. I think it was blasphemous, or at least, overdone… Thanks for reading! |
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Post by oblique on May 25, 2018 16:14:16 GMT -5
Geoff John's does have great dialogue - I've never thought about that before, but the article is spot on.
As for the angels, I think it depends on how heaven or God works in the world in question. Angels, especially to our modern eyes and without modern ideas of religion, freedom, and autonomy, can act like giant pricks! Theological safety lies in seperating angels and heaven from any literal all-powerful Judeao-Christian deity.
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