DC Comics almost got one by me. Constantine #1, the reboot of a character that did not need rebooting, nearly became one of the more embarrassing moments of my writing career. Why? Well, being a long time fan of writer Jeff Lemire, I came within a hairs breath of publishing a review that skewered the beloved writer of Sweet Tooth, Animal Man and now Green Arrow. Simply put, Constantine #1 is absolutely terrible. A bastardization of the character and something I wouldn’t line the bottom of a bird cage with. Just as I was unleashing my fury, I noticed two names in the writer’s column.
The second writer is Ray Fawkes, a man whose writing I have come to loathe from Batgirl. Suddenly, all of Constantine’s problems began to make sense. True, there is no confirmation of my suspicions, but I’d be willing to bet Lemire wrote the story and Fawkes mutilated…er…..wrote the script. Constantine #1 has something to do with our hero hunting a compass that shows the whereabouts of all magical properties in the world. There’s a demon crew after it and somehow a guy named Chris gets involved because his head is one fire, or something like that.
As I said, I have no proof Fawkes penned the script outside of the fact that it has identical problems with Batgirl. Constantine #1 is a convoluted mess that is nearly impossible to follow. Think about that, mull over the lack of ability it takes to make a twenty two page comic book hard to follow. The problem? Much like in Batgirl, Constantine is bloated with unnecessary exposition. A character who was never one for words drones on and on endlessly about nothing. Wrapped within these long speeches might be a nugget of information we can use to thread together a plot, but those nuggets are hard to find.
Constantine also fails Constantine. It’s no secret this man is a jerk, a liar and a thief. A killer, though? A man who stands by and watches as an innocent man is ripped apart simply so he can escape? That’s not the Constantine I know, and it makes him a character you have no interest in reading. The final pages of this issue show a side of Constantine that is neither respectable nor entertaining. I suppose this could have been forgiven if the writing wasn’t thoroughly horrifying, but it is, so the end is that much worse. Constantine #1 has made sure these will be the only pages of this series I see.
Artist Renato Guedes phones this in as well. I’m not sure if it was a decision within the hallowed halls of DC or if Guedes is just a big fan, but Constantine looks like an older Justin Timberlake. Outside of that, the art has no concern for human anatomy (dig the panels in the taxi cab) or they feel rushed. All the backgrounds look cobbled together from undisciplined pencil strokes, and even the details of the character faces are nothing but filler.
Guedes handles his own inks, which is why page after page feels claustrophobic. Each panel dictates that Guedes is trying to make up for his lackluster art by over inking everything. Marcelo Maiolo’s colors are absolutely horrid. Half the colors are muted poop browns or boring flat earth tones. When those mix later on with the ice hotel, it’s a complete mess.
Constantine #1 is not just bad, it is a puppy killing moment of absolute failure.
