Thursday, March 21, 2013

Constantine #1 Review

CONSTANTINE #1
by Jeff Lemire, Ray Fawkes and Renato Guedes

Still not as bad as the Constantine movie.

Constantine #1 feels like we're just retreading old material. The story is that there's this guy named Chris who's friends with Constantine, and Chris sees magic stuff he shouldn't be seeing. So, Constantine and Chris go on a magical adventure to find this compass thing. This entire issue felt way too much like it was a rehash of the Books of Magic storyline in JLD. And that's rather disappointing, considering Lemire wrote that. I also felt that Sargon the Sorceress is a rather lame villain. On a more positive note, I like how Lemire and Fawkes write Constantine, which is completely different from the scared Constantine in JLD. 

Despite how awesome Renato Guedes's art looks, it doesn't fit the dark tone of the story. I wish they had gone with an artist with a darker tone like Andrea Sorrentino or Frazer Irving. But that's not saying Guedes is a bad artist. He brings a refined sense of detail to the issue, and the colors are rather pretty. But the book isn't meant to be pretty.

Constantine #1 is a disappointing and underwhelming debut from Lemire and company. Though Lemire is killing it on Animal Man and Green Arrow, seems like Constantine is going to be the odd man out.

STORY: 2.5/5
+ Constantine is more Constantine than JLD Constantine
- Predictable and overused plot
- Sargon the Sorceress is Komodo's lamer sibling

ART: 3.5/5
+ Looks pretty
+ Very detailed
- Doesn't fit the grim tone of the story

VERDICT: 3/5

A FEW COMMENTS:
Wait, Zatanna's father was a bad guy? 


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