The Sandman Universe Presents Hellblazer #1 Review

Writer: Si Spurrier

Artist: Marcio Takara

Rating: 6 of 8

The Sandman Universe Presents

Hellblazer #1

There's a lot of things to like about the start of Spurrier's run and few to dislike. He really has a handle on Constantine's voice and, throughout the issue, his actions fit his character. Early in, Takara really set the mood and pulled me into the issue very quickly. Three pages in, John's doing his best to take on the monstrous hordes and it's here he shows his trademark cynicism, as well as his desperation. 

Spurrier was ingenious in the way he showed this, one that really fit with his character. I really liked the way Constantine described superheroes at the opening battle ''all capes and awkward bloody crotch-bulges'', the latter being an observation I've made with a couple of film superheroes over the years, namely the Justice League and the Merc with a Mouth. It made sense Constantine'd look down on the flashiness and larger than life nature of supers, but I really appreciated seeing that particular observation made here.

There's a few instances where the warlock's willing to sacrifice people for his own ends, even if that end is for the greater good. It's really not something you'd see often from comic heroes, especially not those from the DC universe. It's one of a number of things that sets him apart from other heroes. 

When it comes to art, at times, it really fits the scene; like when John's being haunted by the dead, or bleeding so badly he's close to death. Shortly after, there's a great use of sequential art, with John looking dazed, closing his eyes, then angrily opening them after having his rest disturbed. But 

earlier in the issue, there's a mass of people attacking a blue, spiky monster and I feel a number of them could've been more defined and given a bit more detail. 

The issue introduces an intriguing character, who's so far a bit of an enigma. I'm not sure if what they told the Londoner's to be trusted, especially due to the pretty curious ending and what he says before it. Hopefully Spurrier's Hellblazer will expand on him and explain if there's anymore he wants from the eponymous trickster. 

Overall, it's a pretty good issue, which's worth a read. If you're familiar with Constantine, you'll probably enjoy it more, but if you're not, I hope you still give it a go and see what you think. You might be pleasantly surprised.

X-Men #1 Review

Writer: Jonathan Hickman

Artist: Lenil Francis Yu

Rating: 5 of 8

X-Men #1

Though there's a decent amount of things I liked in Hickman's Powers and House of X, there's also a extensive amount I have problems with. Chief among them is the feeling that very little, if anything, can threaten the X-Men, or Mutants in general. Now, various groups who used to oppose each other are now united in order to survive and share a home on the quasi-island, Krakoa.

Because of this, the team and their race have a lot less credible threat. They have scientists, who they've defeated and Sentinels, which they can easily destroy given the range of powers available on Krakoa. As well as this, Krakoa's got a series of defenses, while one group of Mutants have the ability to bring their recent dead back to life. 

With all of this combined, there's a lot less reason to worry about our protagonists than before. On top of that, characters like Cyclops and Storm come off less likable than they usually do, like her line ''or 

surrender and ask for unearned mercy''. It just doesn't seem like something she'd say. 

Earlier, she says ''Suicide bombs and serving the greater good are always the last refuge of a conquered people'', which feels ominous and a bit more threatening than I'd expect from a hero. Later on, when Scott's talking to Polaris, a lot of his dialogue doesn't sound like him ''my god, I loved that. I had waited my whole life for that''. Shortly after that, talking about his son, ''he was my son - of my blood. Like me'', which felt unnecessary, as he'd already said he's his son, so didn't need to repeat it.

I do love the way Magneto looks, with his all white armour and at the Orchis Forge, Yu gives us a really nice image, glowing with orange, while flying vehicles head towards it. There's also a fairly striking moment showing those Orchis have lost, indicating loss on both sides, which is welcome. There's a good moment of humour between Wolverine and Vulcan, above, which I liked, though I'm not sure rare steak lovers'll like it ;)

Though I was let down by the issue, I'll still check out the other new X-titles releasing over the next few weeks and I hope with the different creative talent involved, they'll bring some enjoyable reads that not only stand out from each other, but also what started this new era off.

Leave on the Light #2 Advance Review

Note: I received a digital copy from writer Bradley Golden for review.

Writers: Bradley Golden and George Aguilar

Artist: Stan Yak

Rating: 7 of 8

Advance Review
 Leave on the Light #2 

It's interesting how big a change can happen from one issue to the next. Though the debut issue was good, issue 2 is definitely an improvement. Even though issue 1 introduced us to Lassey, the series' killer, here we get to see him before he was executed, which is very welcome. We get an idea of how, despite this, he seems to be able to continue killing and get to Detective Marshall at his most vulnerable.

Though we knew he had a reason to hate Lassey, it was great to have it shown. Yak does a great job delivering some really creepy, memorable images. When Lassey's heading to execution, Yak zooms in, highlighting a chilling elation to his face. The artist brings us some truly horrific images, most of all during and shortly after Lassey's execution.

The issue's got a greater amount of hair-raising moments, like when Marshall's visiting the prison Lassey was executed in, or when his partner's investigating an eerie disturbance... Golden and Aguilar have definitely improved when it comes to the horror and in a comic like this, that's certainly a plus.

Yak's art fits the book a lot better than Sarabia's, particularly in the execution scenes mentioned above. With this increase in quality, I hope it's a sign of things to come for future issues.