Constantine by John Shirley

 

(pb; 2005: movie tie-in)

 

From the back cover

“Hidden from mortal eyes are the angels and demons that coexist with mankind. . . supernatural beings who seek to influence our lives for better or worse. Amoral and irreverent renegade occultist and paranormal detective John Constantine is blessed and cursed with the ability to interact with this secret world. When Constantine teams up with skeptical L.A. policewoman Angela Dodson to solve the mysterious suicide of her twin sister, their investigation catapults them into a catastrophic series of otherworldly events—even as the forces of Hell conspire against Constantine to claim his immortal soul.”

 

Review

Based on the 2005 film (itself based on a six-issue story arc** of the DC/Vertigo-label comic book Hellblazer), Shirley’s movie novelization captures the moral and physical grime of John Constantine’s world as he, a P.I. with a shady past, investigates supernatural crimes while trying to save humanity from spiritual beings who seek to subvert humanity to their misguided or evil ends. 

This time out, the guilt- and dead friends-haunted Constantine has stage 4 cancer, which will soon claim him, even as he puzzles out and tries to prevent a Hell-bound being from physically traversing the boundaries of spirit and flesh. His initially reluctant endeavors—he’s more inclined to tip a pint or ten at a local pub—take on a new urgency after he meets a L.A. policewoman (Angela Dodson) whose suicidal twin births more than a sibling’s grief. This is a great film tie-in read which, while it diverges from its noticeably expansive source material in terms of scope, captures and boils down the essence of its core characters (Constantine, his friend Chaz, etc.) while making for an entertaining flick and companion read. 

Penned by an overall excellent writer, Constantine is worth reading for fans of horror/supernatural and movie novelizations as well as fans of its source comic book series, provided they don’t expect the resulting film work or novel to be an exact translation of the writing that spawned it (film and books are different mediums, and its cinematic setting is Los Angeles, not England). Also worth owning, this.

[**Hellblazer, issues 41-46]

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The source story arc (“Dangerous Habits”) of Hellblazer (again, issues 41 through 46) was written by Garth Ennis; it was illustrated by Will Simpson. The film version was released stateside on February 18, 2005. Directed by Francis Lawrence from a script by Kevin Brodbin, Constantine features a noticeably streamlined and relocated storyline, with several source-story characters absent or encountering different fates. Below, the Hellblazer omnibus, which collects issues 41 though 133.