Hellblazer: India

John Constantine, the occult chain-smoking detective and hero of the 2005 Keanu Reeves blockbuster, featured in his own ongoing comic Hellblazer for a whopping 300 issues over 25 years, from 1988 to 2013. That’s an impressive run by any standards, and I’m a bit ashamed to say that (until recently) I hadn’t read a single issue of it. That’s all changed this week, as I have now read a whole four issues, and they were pretty good!

The later stages of the Hellblazer comic were written by English writer Peter Milligan, with much of it drawn by Italian artist Giuseppe Camuncoli, and in issues #261 to #264 this team took the downtrodden antihero to Mumbai, in a short arc called simply India. The story sees Constantine tracking down and battling a ferocious demon with links to Hindu mythology, a branch of magic in which which he finds himself at a dangerous disadvantage. The gritty locations and spiritual tropes are a good fit for the character, and I can’t imagine another mainstream american hero who could have been inserted quite so successfully into the Indian culture without some fairly major contrivances. Even though it’s an American comic, produced by a couple of Europeans, any concerns of cultural appropriation can be put to rest, as Milligan has gone to some efforts for authenticity in the characterisations and script. He knows how to pace a good mystery too, with the horrific plot unfolding into a real page turner (see also Brittania volumes 1 and 2). Camuncoli’s cartoonish artwork is brilliant, perfectly bringing to life Constantine’s ruffled charisma and some terrific monster designs while also effectively capturing the varied architecture and characteristics of the unique setting.

In terms of accessibility; even though these issues are quite clearly part of a larger arc for the title character, this particular plot is almost entirely self-contained. Having said that, Constantine’s character seems to go through some genuine progression, so there a bit of weight beyond the ‘monster of the week’ plot. The painted covers are by industry legend Simon Bisley, and the arc is topped and tailed by what are possibly two of my favourite comic covers of all time (see top and bottom of this post). If you can hunt these out at a back-issue shop or comic mart, I’d strongly recommend taking the trip.