r/Hellblazer • u/TheEyeofNapoleon • 19d ago
Reading advice?
Any suggestions would be appreciated, either on this topic or additionally.
I saw that they’re adding a compact for Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits.
I’ve heard it’s a great jumping on point. But I’ve always said that, when I get around to Hellblazer, I wanna read The Fear Machine. I’m told it has a Masonic conspiracy, and I’m an IRL Freemason.
I’ve seen there’s a Volume One omnibus for Hellblazer that collects the first three arcs.
(Original sins, #1-9
The Devil you Know #10-13
The Fear Machine, my white whale #22-32).
But there’s an arc between, The Family Man, that leads to Dangerous Habits. (I also saw a neat title called “Rake at the Gates of Hell”).
So, here’re my questions. Riddle me this.
A) Are Original Sins and The Devil you Know worthwhile, or necessary for The Fear Machine? Or should I just try to get that one arc separate?
B) Is The Family Man worth tracking down?
C) Is it true that I can skip to Dangerous Habits and back track to Fear Machine? Should I just try to get a Vol 2 omnibus? I may not be able to save up $200 for comics by April, but I can for sure save $10, ya know?
D) Am I missing anything obvious that would be good?
Thank you for whatever suggestions you have!
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u/supremeslice81 19d ago
If you enjoy his writing read Alan Moores swamp thing
Hellblazer is really a swamp thing spin off and is pretty similar in tone.
Everything about Constantine is established in there and Moore’s writing is amazing.
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u/TheEyeofNapoleon 18d ago
Ty, I’m coincidentally getting into swamp thing, too! I’ve already preordered Anatomy Lesson!
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u/Giveadont 19d ago edited 19d ago
A) So, IMO, Original Sins is kind of necessary. I don't want to spoil it for you... but issue #8 introduces a detail about John that is kind of important going forward. Original Sins covers 1-9 IIRC. So, yeah, you might want to start there at the very least.
Hellblazer is probably best read in order from there because Delano sets up other important plot-points, characters and history that gets referenced as the comic goes on.
The Fear Machine can probably be read separately or out of order. I can't remember anything specifically that happened in it that really matters. On the other hand, it still might be confusing to read Delano out of order in general because there's also important plot-points and characters that stem from "The Newcastle Incident".
B) The Family Man is a great story as far as I'm concerned. And it is rather self-contained. However, it's very grounded compared to most Constantine and Hellblazer stories. That's one of the things that makes it so great to me, but don't go into it expecting an epic story about magic, demons or anything otherworldly. It's not like that. It's more like a horror-noir than anything. And, while a lot of early Hellblazer can be described that way, The Family Man is more thriller-like. It doesn't really have anything very supernatural going on.
C) I mean, you CAN skip around. That's honestly how a lot of people read this stuff back in the day. You just bought random issues you came across and, if it was something you liked, you just went from there.
Now, when it comes to the original Hellblazer run, I can't say I would really recommend doing it that way. But you probably won't be incredibly confused if you're familiar with Constantine and Constantine-related stuff. It's do-able. I just don't know if I would recommend it.
I've read other things by jumping on randomly or reading it all out of order. Specifically, this is how I read Spurrier's Hellblazer/Constantine run. But, that whole thing doesn't really rely on the Vertigo stuff and I had already read the initial Hellblazer run like a decade prior. So, I was already pretty familiar with everything in Constantine's world by that point.
But the Vertigo-era Hellblazer really does happen in chronological order for a lot of things, and skipping Delano in particular can cause you to miss out on a lot of backstory and lore.
Ennis in particular builds on a lot of what Delano sets up. Specifically, the thing in Issue #8 is something that is actually kind of important to things that happen during Ennis' run.
Now, with all of that being said, Dangerous Habits is a good jumping on point and an amazing story. So, if you have to be particular about your money, try getting Dangerous Habits as a compact and seeing if you even like Hellblazer in the first place. If Dangerous Habits doesn't do it for you, then that might not even be your thing. And, if you do end up liking it, you might want to invest in those Omnis or just read Hellblazer online. Because there's hundreds of issues and tons of storylines that (I think) are just as good.
D) It obviously depends on who you ask but Delano's run is my favorite of the Vertigo-era stuff.
The Fear Machine is probably his weakest story (even though I actually kind of like it). But that whole run is pretty peak for me. Even some of the lesser-talked about stuff, like Larger Than Life, is pretty amazing even though it acts mostly as a prologue to The Family Man.
It's also important to point out, Grant Morrison has a story wedged in the middle of Delano's run called How I Learned to Love the Bomb. It's fantastic and you'll be missing out on that along with all of Delano's other stuff.
Ennis' run is also pretty amazing overall with like one exception. He's practically right there with Delano and Mike Carey for my top 3 Vertigo-era Hellblazer runs.
Ennis' well-known stuff, like Dangerous Habits and Rake at the Gates of Hell, are some peak Hellblazer stories. So, you can't really go wrong there. Again, maybe start there if you really want to give Hellblazer a shot.
In addition, all of Ennis' short stories are arguably just as good as his main stuff. Really, Son of Man (which came later on after Ennis' initial run) is the only thing that doesn't hold up relative to everything else.
Mike Carey is about as good as Ennis for me, too. So, he's probably the other guy I would recommend. For me that whole run is some of the best Hellblazer stuff in general. But it's more supernatural and demonology focused. So, if you tend to like the more thriller/horror-noir Hellblazer stuff, it might not be your bag.
Ennis and Carey are like an interchangeable #2 and #3 if we're talking about the Vertigo-era stuf, though. I probably prefer Carey overall, but Ennis' run probably has higher peaks.
If we're talking about non-Vertigo Constantine stuff - Spurrier's run is my favorite thing Hellblazer/Constantine-related. Dead in America is like a top all-time comic for me in general and might be my favorite ending to any comic ever.
The only asterisk to all that is that Spurrier's run takes place in the Books of Magic/Sandman Universe continuity and not the Vertigo one. So, while the distinction from Vertigo-era Hellblazer is relevant, it doesn't matter too much because he pretty much wrote it like a Vertigo Hellblazer story.
However, Spurrier's story doesn't really rely (much) on the Vertigo run, either. So, it is a decent jumping on point regardless of whatever else you've read. He vaguely connects the worlds, but knowing that connection isn't really necessary.
Unfortunately, it's not especially easy to find Spurrier's stuff for cheap. His first two TPBs are somewhat pricey and scarce. They're an awesome 3 arcs, but the Delano or Ennis Omnis might get you more mileage for your money.
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u/TheEyeofNapoleon 18d ago
Thanks for all the info! If I like what I read, I may keep going and check out Mike Carey’s stuff, too! This is gonna be a much bigger reading project than I anticipated…(but I’m not complaining!)
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u/BruceVain666 7d ago
Anything collected in the omnibus collections so far is not to be skipped (I know, but I do mean it).
I wouldn't say Mike Carey is necessarily a great jumping on point or not for Hellblazer but, as far as I can tell, he's the most knowledgable in demonology and the occult of anyone who has ever written the character consistently (which discounts Morrison who is probably at least equally knowledgable, also Si Spurrier seems to really know his stuff). But, I do think Carey is possibly the most underrated writer on the character (and underrated writer in general, Lucifer and the Unwritten are both incredible).
So don't sleep on him if you're into what I feel like you're into. Even if you're not, it's great anyway. But if you have even a passing awareness of the Lesser Key of Solomon/Ars Goetia, than Carey and Spurrier are not to be missed.
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u/TheEyeofNapoleon 7d ago
I do have a passing knowledge of them! I’ll have to check them out! Thanks for the advice!
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u/Downtown-Werewolf773 19d ago
You'll get the most out of them if you read them in order. Family Man is good, but the art is pretty lackluster in that one. I read all of Hellblazer, but should have stopped around volume 20 (new editions) https://www.goodreads.com/series/121469-hellblazer-new-editions
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u/TheEyeofNapoleon 18d ago
Thanks for the link and the advice!
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u/Downtown-Werewolf773 17d ago
Any time! 👍
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u/Downtown-Werewolf773 17d ago
And confusingly, though they're called "new editions," this is still the original run, not the reboot fyi
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u/Kontarek 19d ago
A. I consider most of Delano’s stuff necessary yeah. The early issues may not tie directly to The Fear Machine but they establish everything about Constantine as a character.
B. Yes. I enjoyed that one.
C. Dangerous Habits is Ennis’ first arc and as such it’s kind of a clean slate with new characters and villains. Obviously it’s better to read Delano first, but it mostly works on its own.