Friday, March 14, 2014

Constantine #12 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Ray Fawkes
Art By: Beni Lobel
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 12, 2014



The Hell You Say


In the last installment of Forever Evil: Blight, we saw Phantom Stranger go to the son's of Trigon for help to take down the Thaumaton device.  But this is a Constantine story so let's focus on him.  Last time we saw our brash Brit, Nick Necro was burning Zatanna and him alive, then letting them magically heal, and then starting the whole process over again.  In the end we saw that Nick hates them so much, because of the love he has for them.  Let's see if this unholy trio kiss and make up, or kill each other.  I think I guess which one they'll decide to do.  

Explain It!:

It's time for Nicky Necro and Constantine to have a discussion.  Which means it's time for fisticuffs.  If you remember from earlier Constantine issues, Nick, Zatanna, and Constantine were all mates.  But that ended when Nick found out that Zatanna and Constantine were in love, and weren't supportive in his quest for the books of magic.  So a rousing battle later Nick was sent to hell.  You can understand why he might hold a little grudge, and want to take it out on a prick like Constantine, plus he stole Nick's coat, who the hell steals a man's coat?  Dicks that's who.  As you can imagine since Constantine learned a bit from Zatanna's father Zatara, an escape trick isn't too far fetched.  Now that our man is out of the holding wheels of Project Thaumaton, we get down to a battle for the mages.  You see what I did there?  Battle for the ages, battle for the mages.  Yeah I'm quite clever.

To begin the battle we find out that Nick Necro put a carrier spell on all the JLD members, and can use them like puppets whenever he wants.  So Constantine first has to take down Deadman, in Sea King's body, well that one's easy.  All Constantine has to do is unlock Deadman from the body that he bound him to.  Swamp Thing is next, but a simple spell allows Constantine to bypass old Swampy, and get to Nick.  It all seems very easy, but it's a trap.  Nick had a portal to hell ready for Constantine to step on.  As Constantine holds on to the edge of the portal, in one last act of desperation he creates an energy spike, and throws it into Nick's chest.  Nick falls, but so does Constantine.  Without Nick's constant will on Swamp Thing, the spell doesn't hold and Swamp Thing rages on the verge of collapsing Nanda Parbat.  Constantine falls with the knowledge that at least he won't be going to hell alone.

This issue is full of back story on Nick, Zatanna, and Constantine.  The moments where they palled around, and also where they bound themselves together.  These flashbacks really drive the story forward, and give us a chance to know these people before the hate set in.  One other thing I want to share with you, is the fight between Constantine and Nick is driven by what Nick has gleamed from the future.  Nick has seen the monster from Earth 3 coming, and he knows that Zatanna will die, unless either Constantine or Nick dies before the event.  So we'll have to wait and see what happens in future installments of Forever Evil: Blight.  Come back next week for the next piece of the story, in Pandora #9.

Bits and Pieces:

While I recently stated that I'm burned out on the whole Blight story, I have to admit that I was really into this issue of Constantine.  The story had a real feel of enemies that were once friends, and the desperation in their acts against each other.  Well at least on Nick's end.  It's weird that I feel more remorse coming from the villain than the hero, but I guess that's why we keep reading Constantine.  He's not our ordinary hero in tights.  So I hope that this issue has rejuvenated me for the last leg of the Dark characters saga of Blight, and I hope it does the same for you.  Check it out.

8/10

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