Comics
Review: ‘Constantine’ #1
An exciting new chapter, Constantine #1 begins a new supernatural adventure for the occult con artist. Not too hard to follow, this new series doesn’t start off where the “Hellblazer” run ended. The chain-smoking British anti-hero has set his sights on New York City, where he can continue playing his particular brand of black magic and crooked deals.
WRITTEN BY: Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes
ART BY: Renato Guedes
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: March 20, 2013
John Constantine kicks off just where you’d expect to find him, drinking way too much at a seedy bar. Just when he is about to leave, Constantine is warned that an old friend is looking for him. Covered in sweat and wrecked with fear, Chris believes he is being pursued by demonic forces. With the information locked away in his head, Chris thinks he may know the hidden location of Croydon’s Compass. Unfortunately for Constantine, he has heard of the mysterious Croydon’s Compass before. The supernatural instrument was assembled to bring about murder and cannibalism. The only way Constantine will be able to protect Chris and find the compass is to cheat the system.
Writers Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes understand who Constantine really is, which helps their characterization. They know Constantine is not a caped crusader, nor a superhero. At his central core, Constantine is a scheming con artist. For his own benefit, Constantine tricks and manipulates people into doing what he wants. The first issue delivers a lot of interesting story arcs that will come up as the series goes along. Constantine might have to battle evil magicians, who are even more corrupt with power than he is. Though Constantine isn’t as foul-mouthed as he was in “Hellblazer,” that’s doesn’t mean he has lost his edge. This is proof that it takes more than shouting curse words to show everyone just how tough you are.
Starting from scratch, Constantine has moved from the UK to New York City. What I liked about this move is that he is living in a cramped apartment above a pet store. Constantine pays rent to an old lady, who needs his protection from gangs and thieves. Though this storyline has him hopping across the globe, I hope to see more of Constantine’s adventures take place in his personal life.
Readers will feel the creepy vibe and the gritty atmosphere with artist Renato Guedes’ opening splash page. In his eye-catching illustration, we get a peek inside Constantine’s apartment, which is a mess of books, monsters, and artifacts. As if it were a pet fish, Constantine keeps a Lovecraftian creature in a fish tank. In his bookshelves, you can find a two-headed monkey, voodoo dolls, and boxes of cigarettes.
In one of my favorite scenes, Constantine discovers his cup of whiskey has been poisoned. After faking being sick, Constantine throws the female stewardess into the lavatory. Never hesitating, Constantine looks at her and burns her to death with his black magic. The stewardess spontaneously combusts as her bloody skeleton drops to the floor.
This is one helluva way to start “Constantine” #1 and I only hope it gets better. By the end of the issue, readers will learn that you cannot completely trust Constantine. The rest of the New 52 will have trouble getting along with him, which pleases me the most.
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – Jorge Solis
Comics
‘You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive’ – IDW Dark’s Next Horror Comic Will Make You Question Reality
Five friends. Four houses. One perfect life. Bloody Disgusting is excited to exclusively announce You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive, a brand new horror comic from IDW Dark.
From Eisner-Nominated writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, and rising horror artist Heather Vaughan, You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is described as a “paranoia-laced, socially-conscious, horror mystery that will leave you questioning reality, and reveal that this crafted world is more of a nightmare than the idealistic dream they were expecting.”
Phoebe Joplin has never questioned the world her parents built: a secluded community where she and her friends were raised to be smarter, stronger, and better than anyone else. No distractions. No dangers. No secrets. Until the night of their graduation.
When one of them dies under impossible circumstances, Phee starts to pull at the edges of her perfect life—and what she finds is something far more terrifying than she ever imagined.
Because this place isn’t a sanctuary. It’s a cage. And no one who discovers the truth ever leaves it alive.
Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing (Batman – One Bad Day: Clayface, Star Trek: The Last Starship) co-write the upcoming IDW Dark horror comic, featuring art by Heather Vaughan.
Jackson Lanzing said in a statement to Bloody Disgusting, “You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is in many ways a spiritual successor to our last creator-owned horror, The Principles of Necromancy – a dive into the promise and consequence of playing god with the blood of innocents. But the Hivemind book this reminds me of most is Clayface: One Bad Day. This is a deeply human story with intensely raw emotions – five best friends and their five mysterious parents, tearing one another apart for the promise of some impossible glory that’s waiting just beyond their darkest actions. We’re thrilled to be bringing this story to life with our long-time partner in crime, editor Heather Antos, at IDW Dark – and we’re particularly excited to give our Clayface fans a new, brutal and emotional horror made just for them.”
Adds Collin Kelly, “We’re deconstructing a feeling that seems universal these days; our elders have a death grip on their power, without any intention of giving it up to the generations that come next. YNLTPA is about growing up with the limitless potential of the future… and realizing how much it’s a lie we’ve been fed to keep us under the yoke of the past. Bringing this brutal experience to life is our artist and co-creator, Heather Vaughan, who brings an incredible amount of humanity to our cast. But it’s in our youthful leads that Heather’s art really shines – you are going to fall in love with these young people, even as they go through the worst experience of their lives. What we’ve all crafted together is going to be tragic, painful, but above all else, sincere – with a future so uncertain, there’s only one thing we can trust: you’ll never leave this place alive.”
“Some horror stories are about monsters in the dark. YNLTPA is about realizing the monsters raised you,” previews Senior Group Editor Heather Antos. “Working with Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly on this series has been a dream in the darkest possible way. They’ve built a story that’s layered, brutal, and deeply emotional, and every issue gives artist Heather Vaughan opportunities to push the art into places that feel both haunting and deeply personal. Some horror comics will keep you up at night…this is one that will stick with you for years to come.”
The first issue of You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive goes on sale October 14, 2026! Make sure to pre-order at your local comic shop by September to guarantee a copy.
Exclusively check out the various covers for Issue #1 down below.
IDW Publishing’s horror imprint IDW DARK features comics like A Quiet Place: Storm Warning, Smile: For the Camera, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees, The Twilight Zone, Event Horizon: Dark Descent & Event Horizon: Inferno, and more.
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