By: Jeff Lemire (story), Lee Garbett (pencils), Cam Smith, Jack Purcell, Scott Hanna, Walden Wong (inks), Pete Pantazis (colors)
The Story: A threesome is messy and complicated enough without magic thrown into it.
The Review: Everyone loves a man of mystery. That’s about the only explanation I can come up with for why, no matter how unscrupulous and contemptible he gets, Constantine retains such magnetic appeal, for the characters around him and for us as well. Since he’s the very epitome of the antihero, you need faith that his choices will lead to good in the end, rather than place any trust in the nobility of any given action.
Even though Constantine’s always had a personal gain element to his character, I don’t know if reducing his motives to pure ambition makes him all that interesting. Lemire lays the bottom line for John’s entire future of dirty dealing and manipulation from the first page: “I wanted real magic. I wanted to be the best.” Granted, we’re talking about a younger (therefore gutsier—and dumber) mage here, one more geared toward punk wear than the private eye outfit of later years, but you’d think his goals would be more subtle than that.
Whatever the case, John’s power quest leads him to Nick Necro, an apparently new character who clearly serves as the model for the man Constantine will eventually become. It’s also pretty clear Lemire will eventually reveal Nick as Felix Faust’s present partner, the murderer of Dr. Occult, and the mastermind behind the entire search for the Books of Magic. In fact, you get so many hints to the fact that it sucks nearly all the suspense for upcoming issues.
The meeting with Nick also results in John’s first encounter with Zatanna, which confirms that no matter what kind of relationship they have now, their romance was at one point genuine. With the benefit of John’s first-person narrative, we know his attraction to the lady magician goes deeper than a mere fling, which in turn gives some weight to the theory that he possesses some human feelings after all. It softens his character, true, and some fans may not like that, but personally, I appreciate less of an edge on my heroes.
None of this really supports Zee’s insistence that John has the golden heart she claims to see. She tells him, “I know that if it came down to it, you’d sacrifice yourself for the people you care about.” Who knows—that might be true. The question is: does John truly care for anyone in the first place? If nothing else, the scene shows Zee’s hopeful nature and her sincere desire to use her powers to help people. Back in #10, I predicted she’d become the moral center of the JLD, and this issue proves Lemire feels the same way.
Garbett’s simple and pleasant style would be aces on pretty much any teen title you can think of, but feels rather unsuitable here. While he draws John, Zee, and Nick convincingly, he doesn’t have the edge needed to give this title the appropriate street cred. The magic looks too bright and playful, hardly the kind of “powerful and…potent” stuff Constantine describes. This cheery style ultimately defeats the horror of Nick’s ultimate fate in the issue, but this only represents a general lack of tension in Garbett’s art.
Conclusion: Solid but inappropriate art frames a story that runs a bit too predictably, though the revelations you learn will prove useful along the line.
Grade: B-
– Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: – Funny how Garbett gets to draw another trenchcoat character named Nick, after working on Stephanie Brown’s older love interest of the same name in Bryan Q. Miller’s Batgirl for so long.
– A lot of artistic snafus in this issue. For example, Zee bears Nick’s rune on her upper arm, but she stares at her wrist on the panel where she receives it (it also makes you wonder why you never saw the rune before in earlier issues). Also, watch out for Zee’s disappearing-reappearing gag.