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Constantine Hellblazer: Staring At The Wall by Mike Carey, Marcelo and Doug Alexander Gregory
01/12/2006 . Source: Paul Skevington 
pub: Titan Books. 168 page graphic novel. Price: £ 9.99 (UK). ISBN: 1-84576-233-9. Buy Constantine Hellblazer: Staring At The Wall in the USA - or Buy Constantine Hellblazer: Staring At The Wall in the UK  check out website: www.titanbooks.com
Continuing the release of the graphic novel compilations of Mike Carey's run on 'Hellblazer', 'Staring At The Wall' is another book that should be leaping straight from the bookshelf and into your collection. It demonstrates yet again the importance of Carey to comics and to literature as a whole.
This collection combines two separate storylines. The first, entitled 'Bred In The Bone' focuses on Liverpudlian magician John Constantine's niece Gemma, with the chain-smoking occult anarchist only appearing in flashbacks. As always, though, her uncle's presence is overwhelming as she finds herself dealing with the unintended consequences of his past actions. In the process, Gemma learns some difficult lessons about Constantine, begins to understand and perhaps even (unfortunately for her) emulate him a bit more. It's a story that includes a theme familiar to both Carey's work and 'Hellblazer' as a whole as Gemma is forced to make difficult moral decisions that do not turn out exactly the way she expects.
The art by Doug Alexander Gregory is of good but not exceptional quality. His designs are interesting but could do with a little more fleshing out to make them deeper and more satisfying. Luckily, Carey's script is more than capable of making up for any deficiencies in this arena. It forms a fascinating diversion to the main piece and reinforces the idea always prevalent within 'Hellblazer' that every decision we make is important and that the responsibilities of the past belong to all of us.
We then move on to 'Staring At The Wall' and here John Constantine takes centre stage as he yet again attempts to avert a crisis that will literally end the world. In order to accomplish this, Constantine tricks a group of his fellow magicians into meeting with him as he believes that only through their combined strength will they have a chance of defeating the powerful, malevolent force that is about to be unleashed upon humanity. Needless to say, everything does not turn out as he intends.
Carey captures the character of Constantine perfectly as we see him struggling to do what is right and somehow never managing to hit the mark square on. Although Constantine deals with the situation with his trademark humour, we can see that he is entirely earnest which makes it even more poignant when his plans and his relationships fall to pieces. Constantine's willingness to sacrifice himself for the cause is balanced in this tale by his readiness to sacrifice others. In a way, he is still playing the magic game, the ultimate power trip. As one of the characters says to him, 'It's a frigging habit with you, isn't it, John? Riding to the rescue?'
John Constantine is, of course, not the only character in the work. The other players in this tale are wonderfully realised. From the eccentric and self-motivated group of thaumaturges that initially support him to the re-appearance of familiar characters such as Angie, Gemma and Chas, not to mention the organic elemental himself, the Swamp Thing. These characters provide a sense of continuity for the project and there is also a disturbing turn of events for the Swamp Thing himself that proves to be oddly moving.
Indeed, like all of the best dark fantasy and horror, the book treads a fine line between tragedy, comedy and the grotesque. Carey is conscious of this struggle as depicted by the dilemma of the Beast at the conclusion of the book as it attempts to decide the best way to end the fate of humanity, '...to stop breathing would be bathos. To swallow their own tongues, Guignol.' Thankfully Cary is definitely the right man for the job as each moment and every panel seems important, the shouts and the shudders dextrously blending together to form the final mix.
Marsello Frusin's artwork is great for the piece, too. Dynamically breathing life into the characters and creatures of the script, squeezing every ounce of drama out of the source material, creating a world we can truly engage with. Carey has given him lots of lovely big panels to play with, luckily for us. Lee Loughbridge's work as a colourer is good throughout, but is definitely shown to be at its best here, as is Clem Robins' lettering.
Comics are almost always a team effort and this team is playing in the big leagues. Bearing which in mind, it's important to mention the stunning covers created by Tim Bradstreet, an artist I've followed since his work with 'White Wolf'. His sense of colour, character and composition is almost unmatched and is worthy of the highest praise I can award it. The image of Constantine sardonically praying is destined to become iconic to the character.
I always look forward to a new 'Hellblazer' release and this is no exception. I hope it continues to be a showcase for our best writers and artists. I've a feeling that we'll be following John Constantine down those dark and shuddering streets for many years to come.
Paul Skevington
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