[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artists: Jesus Merino & Carrie Strachan
Summary
Constantine uses a spell to restore his missing memories.
Positives
The cover by Tim Seeley and Chris Sotomayor is cool. I like the image of Constantine drowning in a bottle a lot. It’s well drawn and memorable.
The interior art is by Jesus Merino with colors by Carrie Strachan. Their art is pretty solid. The characters are expressive and well defined. Merino contrasts the younger and older versions of the characters well. They look like the same people but different ages. There’s a neat monster design as well.
Negatives
The story is pretty dull and a little tired. It all feels like we’ve been here before. The idea of his past coming back to haunt him with an old friend he screwed over has been done a lot with this character. The issue never quite grabs me with any of this.
There was a potentially interesting idea at the end of the last issue in which it seemed like Constantine killed someone in his sleep. I thought this was potentially cool. Constantine is a drunk with a lot of power. While inebriated, he could do a lot of damage. I thought that’s where this story was going but this issue plays it like he was just framed. Maybe I interpreted this issue wrong and Constantine did do it but that’s not the sense I got. I feel like there’s potential here that goes unexplored.
Nothing really happens in this issue. Constantine remembers how he met Margaret years ago and what happened in the previous issue. We see some creepy creatures and Constantine narrates a tale about them. All this issue really accomplishes is discovering the threat. We learn very little about Margaret and all we get about the dwarvens is a sort of fairy tale narrated by Constantine.
Verdict
I did not enjoy this issue. The art is solid but the story is flat and uninteresting. There’s a couple of potential ideas but not enough happens in terms of plot or character. The issue is not engaging and I don’t recommend reading it.
