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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPE2oBnzROYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8YAlnMVELw 2nd Promo We are getting a tv show that looks (from the trailer anyways) that it might be close to the source material. This actually looks good.  Having seen the movie, and reading a couple of issues here and there I decided it was time to read the entire volume of Hellblazer. Yes its a massive undertaking, with 300 issues, 2 Annuals, 3 Original Graphic Novels, Five Miniseries, 3 Short Shorts in Winters Edge, 1 Short Story in the 9/11 Memorial, 1 Vertigo Short, and 2 Short Stories in the House of Mystery Halloween Annuals there is alot of material to cover, but its one of the most engaging stories ever I started this thread to get a discussion going of past (obviously) and hopefully future (New Constantine Series) of everyones favorite street magician. This is a work in progress so please bear with me or let me know what I can add to the OP as I am just getting started on the series.  Hellblazer (also known as John Constantine, Hellblazer) was a contemporary horror comic book series, originally published by DC Comics, and subsequently by the Vertigo imprint since March 1993, when the imprint was introduced. Its central character was the streetwise magician John Constantine, who was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette and Jamie Delano, and first appeared as a supporting character in The Saga of the Swamp Thing #37 (June 1985), during that creative team's run on that title. Hellblazer had been published continuously since January 1988, and was Vertigo's longest running title, the only remaining publication from the imprint's launch.[1] In 2013, the series concluded with issue 300, and will be replaced by a DC Universe title, Constantine. Many noteable artists and writers have worked on this series. Garth Ennis-Longest writer on the series  Mike Carey-Second Longest writer on the series  And you might recognize some of the these other guys: Paul Jenkins, Warren Ellis, Brian Azzarello, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Denise Mina, and Peter Milligan. I am going to let Wikipedia explain the rest because someone did an awesome job on the description. Better than I ever will. quote:Hellblazer is set in a contemporary world, albeit a world of magic and supernatural conflict behind the scenes. Although issue 14 made a passing reference to superheroes, the series has since developed its own pocket universe in which the supernatural or paranormal does not play a large role in the lives of most ordinary people, and in Earth-threatening circumstances no superhero interventions are shown or hinted at, suggesting that superheroes no longer exist there. However, some DC Comics characters—most notably the fringe supernatural characters such as Zatanna, The Phantom Stranger, Shade, The Changing Man, Dream of the Endless, and Swamp Thing have made appearances. Currently as of today 4/16/13 I am on issue 103 of the original series and I encourage everyone to jump in where they want, start from the beginning or just pick favorite issues/runs of the series. Even if you want to discuss the movie, which was based loosely on issues 34-46 collected as Dangerous Habits (which was awesome for what its worth except for Shia LeBeuf) starring Keanu Reeves (who I think did an awesome job) but for my main focus I would like to stick to the books. Some notable characters that I have run into so far and love when they show up: The First of the Fallen-has been tricked by Constantine many times and it shows.  Francis William 'Chas' Chandler-Constantine's best friend  Cheryl Masters Constantine's Sister  Tony Masters Cheryl's Husband-Also a religious fanatic  Gemma Masters Cheryl and Tonys daughter absolutely ADORES her Uncle John  Kit Ryan One of Johns Girlfriends (probably the most notable anyways)  Of course with a series this long you are going to have supporting characters (I know I am missing some but I am really only on issue 103) these include: quote:The ghosts are the spirits of John Constantine's dead friends, who have had the misfortune to have been killed by his enemies or his carelessness. They often appear to gloat when John is having a bad time. There is so much to discuss that I am sure I forgot something. So far this series is completely bad rear end, having Constantine battle demons, demons from his past, taking on hell, I think its a series anyone can enjoy. And the guy can seriously drink. If you want something added or think I missed something completely please let me know so I can add it in. So far my favorites are those written by Ennis, especially Dangerous Habits (34-46) because it showed just how vulnerable Constantine was due to his cancer. But also The Devil You know (10-13) and the Hellblazer annual. Those were both really strong story arcs that started the series off right and what I personally believe helped jump it into such a long running series. Flaggy fucked around with this message at 15:33 on Jun 10, 2014 |
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Apr 16, 2013 14:15
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I was extremely bummed by the cancelation of Hellblazer, as it's the longest series I collected. I think I started buying it monthly on issue 90ish. One of the things I like about the book is that John aged throughout it, it wasn't "Peter Parker is 16 for 30 years". Read only the first issue of Constantine, and wasn't ultra impressed by it. 
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Apr 16, 2013 14:55
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Medullah posted:I was extremely bummed by the cancelation of Hellblazer, as it's the longest series I collected. I think I started buying it monthly on issue 90ish. Thats disheartening, after getting through this full series I was hoping I could jump into the new one and go from there. Hopefully it picks up in the coming issues.
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Apr 16, 2013 15:19
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I think the reason I love Hellblazer so much is that ultimately, John isn't a good person. Like seriously he's not, he just loving destroys everything around him so that he "wins". He likes who he is because he gets to be righteous and rebellious etc.. but really he's just a poor lonely guy who holds onto the fact that he is better than what he is. That's what really makes John Constantine a fascinating character for all his bluster, mysteriousness, abilities he only has them so he doesn't feel small.
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Apr 16, 2013 17:52
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John Constantine may be one of my most favorite comic book characters of all time. He's certainly one of the few with a truly fully developed human personality. He gives you so many reasons to both love and hate him, and it's entirely up to you to decide which (when the secret is that you can never truly do either). Right now, as we speak,[REDACTED because I'm a terrible person who does terrible things. Stay in School kids!] Of which I originally read maybe 40% of. I've read a lot of Johnny-Boy's adventures over the years, and I have a very tough time figuring out who I enjoy the most. It's good that the series has almost always been the go-to place for writers that DC knows are drat good but just don't have much place for. Changing writers worked well because it further helped with the aging that JC goes through over the years. You can easily go down the rabbit hole with him, starting at the beginning when he was a rash young turk, just starting to shake off his youth due to a couple of Very Bad Things ruining his rep. And speaking of his early days, if you really REALLY want to see Constantine in whole, you really owe it to yourself to read Swamp Thing. The two characters, have, through most of their "mature audience" run, been too intermingled to ignore. Swampy doesn't show up a whole lot in Hellblazer, but John Constantine sure as poo poo spends a lot of time in the Swamp Thing comic. For the record, you can start with Alan Moore's run, and go from there. While there's plenty to read before that of Swampy, it's not mandatory, and Alan Moore kinda knew that, setting himself up a semi-fresh start. Also, eventually once Hellblazer was its own book, there was a pretty major cross-over between the comics that the two titles cannily prefer to leave up to the reader to collect and understand (even in trades) But then...That's hardly the only place that our Laughing Magician shows up frequently. He's all the drat over the place in the Vertigo universe. He plays a key role a couple times in Books of Magic. He shows up in Sandman and The Dreaming. I think he's popped up a time or two in Phantom Stranger. I'm sure there are more. Something also interesting behind the scenes about John, is that he was the accidental galvinizer behind the "Vertigo Embargo" before Vertigo was even a thing. For some strange reason, around 89-90, when Karen Berger was quickly brewing up plans for DC to have a non-comics code mature section, a hold was put on certain key figures that were planned to headline the Vertigo imprint. These guys could no longer have any interaction with the normal mainstream books of the DC Universe. This was right around the time that other people were kind of thinking of using John in stories that had a use for him. For example, at this time, Firestorm had become a pretty intelligent comic, involving the USSR heavily, and doing all sorts of interesting changes to the character. One such change was the revelation that Firestorm was to become the Fire Elemental of Earth, exactly as Swamp Thing was the Plant Elemental. The author wanted to bring in John to help FS cope with the major change to his life, and to adapt to new power sets, just as he did for Swamp Thing. And it would have been good. Except they couldn't use John Constantine. So they made a guy named Rasputin was created, who was basically the same drat guy. This would not be the last "Constantine-a-like" created by DC. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST) Choco1980 fucked around with this message at 04:01 on Apr 20, 2013 |
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Apr 16, 2013 19:00
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I just finished doing this and it was awesome. I am reminded that Jenkin's run is one of the best runs just because it is so diffrent then the rest. I also suggest you read Shade the Changing Man 42-44. It is still amazing that out of 300 issues there is only one horrible run.
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Apr 16, 2013 20:04
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This is the only comic i've consistently collected throughout my life and was really bummed it got cancelled. The new title looks a little sloppy to me and Constantine never meshed well with DC superheroes in my mind but I'm going to support this title anyway. I have to say I've never heard a fan (or anyone, really) defend the movie and Keanu's acting in it. I'm not denegrating your opinion but for me it was a heartbreaking waste of potential. Perhaps you or someone else can help me see it in a new light. I can't help but think a better movie would have kept the Hellblazer title alive and well (although I'm not blaming the movie for the rebranding). But have fun rereading the series. Maybe I'll give it a go, myself.
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Apr 16, 2013 21:57
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whoda thunkit posted:This is the only comic i've consistently collected throughout my life and was really bummed it got cancelled. The new title looks a little sloppy to me and Constantine never meshed well with DC superheroes in my mind but I'm going to support this title anyway. I'm a huge fan of the comics (as I said, I've also been collecting it forever), and I honestly enjoyed the movie, though I see it as more of an elseworlds type thing. They could have done much better, should have just gotten Sting to play the part, but for what they went with, I liked it. I just don't think of it as a Hellblazer movie.  The new series seems very "modern" and "hip", which I don't really dig...but who knows.
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Apr 16, 2013 22:04
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The new Constantine book feels really split. Part of it is the idea that it's going back to the old DCU/ST incarnation but there are also clearly attempts to justify its own existence (a terrible terrible idea don't ever do this) as a worthy successor to the old book. "Hey, we're still the old Hellblazer under our shiny new colours, full of cigarettes and dicking friends over, all right, mate? Bloody hell and bollocks wot wot!"
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Apr 16, 2013 22:18
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I'm going to jump in now and declare my love for the Azzarello run since I'm pretty much the only one in BSS who likes it. Edit: Thread title needs to be better, maybe John Constantine, the Hellblazer - "Can I bum a fag mate?" Rhyno fucked around with this message at 23:30 on Apr 16, 2013 |
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Apr 16, 2013 23:28
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John Constantine, the Hellblazer - Kinga' the Friggin' Vampires!!  fake edit: I feel a bit behind, since I only got into Hellblazer about a year ago. While I really like the Delano and Moore versions of the character, I really feel like it was Ennis' take that really got me invested in the series.
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Apr 17, 2013 00:05
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Rhyno posted:I'm going to jump in now and declare my love for the Azzarello run since I'm pretty much the only one in BSS who likes it. That's because the writing was loving abysmal, the lead character may as well not be John, and Richard Corben drew everybody looking like thalidomide babies in a world that lacked all perspective. You're welcome to your own opinion, of course.
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Apr 17, 2013 00:12
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Hey, man, Frusin is one of THE Hellblazer artists and he got his starts in the Azz run. (I love the one in the bar. Freezes Over? With the Iceman.)
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Apr 17, 2013 00:20
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Kit should be in original op if possible, she's probably one of the best female characters ever written in the comic book medium. Plus you had the loving incredibly excellent Hearland one shot she had. Say what you will about Garth Ennis now but jesus he was just on loving fire with Hellblazer. You can actually see the shift in tone and writing when he left his initial run , and then he returned it was just completely different tone.
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Apr 17, 2013 08:14
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I've only read the Ennis and Ellis books but I'm a huge fan of Constantine and the Hellblazer world. I keep meaning to pick up the Swamp Thing books to see how he's introduced mostly because it's pretty rare to see Scousers in such prominent leading roles but the mad thing is in the Ellis run he's written as a cockney. It's really hard to explain, but he uses a lot of terms and phrases that are thoroughly southern. It's not a huge thing and can be written off as John living away from his home land for so long and maybe I only notice it because he's meant to talk like I do, but there it is. As an aside I've used Dangerous Habits to get a lot of people reading comics. Before the recent popularity boom when everyone and their mother saw comics as kiddie books (funnily enough my mum reads Hellblazer too) I'd get them to have a look at my Hellblazer book and they'd change their tune.
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Apr 17, 2013 08:45
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I really like sulking and feeling sorry for myself while I drink excessively and putter through the ashes of my life, Ennis' run is one of my favorite things in comics. Absent friends and regret make for much better constant themes in comics than they have any right to. I wish I could -understand- Delano's run better. It always seems like he's saying something really loving profound, but either he's just basking in pretension or I'm too loving dense to pick up on it, but just smart enough to know it's there. Constantine is also the first bit of evidence that no DC movies should ever be made. First off, it's "Con-stan-tine" not "Con-stan-teen". Second, JC is witty, blonde, short and English, basically the opposite of Keanu Reeves (they should've cast Alex Winter). Third Chas Chandler is -not- Short Round. I guess, to its credit, it wasn't Watchmen which was unwatchably infuriating. How was that Jonah Hex movie? e: thread title Always Draws the Fool
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Apr 17, 2013 09:44
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Sizone posted:I wish I could -understand- Delano's run better. It always seems like he's saying something really loving profound, but either he's just basking in pretension or I'm too loving dense to pick up on it, but just smart enough to know it's there. "British Conservatives are literally demons from hell" seemed to be the long and short of it. Delano's run is very much a working class response to Thatcherist England.
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Apr 17, 2013 12:10
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Last night I read the comic where JC has sex with a demon in hell with a condom on as revenge. Thats probably the most wtf I have encountered so far. I also believe I was introduced to Dead JC last night as well who is even more hosed up than non-dead JC is. I agree with everyone, when I read the first Ennis stuff I was absolutely hooked.
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Apr 17, 2013 12:50
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Genetic Toaster posted:"British Conservatives are literally demons from hell" seemed to be the long and short of it. Delano's run is very much a working class response to Thatcherist England. This says it best  Oh and I am shocked that you do not talk about Gemma, John's niece. She is a very important part of the series and one of the most important characters. Also I would say you should add more about Astra since the Newcastle thing is one of the most important events in the Hellblazer mythos. It is due to that event that he met one of his greatest enemies and his guilt over what happened to Astra is one of his driving forces.
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Apr 17, 2013 13:38
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bobkatt013 posted:This says it best You are absolutely right, I should add Astra, the last couple of books I read she showed up and you can see how much it messes with JC. Will add her shortly thanks for the heads up.
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Apr 17, 2013 13:41
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bobkatt013 posted:This says it best Was the Newcastle stuff in an actual issue? Or just talked about? I'm missing ~40 issues from 1-80 so I didn't catch every story.
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Apr 17, 2013 13:42
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Medullah posted:Was the Newcastle stuff in an actual issue? Or just talked about? I'm missing ~40 issues from 1-80 so I didn't catch every story. Issue 11 and it is fucken great
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Apr 17, 2013 13:42
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bobkatt013 posted:Issue 11 and it is fucken great I think I need to go back and read that issue I will add Astra in as a picture with more details later. Im on issue 105 so issue 11 is a little hazy. edit: My google-fu is coming up short are there really no pictures of Astra out there? Flaggy fucked around with this message at 13:54 on Apr 17, 2013 |
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Apr 17, 2013 13:50
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Flaggy posted:I think I need to go back and read that issue I will add Astra in as a picture with more details later. Im on issue 105 so issue 11 is a little hazy. There are 
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Apr 17, 2013 14:04
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Hellblazer has a strong pervasiveness when it comes to hating Thatcher, Seriously there are several times she is mentioned in the book and always in a negative light. In fact there are a lot of just political issues that I don't get , I'm going to have to go back and read it again. I think I'll reread Delano's issues since I have the trades.
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Apr 17, 2013 16:17
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I was randomly flipping through stuff to re-read and spent 15 minutes with "Dead Boy's Heart" and boy little kid John sure is an interesting character. It's always nice to see the boy who would become the man.
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Apr 17, 2013 18:02
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Bitchin Kitchen posted:I was randomly flipping through stuff to re-read and spent 15 minutes with "Dead Boy's Heart" and boy little kid John sure is an interesting character. It's always nice to see the boy who would become the man. That is the one how he put a spell on his dad and made it so he could not go to his final resting place aka hell for causing the death of Johns mom and attempted abortion? That is a really good issue. The entire relationship between John and his family is really good.
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Apr 17, 2013 18:48
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Great timing on the thread, I started reading Swamp Thing last week because I wanted to see the origins of my favourite blue-collar Magus. Vertigo was my my first introduction to adult-oriented comics, and I was reading Hellblazer regularly until a few years ago. I should read the final issues but I don't want it to be over 
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Apr 17, 2013 20:34
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Sort of a tangent, but does anyone have any recommendations for places to buy back issues? I have about 90% of the Hellblazer run, and now that it's done I'd like to complete it. Ebay seems to have some good deals, but I'd like to find somewhere where I can get decent prices and buy in lots.
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Apr 17, 2013 20:37
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Medullah posted:Sort of a tangent, but does anyone have any recommendations for places to buy back issues? I have about 90% of the Hellblazer run, and now that it's done I'd like to complete it. Ebay seems to have some good deals, but I'd like to find somewhere where I can get decent prices and buy in lots. I used ebay and mycomicshop. I might have paid a little more, but I love Hellblazer and it was worth it. Also a convention can help bobkatt013 fucked around with this message at 20:54 on Apr 17, 2013 |
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Apr 17, 2013 20:39
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Medullah posted:Sort of a tangent, but does anyone have any recommendations for places to buy back issues? I have about 90% of the Hellblazer run, and now that it's done I'd like to complete it. Ebay seems to have some good deals, but I'd like to find somewhere where I can get decent prices and buy in lots. If you have a shop close by try them, thats how I got my issues, they worked with me to get ones missing from their collection AND it saves a loving ton on shipping. Ebay you can get some good deals but alot of them charge 5.99 for shipping one issue, and your also supporting local businesses.
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Apr 17, 2013 20:53
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A reread is long overdue for me so I've dug the first twenty-odd issues out of their box. Might skip the Azzarello stuff though. My personal favourite issue has to be the one with Chas's mum and the monkey... If you've read it I'm pretty sure you won't forget it.
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Apr 17, 2013 21:41
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Shameless posted:A reread is long overdue for me so I've dug the first twenty-odd issues out of their box. Might skip the Azzarello stuff though. gently caress that issue. That followed by Eddie "Stick To Drawing" Campbell's story caused me to stop buying Hellblazer entirely. Jedit fucked around with this message at 14:11 on Apr 18, 2013 |
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Apr 17, 2013 23:42
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Flaggy posted:If you have a shop close by try them, thats how I got my issues, they worked with me to get ones missing from their collection AND it saves a loving ton on shipping. Ebay you can get some good deals but alot of them charge 5.99 for shipping one issue, and your also supporting local businesses. Mile High Comics http://milehighcomics.com/ is having a half off sale. Code word halfoff! I think if you spend over $30 its free shipping too. I have seen some good deals here http://www.comiccollectorlive.com/LiveData/Default.aspx Bunch of different vendors so shipping can kill ya.
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Apr 17, 2013 23:56
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bobkatt013 posted:I just finished doing this and it was awesome. I am reminded that Jenkin's run is one of the best runs just because it is so diffrent then the rest. I also suggest you read Shade the Changing Man 42-44. It is still amazing that out of 300 issues there is only one horrible run. Who wrote the horrible run and what made it so horrible? Are they going to collect the entire 300 issue run in the new trades or will they skip some?
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Apr 19, 2013 05:26
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sporklift posted:Who wrote the horrible run and what made it so horrible? Are they going to collect the entire 300 issue run in the new trades or will they skip some? The run by Denise Mina. It was just horrible. She got the character wrong and the plot sucked. It was just bad. Also I assume they want to, but this is DC comics we are talking about.
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Apr 19, 2013 05:32
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bobkatt013 posted:The run by Denise Mina. It was just horrible. She got the character wrong and the plot sucked. It was just bad. A little while ago in Edinburgh they had a Crime Writers Evening with Denise Mina and Ian Rankin. I wish I'd been able to go, just to ask these two famous authors what they got out of writing Hellblazer.
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Apr 19, 2013 09:18
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Denise Mina's run is where the whole thing ends on the schadenfreude of someone losing a football match, right? I always liked that. (That was the only thing from that I liked.) So stoke for stroke who is everyone's favorite Hellblazer artist? It's a REALLY hard call but I think I may have to go: Frusin Dillon Phillips
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Apr 19, 2013 15:46
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John Ridgway, Will Simpson and Simon Bisley, far and away.
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Apr 19, 2013 16:02
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Sizone posted:I wish I could -understand- Delano's run better. It always seems like he's saying something really loving profound, but either he's just basking in pretension or I'm too loving dense to pick up on it, but just smart enough to know it's there. I assume you're referring to his later arcs, where he lives with that hippy caravan and the little girl is New Age Jesus or whatever. I'm pretty sure that part falls under the "pretension" label. There are still some pretty good stories in that stretch, but some pretty bad ones that are dragged down by what seems to be a rather obnoxiously strident vegetarianism/eco-saviorism (the one where they rescue that one weenie vegetarian kid from his hilariously OTT butcher dad was just funny, not horrifying, and I remember his good Animal Man run being similarly dragged down by insufferable stridency and caricaturing). But it helped set the stage for Delano's last issue, which I thought was a great way to wrap up his take on Constantine and his place in the world. So no, I don't think you're missing anything, although I could be as well.
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