Constantine #23

By Ray Fawkes, Jeremy Haun and Richard & Tanya Horie w/ Juan Ferreyra

Constantine has been one of the most underappreciated series in the New 52 since its launch, constantly delivering issues that have always entertained. The final issue wraps up the Earth 2 storyline in a strong and emotional way, flinging the character back to Earth along with the few surviving members; including Earth 2 John’s parents who now essentially want this Constantine dead for killing their son. Ray Fawkes and Jeremy Haun, along with Richard and Tanya Horie, manage to bring an excellent series to a great conclusion, ending the book on a high note.

There’s a lot of monologue by Constantine here that works quite well. This issue, much like the one before it, is incredibly emotional with several elements of strong dialogue. Yes, John may have brought his parents back to his Earth, but they’ve lost their whole world, and their son behind with the knowledge that their son from this world is essentially a monster. So it’s a pretty dark conclusion to say the least, and Ray Fawkes handles the book’s tone incredibly well. The pace is executed strongly with an interesting flash-forward at the beginning, and the main scene in the middle of the book pitting Constantine against Darkseid works very well, giving him a powerful, intimidating factor. It’s rare that you’ll see a villain as big in the DC Universe as Darkseid show up in a book like Constantine, so it’s great to see that Fawkes has a strong grasp of what makes the character tick.

The artwork by Jeremy Haun is fantastic this issue. He really knocks it out of the park and there’s a couple of panels in this book that look visually amazing, mostly the ones taking place in space and involving as much magic as possible. Richard and Tanya Horie’s colours are once again reliably awesome, and as one would expect, Juan Ferreyra’s cover for this book is one of the strongest things about this issue, with him knocking it out of the park once again. It’ll be very interesting to see what happens when Ferreyra moves onto Gotham by Midnight following Convergence, especially given that Fawkes is remaining on that book as well.

Like many of the DC Books ending before Convergence, Constantine is one that’s going to be missed. Yes, it is getting relaunched as Constantine: Hellblazer, but with a different creative team. Fawkes, Haun and the Tories have handled this reviewer’s favourite DC Comics character incredibly well with a powerful final issue that doesn’t disappoint.