Diggle is letting Constantine be the bad-ass exorcist he is.

This was the first issue of Hellblazer I’ve picked up in a while.  I haven’t read it since it was in the 170s, and if I’m not mistaken Mike Carey was writing it (poorly ) at the time.  So for the past six years John Constantine has been completely off my radar, with the exception of some Ennis and Delano trades I might have reread.

The story isn’t tied to 20 years of weird continuity, but it still rewards Hellblazer fans (even fair-weather fans like me).

This issue was Hellblazer at its best — John Constantine coming in to fix the churches mess.  Diggle has Constantine in the same type of situation he’s been in before, but still manages to make the story seem fresh and interesting.

Constantine isn’t trying to right his wrongs.  Too often writers make Constantine too repentant, or give him too many friends, or they have too much magic and voodoo.

When Constantine is trying to save his ass from damnation or con an angel or demon, I’m on board. Hellblazer, when done like this, is the best Catholic/Biblical fiction in comics today.