If you spend any time over in the dingy Vertigo end of DC's pool of creative talent(where all the best parties are held)then you know that there's a copious amount of story behind the great bastard of magic known as John Constantine. Now that he is splitting his time between his 'mature readers' home, where Peter Milligan is writing the hell out of(and back into)him, and the shiny new Fifty-two, Jeff Lamire and company get a chance to revisit his past in this zero issue of Justice League Dark, and the results are a bit revisionist, which is to be expected, but also very well done. Here John is fresh from his European tutelage tour, and he's ready to move on to the big leagues, which ends up being New York City. What follows is a tangled little love triangle between John, Zatanna, and Nick Necro, his new mentor. In the end John gets the girl, his signature look, and the first taste of his latest obsession: the Books of Magic. Jeff Lamire has a very good grasp of the character, and infuses his take on John's early years with lots of nods to previous creators, all without turning the character into a caricature or one-dimensional anti-hero. The art is excellent, striking and crisp without getting cartoony, and Ryan Sook's cover is perfectly devilish. All in all, a fantastic number zero that will no doubt bring more potential fans into Constantine's dark inner circle.