The audio review:
Jamie Delano returns to his creation John Constantine in Hellblazer: Pandemonium, a graphic novel released to commemorate 25 years of the iconic comic book demon-hunter. Constantine visits Iraq in Delano's plot; he's seduced by an Iraqi government spy and is then roped into investigating a mysterious demonic man, a Djinn, who is only part of the underlying demonic manifestations surrounding the Iraqi military operation.
Delano knows his character well, and it seems he has no trouble penning a Constantine novel again. His writing has a noir aura, as Constantine is well-read, observant, and opinionated - he makes no attempt to quell his raging thoughts. Delano's dialogue is superb, making Constantine into a hard-edged yet endearingly mysterious man; Pandemonium explores the softer side of Constantine's psyche, delving into love and even philosophies of life that are paired well with Jock's hard-lined artwork.
Constantine does deal with demons, but Delano creates a novel that is richer than just the supernatural horrors of war-torn Iraq. Pandemonium has a slight political slant as well, where Constantine, who has dealt with Hell and its requisite demons, is surprised to see the torture and destruction of the desolate war field. It's heavy stuff, and Jock's vast, lonesome desert works wonders at providing the brooding mood.
Delano moves the reader along fast, too; the plot jumps from Britain to Iraq, from war and the demonic Djinn to Hell and a frightening, high-stakes poker game. There's no time for the reader to get bored with Constantine's quips and with the ever-increasing plot twists. Fans of Hellblazer work will have a blast with this, and the tag-team of Delano and Jock create a deliciously hellish experience.
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