[Maritimus]

sethos, on 26 September 2009 - 04:31 PM, said:

TestosteRohne, on 23 August 2009 - 06:22 PM, said:

Mr. Tom Willecome, on 23 August 2009 - 10:46 AM, said:

I see your point about the panel layouts. Yet another reason the monthly comic is a bit of a fail. For a year's worth of pages we could get something a whole heap less self-referential/episodic.

I think a lot of the books story arcs would work better without monthly pacing, cliff-hanger endings and soap-opera subplotting.

Agreed.

God yes.

Well, now I might end up buying this eventually, seeing as nobody outright hated it here. I'm not a fan of the art in the previews, but it being a smaller size probably helps. That said, the pricing on this is incredible (like the Jamie Delano/Jock GN) I don't get this at all, when so many comic book companies can crank out b/w hardcovers (or even colour ones!) out for a lower price. DC (Vertigo specifically) has a weird pricing structure. If they'd release this a manga sized pocket, for 12 bucks, I could see myself spreading the love around. It's certainly what's been happening with Felix Castor, I can't see why that wouldn't happen with this (or indeed, tiny reprints of Hellblazer storylines in b&w).

The art gets much better than in the preview, which i hated, after the artist starts using more black. Drawings are simple but nicely organized, there are some panels where light and shadow arrangements create interesting patterns in a way Miller used to do it in Sin City.

[rakshadefrommeta]

I agree.The previews did not do Werther Dell'Edera justice,he reminds me a bit of David Lapham.His art is much better in the rest of the book,especially when the panel boarders go black at the plot twist.The change was a nice update on the Wizard of Oz,color switch.

I liked this a lot.It reminded me of the movie,House of Nine.Rankin really does a good John Constantine,not only the dialogue and attitude,also the little touches,like focucing on Johns nicotine patches as he pieces the mystery together internally.I loved the Max Von Sydow line,that was perfect.Add Ishmael to the list of characters that I hope another writer tries something with.

Between this and the All His Engines OGN,I feel like Vertigo is testing(sales wise)the waters to see if Hellblazer would float better as a series of graphic novels.

P.S.Anybody checked out Filthy Rich,yet?

[Husamuddin A]

rakshadefrommeta, on 29 September 2009 - 09:30 AM, said:

P.S.Anybody checked out Filthy Rich,yet?

I did. Quit one third of the way.

[TimC]

For anyone else who thought the full price for this book was a bit fucking much, Amazon UK has it for £7.49, or half the original ask. That seems about the right price point.


And now I've read it - it's OK. The story didn't entirely grab me, especially once it turned into a boring old chase through corridors - I might have been more sucked in if I hadn't reaad anything which mentioned the big twist regarding the house (there was such an offending article in the Sunday Times the other week, which I don't even read normally). Pacing, dialogue and characterisation were generally pretty solid, especially for a first-time comic writer (I've not read much of his other stuff).
Art-wise, some parts were better than others. The style reminded me a lot of one of the Pleece brothers (probably Gary more than Warren). It looks like a good solid fumetti, which is no bad thing.
I did really like the format - very nice to hold and flick through, and it's a rare treat to have a good long Hellblazer story to read in one go (though I think that if it had been a regular monthly, the same story would have been told in a lot fewer pages with no real loss). If it wasn't for the price, I'd be happy to read a lot more like this - if a regular monthly costs about the same as a pint (something that's held true since they were under a pound each) and takes as long to consume, this should be equivalent to a decent bottle of wine, not a bottle of spirits.