John Waterman

Actually, I elected not to hit the Jack Daniel's. The wine buzz was so plesant and mellow, and I figured whiskey would ruin it.

At least wine isn't as bad as champagne. Talk about a mule kick to the head.

Well, I'm a few months late to be sounding off on this one, but here goes.

I liked the artwork, liked the dialogue, and generally enjoyed the plot. Generally.

While I won't say I was let down, having read so much Hellblazer already, I was sort of underwhelmed at how generic the story seemed. It was cookie-cutter Hellblazer. Actually, that's unfair. It was a fairly simple story that seemed targeted at people unfamiliar with the series. I really didn't feel that there was much to interest the longterm fan, aside from a dcecent, if a bit too familiar story. I can't really put my finger on it, but there was just too many Hellblazer staples crammed in (See John get a mate killed! See John be a snarky bastard! See John's asshole father and trouble childhood).

There were some good moments though. I liked the inclusion of the Aztec Gods (although I can't figure out why they set it in L.A., other than the fact that it came out around the same time as the film). I liked Chas getting the girl. And I really like this one bit of dialogue:

Chas: I'm coming, John! Me martial arts training will come in handy!

Constantine: What training? Tae Kwon Wheel Wrench? Shut up, Chas.

Again. Can't put my finger on it, but Carey's monthly run (I just re-read Red Sepulchre) comes across as much more original and exciting. That's not to say AHE is bad by any means; I just wish I hadn't paid $24.95 for a story I felt like I already read a dozen times throughout the series.

I'm going to go with Ennis or Carey, with the possible exception of the first 12 issues of the Delano run.

If I'm forced to pick only one, I'd go with Ennis because, for better or worse, I can identify with just about everything Constantine does. Every hangover, every maudlin bout of drinking, every fight friends or lovers started because of a few cruel words or actions...been there, done that.

But I also love the way ol'Garth captures the lighter moments, like Constantine's party, or just page after page of good friends bullshitting over drinks at the bar. He turned Chas Chandler into a sympathetic and developed character, rather than the stooge that Delano introduced. Under Ennis, Chas came across as a fairly intelligent salt-of-the-earth guy who, while no match for Constantine's wiles, certainly wasn't stupid. It seemed that his loyalty to John was more out of friendship than indebtedness, and he showed in "Dear John" that he'd only put up with so much of his bullshit.

Furthermore, I thought most of the stories worked extremely well, "Dangerous Habits" and "Rake at the Gates of Hell" being the best. One-shots like "This is the Diary of Danny Drake," "Forty" "And the Crowd Goes Wild," "Remarkable Lives" and the spectacular "Confessional" were excellent examples of how to tell a short story with an extremely limited amount of space (Again, I know some folks aren't fans of the loose ends in "Crowd," but I think they're very appropriate in the context of the story).

Ennis also gets high points for the parts in the story where Constantine questions his own theatrics (appearing out of nowhere with a smoke and a witty remark).

The only marks I'd take off come from the pretentious crap towards the middle of "Damnation's Flame" and the abrupt breakup between John and Kit. "Dear John" was one of the best issues of Hellblazer ever, but it would have been nice to have had an issue or two tucked in between that and "Fear and Loathing" to show their relationship deteriorating.

I know a lot of people were turned off by the more foul-mouthed, harder-drinking, sentimental and down to earth take on Constantine after Delano's decidedly different take on the character, but after issues of 30-40 of his run, it was nice to see the story get grounded more in a reality that the average guy can identify with.

It's not for everyone, sure. I gave a trade of Dangerous Habits to a friend who is a HUGE fan of Preacher and Punisher, and he admitted it bored him. He got a much bigger kick out of All His Engines and Red Sepulchre.

Carey gets a close second because he pulled off a hell of a trick with a fast-paced interconnected five-year storyline that actually WORKED. There wasn't much breathing room, or time to get drunk and reminisce down the pub, but it was really nice to see Constantine actually doing things that were cool, magic-related, imaginative and MADE SENSE. Unlike runs by certain other authors named Brian Azzarello.

Ellis was good. "One last love song" and "Telling Tales" are also great one (and one half) issues. Problem is, everything else came across as "TransmetroBlazer." "Haunted" felt padded, and all of Constantine's musings on "London is darkest, evillest, most disgusting place on earth" got tiresome.

Delano's first twelve issues were awesome, but they do have the unfortunate tendacy to rely on crossovers with Swamp Thing, and they're harder to find.

So. All in all, I'd still say Ennis has the most to offer.

Ow.

Wine hangovers really suck. I think next time I'll stick to paint thinner and brass polish.

In the immortal words of my personal hero, Titus Pullo of "Rome:"

"What women really want is the beating heart of your enemy...makes them wet as October...but failing that, you could always try talking to her."

I'm enjoying a bottle of Beajolais Nouveau 2003 right now. It's delicious. Afterwards, I'm moving on to Jack Daniel's. All the while working on my science coursework, and perhaps reading back issues of "Hitman." Because I'm just that maudlin.

If the government wanted to put a .45 in the hands of a victim's family member, trot the prisoner out and tell the bereaved party to have at it, I could understand the "justice" angle.

 

 

Umm...that would have even less claim to represent "justice" than the current system. It's not an unappealing notion (although I would still strongly oppose it, were it to be seriously suggested), but it pretty much epitomizes the idea of execution as vengeance, rather than justice.

Like I said, I'd have problems with it too. But to paraphrase the late Sam Kinnison, "I don't agree with {it}...but I UNDERSTAND it."

Prison Break is a preposterous (though highly entertaining) show, but one scene where a doctor examines a death row prisoner to make sure that he is physically fit enough to be killed by the state pretty much sums up how bad our (America's) system has gotten.

And let's face it: the death penalty is a hot topic. It demands attention. Look how much time we've spent talking about it already.

As for abortion...Jesus Christ. Will these fundamentalist jackasses please find a new way to skim lobbyist money already? It's not your choice, and it sure as hell isn't your uterus. If a woman doesn't want to have an abortion...then she doesn't have to have one! Just because a medical service is offered doesn't mean it has to be partaken of. Personal choice and responsibility! What a concept!

And let's not forget the number of mutilations and accidental deaths (many of which were probably unreported) that occured when a woman who chose to terminate a pregnacy had an abortion in a back alley clinic by an unlicensed quack instead of a clinic subject to AMA standards.

And I really, really don't want to get into Harriet Fucking Miers, or I'll be here all night.

I really need to quit watching CNN, and stay off the AP Wire. It makes me grouchy, and my grouchiness is proportional to the amount of money I spend on whiskey.

My problem with the death penalty is that it has become a political pH test instead of a punishment. The whole process of actually putting someone to death is so bloated and inneffecient that it's almost laughable.

Equally ridiculous is the emphasis on puttting someone to death as "humanely" as possible. Please. A leathal injection might be less painful than the electric chair, or being drawn and quartered, but I wonder how humane its proponests would feel if they were the ones strapped to the table.

I don't think the death penalty in the United States justice. It's far too expensive, way too political, and crime rates have shown that it sure as hell isn't a deterrent. Plus, the idea of third party murder, legalized only since it's the people who make the laws doing it, has always sat badly with me. That may not make much sense, but it's always bothered me.

If the government wanted to put a .45 in the hands of a victim's family member, trot the prisoner out and tell the bereaved party to have at it, I could understand the "justice" angle. I'd still have problems with the system, but at least it would be sending a clearer message.

Life imprisonment is a whole lot scarier anyway.

Just finished reading "No Country for Old Men," Cormac McCarthy's newest book. While not one of his best novels, it's still 1,000 times better than any other new book I've read recently. It's about a hunter in Southwest Texas who stumbles on the scene of a recent drug-related massacre--and walks away with several million dollars. It's a very dark, well-written take on the "man on the run" story. The main antagonist is absolutely fascinating and spooky.

At times, some of the characters have an annoying tendacy to wax sentimental about times before, say, the Vietnam War and the sixties, when America was a swell, god-fearing-yes ma'am-no ma'am-leave it to beaver-sort of place. Some reviewers have criticized the book as having a narrow-minded throwback political view, but having read McCarthy's other books, I think he's just illustrating the type of person who would live in a small border town in SW Texas. I'd highly reccomend that book to anyone who likes a thinking man's action yarn.

Right now I'm re-reading "Suttree" by the same author. It's about Knoxville. There's not much of a plot; it's just about life when you're down in the dumps. It's very funny, though, and doesn't often come across as depressing or lugubrious.

After that, I'm going to check out a guy named Robert Stone. One of my professors reccomended him to me. Apparently, he wrote a great novel about the drug trade in Vietnam called "Dog Soldiers."

Saw the newest episode of Rome last night. It was an improvment over last week's. I enjoyed seeing Egypt. In fact, I think there was probably only three minutes worth of scenes in Rome. It really lent to the epic feeling of the show. I loved the scenes with Vorenus, Pullo and Cleopatra, especially

SPOLIERS Pullo knocking up Cleopatra, and her passing it off as Ceasar's kid. Hee hee.

Also, Mark Antony was a blast to watch as all ways. He's a total son of a bitch, and James Purefory plays him with such glee. To hell with Cicero; set that bastard loose!

However: What was up with the huge jump in the timeline towards the end of the episode. One minute, the battle? More and more, it seems like they're rushing to get Ceasar's assassination in for the season finale. I really hope they don't, mostly because that would probably require a few more drastic jumps in the timeline.

It's still my favorite new series, though, and I was happy to see the return of the "wet as October" line.

I was laughing my ass off at the part where Pullo admitted he had never tourtured anyone. The poor guy seemed so embarassed!

Also, was I the only one who thought of "Tales of the Black Freighter" from "Watchmen" when Pullo and Vorenus were shipwrecked?

What's incredibly refreshing about Rome is that each episode--particularly the first three, IMO--were satisfying in and of themselves. They were part of a larger story, but each one had a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Combined with the quality of the acting and production design, I'd weigh Rome in as this season's best show. More's the pity that it's almost over, and we're going to have to wait until 200-fucking-7 to see more of it.

The volume of criticism leveled against it seemed totally unfounded. It seemed liked all the critics were waiting for an HBO show to come along that they could trash just to be all iconoclastic. I don't regularly watch every HBO program, but Jesus, every one of their shows is gold.

Carnivale was a bit silly. But at least it looked pretty.

I picked up my new Mil-Spec 1911 today as an early Birthday present, and damn if it isn't a fine gun. It's very satisfying to shoot. It's basically a standard 1911 with fixed combat sights and a parkerized finish. I'm still getting used to it right now, but by the time I got to the end of my box of

.45s, I was getting decent groupings at 30 paces. I should have brought more bullets. I'm right handed, and I find I have to aim slightly down and to the left to compensate for the kick. But it's a hell of a lot more fun to shoot than my 9mm anyway.

I think that's it for handguns for me for a while. I'm looking to get an Enfield or an SKS next. Both are awesome rifles, and both are going for very little (like $1-200) right now.

Anyone here ever had Blue Moon beer?

Yeah, Blue Moon is great, especially fresh draft with a slice of orange.

Blue Moon also puts out a pumpkin ale, however, which is absolutely wretched. I once bought two cases of it for $11 total. I guess that should have been my first tip-off to its quality. I couldn't give it away.

The only beer I've had that's worse than that is Stroh's. Bleech.

Oh yeah.

I got in a similar altercation the other night at one of the local bars. Mississippi. Me and two friends, hurricane refugees from New Orleans who are staying with me indefinetly, stopped in at a bar for happy hour. Since the only thing worth discussing these days is Katrina, we talked about that while having a pint. At one point during the conversation, I told these guys, "It's a lot more fun having y'all here than our first two guests," (they were intense women's studies majors from Tulane who actually refused to wash dishes because they felt it was demeaning. True story).

So there was this drunk guy sitting about two barstools down. This is only 5:30 p.m., and they guy had ordered at least four Jack Daniels' on the rocks, and come to think of it, looked drunk when he came in. At my comment, he got in my face, and accused me of being insensitive to people who "lost everything."

I said, "Not that it's any of your business, but one, they were from New York, and were going to school at Tulane. That sucks. I'm from Bay St. Louis, and I did lose everything, so I think I know what I'm talking about."

Now. I've put up about 10 people at my house in North Mississippi since this bullshit started, and I ran food and water down to the coast two days after the storm hit, all of which I did out of my own pocket, which on a salary meant for people just out of college is not much.

I'm not trying to put myself on a pedastal, but when some [over-used word] at a bar starts getting in my face about not doing enough, he can fuck off.

Anyways, this guy went on for about another minute, and I told him to get lost. He got right up in my face, and I just said, "Dude. Be smart and walk away." The guy was pretty built, and working on a good, mean drunk. I wasn't about to back down to him, but I'm really not sure if I could have taken him. Turns out I didn't have to.

My friend Mark had overheard our little discussion, and chose this moment to share his input with this fellow. Mark grabbed him by the throat, threw him to the floor, and started slamming his head against the tile. Me and the manager broke it up after about 10 seconds. I paid him $20 to smooth out the incedent, and that was that.

But the guy followed us outside, threatening to call the police, who he allegedly had connections with. I called them first, us being sober and everything, at which point the guy skedaddled. He yelled at us that we had better never go in a certain bar in town again, since he had lots of friends.

We took off for a couple of hours, then picked up a buddy and went to the same bar he mentioned to get hammered and look for trouble. Unfortunately, my heart wasn't into any heavy drinking (it really hasn't been ever since the storm hit, which is surprising to me, 'cause I love me some good beer and whiskey), and when it became apparent that the jackass wasn't there, I left my buddies to it and went home.

To top of this really great night, my car battery fried itself two blocks from the house.

Aaargh. Trouble. When it rains it pours. :lol:

I've got a Hi-Point 9mm with a 10-round and an 8 round clip, and a Remington 1300 .12 gague with a 5-shell chamber. The Remington's awesome. I love it. Very smooth racking and firing; even double-aught buckshot isn't that bad. I actually played that game Eternal Darkness not too long ago, and was pleased to discover that the main character finds a model that's very similar to mine, although in the game it has a 7-shell capacity.

The Hi-Point...I don't know. I needed a handgun for my recent trip to the Gulf Coast, as people trying to jack your car don't usually wait for you to get your shotgun ready in a cramped space before making whatever move they're going to. The Hi-Point is compact and reasonably accurate at 20 paces. You'll basically hit what you're aiming at, but it's not a finesse gun at all. I've got the sights pretty tight, but the barrel's not all that long. I'd say it's a good inch to an inch and a half shorter than a Glock or Beretta, but I don't have the official specs of either of those guns on hand. The Hi-Point also has an interior hammer, like the Glock, so every shot has to be double action. Or is it double action if it doesn't HAVE an exterior hammer?

I do, however, love 1911s. I'm thinking of trading in the 9mm to get some cash to put towards a new one. I can't decide on the Mil-Spec model, which is stainless steel, and has combat sights, or just the standard model, which costs about $100 less.

Oh, and are all 1911s only single action? Every time I've fired one, it's just been at the range, so I always took the time to cock the hammer. Attempting rapid fire never came up.

My roommate has about six gazillion guns though, including an SKS and a Thompson. The SKS is incredibly accurate, and a total blast to target shoot with. They're pretty inexpensive these days, and I'm hoping to pick one up in the near future as well.

So who here caught the finale of Six Feet Under?

As last episodes go, I thought it was pretty solid, but nothing really special until the last 10 minutes or so. The ending montage was absoultely beautiful and breathtaking. The only one I can ever remember having that sort of effect was the Christening/Assassination cutaways at the end of The Godfather.

Great ending to a great series. It'll be missed.

Thanks for the kind words and offer Selkie. My family is pretty decent shape, though. Yeah, the house is wrecked, but it was insured, and most importantly, my Dad's job, and my job, don't depend on the Gulf Coast. It's going to be tedious dealing with the claims, sure, but there are many people much, much worse off. If anyone is interested in making donations at this time, the Red Cross would be your best bet.

Despite FEMA and Homeland Security's best efforts to fuck the situation up even more, lines of communication are getting better daily, and charitable organizations are getting a better idea of what people in each area need.

Like I said, I'm going to be working on stories about the fallout from this debacle for at least another two weeks. I'm thinking of riding along with a convoy or an 18-wheeler from one of the churches up here, just 'cause I've been down there once already and know the area pretty well.

I'll put some pics up later. I just got some photo CDs back from Wal-Mart from our trip.

By the way, Selkie, I'm pretty sure you're right about the "Big Easy" thing. Now that I think about it, I don't remember any real New Orleanians ever calling it that, except as a joke.

Slick, I don't know yet. I sent it in at 2 a.m. on Saturday morning. I called them and they said they received it, but I can't check the wire from home. The paper I work for in Oxford will run it regardless on Tuesday morning, when they come back from Labor Day, but I'm hoping AP will put it out there before then. I seriously doubt the situations in that article will change at all by Tuesday, but the sooner more people in the unaffected parts of Mississippi hear about it, the sooner they can start to help. There's tons of collection drives for food, clothes, gasoline, etc. going on as we speak, but most of them don't have the first clue where to actually take them.

You mentioned that some officers from your department were being sent down there. Where are you located? I saw a few deputies from the Polk County Sheriff's Dept. out of Florida in Bay St. Louis, and I know they're calling for people from all over. I think it was was a good descision not to go with your current situation, by the way. "Until the mission is over" looks to be quite some time down there.

Anyway, here goes.

Here's the story I wrote. I just submitted it to a certain international news agency that I'd rather not mention until I know whether or not they want it.

ORPHANS ON GOD'S ISLAND

BY JOHN WATERMAN

WAVELAND, MISS. - Helicopter blades beat out cadence over the remnants of the Coast Inn and Suites Hotel at the northwest corner of the intersection of US 90 and Hwy. 603., their spotlights cutting through the hot, clear night. The beams briefly illuminated a group of sterile, white tents in the parking lot of what was once a Rite-Aid pharmacy.

“That’s the morgue,” said Pat Collins, a sunburned, middle-aged man from the Lakeshore area in Hancock County. “They’ve been bringing bodies in all week.”

Collins is one of over two dozen refugees living on the second floor of the hotel. He booked a 2nd floor room just before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. The crossroads, which is nearly three miles away from the beach, was hit with an 18 ft. storm surge.

While the hotel’s proximity to the macabre compound across the highway might seem like bad luck, it has not effected the Coast Inn: not a single refugee who fled there for shelter died in the storm.

“We were pulling people out of the water, off cars, onto the second floor,” Collins said.

Steven Mayfield worked at the Kajun Kitchen restaraunt, which was located next to the hotel. He expected to be celebrating his birthday on Monday, Aug. 29.

"I turn 23, and a hurricane hits," he said with a shrug.

Mayfield swam through the floodwaters to a Sav-A-Center, which sits on the neighboring lot, as Katrina’s eye passed over Waveland in order to rescue people still trapped in the store’s rafters.

Mayfield’s uncle, Curtis Fouquet, also worked in the restaraunt. Fouquet's son was murdered in 1999, and he said he most regretted losing his son's dog to the storm.

Like many of the city's refugees, Fouquet was still stunned by the storm's ferocity.

"Someone wrote a book called, 'Camille was no lady,' he said. "Well, they could write a whole encylopedia on this one."

The first floor of the Coast Inn was completely flooded, but the second floor was mostly unscathed. Most of the sheets and beds were dry, and the rooms could be locked from the inside. There was no running water, but the hotel’s residents were flushing the toilets using water from the swimming pool. Several generators had been set up to provide lighting, as well as power to giant fans and outdoor grills. A commisary of sorts was set up on the pool deck. It contained juice, water, canned goods, and even a few bags of corn chips liberated from the nearby Wal-Mart.

"The way this hotel has come together as a community, as one, is amazing," Mayfield said.

A staging area had been set in the remnants of the Wal-Mart Supercenter, located a block west from the Coast Inn. Ice and MREs were available for area refugees. There seemed to be a steady supply, although it was rationed out in small amounts. One convienence store on Old Spanish Trail Rd. in still operated. The owners still had beer in stock, which served as a much-needed luxury for refugees lucky enough to procure it.

The damage to the neigboring city of Bay St. Louis is equally staggering. The destruction of property along the beach is total. Beach Blvd., which runs ran north to south along the waterfront, is impassable in many places. The Hancock Bank, situated at the front of mainstreet looms over the wreckage, several letters of its sign missing. The County Courthouse still stands a few blocks back, but the shops and art galleries that were staples of downtown Bay St. Louis are long beyond repair.

The Sea Coast Echo Newspaper, which printed in Bay St. Louis since 1892, took water nearly up to the cieling. The floor is covered in sludge, and the archives dating back for over a century were soaked. St. Stanislaus College, a reputed Catholic High School located on Beach Blvd., was heavily battered, partially demolished and totally unusable.

Citizens are free to drive around between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., at which point a curefew takes effect. Many policemen have opeted out of full uniforms for lighter, more tactical gear. A few even wore rifles, shotguns and bulletproof vests.

National Guardsmen have also been deployed to aid emergency workers in clearing roads, and providing extra security. They too found themselves under unfavorable conditions immediately: a sergeant from Grenada said he and his fellow soldiers were only making $40 a day for a full day's work. This amount, he said, was also taxed.

Dee Lumpkin, deputy director of the Hancock County Emergency Management Agency, said that police and emergency vehicles had very little fuel. The national guard presence, she said, had its own fuel and gave local authorities what they could. It is never very much.

Lumpkin said that the area needed items like generators, outdoor kitches, diesel fuel and gasoline most of all. Donations from independent charities are needed. Many Mississippians have expressed interest in helping refugees the coastal areas. Any supplies delivered for Hancock County, espicially those delivered by flatbed or 18-wheeler, should be taken to Stennis Airport on Hwy 603, which is serving as the county's staging area for the distribution of supplies.

With nearly all lines of communication down, refugees crave any kind of information from the outside world. At the foot of the ruined Hwy. 90 bridge over the Bay of St. Louis many refugees frantically attempted to send text messages over cell phones to friends and relatives. This location was the only place in the area where even text messages could be sent.

A few blocks from the wreckage of the bridge, two couples surveyed the wreckage of the coastline. One couple was sobbing and embracing.

"Hey, you two," a man from the second couple joked. "Get a room."

"Where?" asked the woman from the first couple. "It's not like we can find a hotel."

And back at the only hotel in the area still even remotely operational, Pat Collins summed up the situation fairly succinctly.

"We need help," he said.

--30--

It's very, very bad down there. Deadwood-goes-to-south-Mississippi bad. Gas is still unavaibable for, I would guess, at least 2/3ds of Mississippi. My friend and I brought 10 gallons in plastic gallon water bottles (all gas cans in Mississippi are also mostly sold out). I brought a 9mm, a .12 gauge, some knives and a shitload of ammo along, because talk of carjackings, theft and looting was mostly confirmed in that area. My friend, a Moscow-born immigrant who was just medically discharged from the Marine Corps, went down in camo and boots. We were able to walk though areas most people couldn't. Our house was a 1/4 mile from the beach, and was demolished. The front half blew from its foundation and sunk; the back half blew away. Alexey and I had to pick our way through the wreckage of another house, then climb over 5 feet of rubble just to get in our front yard.

We also brough a truckload of water, toilet paper, canned goods, gatorade, etc. down. We left it all with the refugees in the hotel that I wrote about. They seemed to have a generally steady supply of drinking water, but they found immediate use for the other goods.

I've got 2 cameras worth of pictures, and if you all are interested, I'll try and post them over the next couple of days. I need to get them developed and scanned in, but some of them are pretty damn good.

Anyhow, that's basically my firsthand/news account of what's going on down there. It's all true, and I really hope it helps get the word out, because the people stuck down there are truly screwed right now.

I just got back from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi where the hurricane's eye passed over, two hours ago. (I got back two hours ago, that is). I spent two days there, checking on my family's house (gone) and trying to put together a news story for either the Associated Press, or the papers in north MS, which is where I'm working and going to school these days. My editor is trying to help me get AP to pick it up, as they have very little coverage coming out of that area, which was one of the worst hit. It's bad down there. The destruction is almost total. My friend and I had to get around blockades in the center or the state just to get down to the Coast before dark.

I'm working on the story now, and should have most of it done by early tomorrow afternoon. I'll try to post a first person account here soon after.

Not sure if this is the right place to ask about this, but has anyone heard anything about future issues of Garth Ennis' 303? I read the first three, and thought they were excellent. E-Bay listed a 4th as being out, but that was a long time ago, and I'd heard the series was supposed to run for at least six. Does anyone have any info?

Also the Gunslinger/Dark Tower series was amazing until the end, when it just crumbled into absolute trash. S. King may have lost his touch.

Yeah, I'm midway through the last one, and I'm very underwhelmed. 5 was straight-up boring, and 7 has been kinda too. 6 was the closest in quailty to the first four. It was very fast paced, and had a great gunfight midway through, which was very welcome after slagging through Wolves of the Calla.

I sort of wish I'd just stopped reading at four.

Christ, this is a tough one. If the deck is focusing on Constantine, I'd have to go with John and Kit. But I would not be disappointed to see Chantinelle and Tali either.