Comic Book Review: Constantine #1

John Constantine has been re-established as a DC Universe character, after spending a couple of decades in the Vertigo realm. He’s been the unofficial leader of Justice League Dark since the launch of the New 52, but here he steps out on his own as the lead of his own solo title. He encounters Chris, a younger man with psychic vision powers, who spurs Constantine to embark on a mission to locate the three parts of Croydon’s Compass, a magical artifact that can locate other magical artifacts. The Compass has been broken up into three parts and the pair head to Norway to locate the first part, but find themselves confronted by Sargon the Sorceress, part of a coven of mystics who also seem to want the Compass.

First of all, the artwork on this book is amazing! It looks fantastic. The writing on the other hand is simply okay. It’s certainly not bad at all, but this issue didn’t make me want to read any further. Constantine had a unique voice and narrated the tale, which was nice. But he’s not a very nice guy, so that makes it hard to get on-board with a series starring him. And the conflict just wasn’t that gripping.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not bad at all. It looks great, but it just failed to grab me. It was okay, but not epic.