The Hellblazer 15 (2017)
The latest Swamp Thing appearance comes in the form of a drunken, alternate reality situation.
The series still hasn’t done much since it began. It’s another Constantine muck-about, feeling like a place holder. This unfortunately sounds more negative than I intend. I greatly appreciate the efforts put into my favorite characters and books, but It feels like each issue has been an uninteresting glimpse into a much more interesting story.
Constantine hops into a cadaver to visit a demon bar, where he drinks mead. The mead allows John to manipulate his reality (booze? really…huh) but not without the demons working on an angle too.
In one of Constantine’s mead trips, he encounters the JLA. They’re hoping to retrieve John’s spirit. Swampy looks like the Incredible Hulk.
In this reality, Swamp Thing might be in the JLA. He’s helped out plenty already, he deserves a spot.
This issue seems over complicated and repeats scenarios that we’ve seen Constantine in so many times before; even in recent books like, Section 8 and the New 52 Constantine series. Seeing John slugging down whiskey, scratching his butt while getting out of bed is like having to watch Bruce Wayne’s origin story. Constantine told through a different lense would been refreshing.
During the melee with the JLA, Constantine finds refuge in a bar. Swamp Thing finds his way in as, Barley Man!
With a few more swigs of magical mead, the fight is over and John’s naked in bed.
