John Constantine: Hellblazer #12: Everything Has a Cost

Wow. That is the only thing I could manage to mutter as I finished John Constantine: Hellblazer #12. I’m always wary of last issues, especially for series that are cut short. Is this how the creative team planned on finishing? Do they have enough time to finish on their terms? As far as the absolute tragedy of this series being canceled, I am happy with where it is leaving us. Spurrier has consistently written an amazing Constantine, and this issue will forever pin his name up as one of the essential Constantine writers. With issue #12, it is time to pay up to the future Constantine, but by now I think readers know that our Constantine is great at getting out of agreements. Issue #12 is a roller coaster of brilliant writing and absolutely stunning, and terrifying, art that easily finds its place among one of the best runs of the series. I won’t spoil anything, but even if I did, I’d still tell you to go read this issue because there is no way a few typed lines can even compare to Spurrier’s writing and Aaron Campbell and Jordie Bellaire’s art.

This really is quite possibly one of the best runs of Hellblazer ever. The sad part is that we all know this, but it was still canceled. However, I am extremely grateful that this series existed in the first place, and even more grateful that Simon Spurrier got a chance to write it. John Constantine: Hellblazer hits all of the stops that made Hellblazer great, but does not alienate any readers, no matter when they started reading. I have said it before, but Spurrier has written a timeless Hellblazer story but that could only be written now if that makes any sense. John Constantine: Hellblazer was the series we needed in 2020.