John Constantine: Hellblazer #8: Dark Waters

I have not been disappointed by an issue of John Constantine: Hellblazer yet. In fact, I do not think I have been disappointed by anything Simon Spurrier has written, period. This issue’s atmosphere was incredible. It picked up right where the last issue left off, but the narrative felt colder and terrifying. There’s something about a revenge story that really adds something extra to a story. The whole issue you know the mermaid/siren is going to get her revenge on her “ex-lover” fisherman, but I was pleasantly surprised and started by how it happens.  There’s something unsettling about dark water, and it perfectly matches the tone of this issue. Much of the issue has panels depicting the siren’s view from the water. It all feels cold and dooming, with everything tangling underneath the darkness, which matches the siren’s anger perfectly.

Spurrier has the talent of taking two ideas that don’t seem to have anything to do with each other and connect them. He is so good at this that it makes you feel like a dummy you didn’t see it before. Spurrier’s inclusion of the salmon run was an incredible and perfect addition to this arc. When explained, the salmon run seems unbelievable; thousands of salmon suddenly leaving the ocean to return upstream to the rivers they were hatched, only to spawn themselves and then die on the riverbeds. Constantine saying that this is only because of magic, and they die when the magic runs out seems so obvious, at least in a Hellblazer book. The magic that kept the siren alive is running out, and her spawn floating to the surface when she pulls the fisherman down was the perfect and terrifying end to the issue. Spurrier is without a doubt one of the top writers working in comics. He has the incredible talent of making the unbelievable believable, which might just be the most important factor in storytelling.