John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America #10
Kevin Rossi
Recap
It's time for John Constantine to live or die in L.A....and at the rate his body has been decomposing, the smart money is on the latter. His only hope is to fulfill the mission with which Dream charged him--recover every grain of enormously powerful Dreamsand, seemingly seized by the triplicate entity that's eating the American subconscious alive--but when he learns just where the sand wound up, that mission will immediately become impossible!
Review
John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America is a rare type of book. It’s a follow-up to another stellar series from this creative team but it is also a semi-sequel to an early issue of Sandman that also acts as a retcon. So many books have gone “back to the well” and built a full series off of a small detail, but they often fall flat. John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America not only feels like a proper follow-up to its 2020 predecessor but it also feels like an organic follow-up to 1991’s Sandman #3. Both Si Spurrier and Aaron Campbell brilliantly link the three with Dead in America. John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America #10 is the penultimate issue of the series, though this issue contains everything that makes a great finale. However, there are still loose ends to be tied up with Dream’s sand.
Si Spurrier is writing his butt off in this issue. The trio of narratives from John, Nat, and Noah interweaving with the overarching metaphor of ritualism of filmmaking and magic make for an absolutely heartstopping issue. Readers would be frantically holding onto each word if it wasn’t for the stellar art from Campbell and colorist Jordie Bellaire. The two artists are a tour de force together and giving readers some of the finest visuals on shelves today. This creative team is creating a quintessential Hellblazer story that reads and looks completely modern but transcends time by capturing the essence of early Hellblazer and Sandman. Campbell’s splash pages especially are masterpieces that remind readers that this is indeed a horror book. As incredible as this series is, it’s bittersweet that it is coming to an end once again. However, with the recent news of the Vertigo imprint returning, maybe the next issue isn’t the last we see of this team and this series.
Final Thoughts
John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America #10 is another near-flawless entry to one of the best series out today. Spurrier’s writing is knocking it out of the park with dread-inducing skill. Campbell’s art seems to top itself with every issue, so readers are in for a treat in next month’s finale.
John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America #10: Forget it, John. It’s Tinseltown
- Writing - 10/1010/10
- Storyline - 10/1010/10
- Art - 10/1010/10
- Color - 10/1010/10
- Cover Art - 10/1010/10
