John Constantine to join the Sandman universe

[rogue69]

DC have announced that John Constantine will be joining the Sandman universe in October.
Si Spurrier will be writing the new series with Aaron Campbell as the artist

https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2019/07/09/hellblazer-enters-the-sandman-universe-this-october-from-dc

[TordelBack]

I had to check Wikipedia to convince myself Spurrier hadn't already had a run on pre-2014 Hellblazer, as he seems such a perfect fit (and oh brother that Wiki is not without its faults*). While I've steered clear of the NuSandiverse, despite the involvement of daecent skins like Spurious, this one has definite appeal.   




*Exhibit A: "When Jamie Delano first wrote the series in the late 1980s and early 1990s, his issues were heavily inspired by the era such as punk rock and the British economy. Delano would be the first to put his political views in the series, an element never before seen in mainstream comics."  Where to even begin. 

[Colin YNWA]

Okay so I skipped this when I saw it announced on Bleeding Cool having lost all interest in such matters, didn't even open their article about it.

Now I read this and see its Spurrioso and I see what a fool I am. I'll defo be getting this. Is his The Dreaming any good?

[The Adventurer]

I've been reading Books of Magic due to a ComiXology sale, it's pretty good. Trying The Dreaming before the sale ends at the end of the month is my next move. I've not read any previous Sandman related titles (except the OG Books of Magic mini series a few year ago) until now. So I've got no comparison to the prior stuff.

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

A bit of a necropost, but seeing as it's on the subject...

I've been very much enjoying the new Hellblazer. It feels like the old, proper, series before they kept rebooting and buggering it up. All good. However- Covid intervened and as a result issues #5-7 are ludicrously expensive on ebay. I wondered if it was just because DC weren't distributing to the uk (all that palarva with Diamond, etc) but I managed to pick up the issues of Aquaman from the same period for normal prices. So, what's going on? And does anyone have an LCS with the issues at less than a bloody tenner each?

SBT

[Colin YNWA]

I've been picking them up on my standing order and while there was a delay as soon as distribution got back on its feet everything sailed through as normal so didn't realise getting these had become difficult.

Just nosied at the Forbidden Planet websire and they have them at what I assume is cover price or less?

https://forbiddenplanet.com/catalog/?q=hellblazer&sort=title&page=1

scroll down to see all the issues you've after but they all seem to be there for £2.65

Have to say I'm not enjoying it as much as I'd like to. Si Spurrier on Hellblazer ticks a number of boxes and its done well, just hasn't quite gelled with me yet for whatever reason.

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

That's brilliant! Thanks so much. I have no idea why I didnt think of that- I guess I'm so much out of the habit after four or five months of all this, that my comic nose has lost its sense of smell.

I've been very impressed with the issues I've read so far- though how much of that has been the sheer relief it's not at all like Constantine/ Constantine The Hellblazer/ The Hellblazer/ Rebirth Hellblazer, and even *looks* like would have slipped in as a cheeky #301 onwards, if they had been so inclined.

I'm not a fan of Sandman or Neil Gaiman, so the swirl at the top of the cover annoys me no end, but if it brings in a few extra punters, I can live with it. The first story was a good start, and if I remember where we left off before Covid, it was ramping up a year- even if the new artist did elicit a hearty "Yikes!" when I opened up #4.

I'm about 50 issues off having a complete run from Hellblazer #1 to date, so I really didnt want to go to trade at this late stage.

Again, many thanks!

SBT

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

Please ignore the logical and predictive errors in that reply. I have no idea what "ramping up a year" might mean, but my phone quite obviously enjoys humiliating me in public.

(Did I ever tell you about the time my phone changed then word "warbling" in a message to TV Tarzan actor Ron Ely, and left me telling the ageing small screen hero that I'd spent "many a happy hour as a child, swinging from trees while wanking"?)

SBT

[Jim_Campbell]

even if the new artist did elicit a hearty "Yikes!" when I opened up #4.

Matias Bergara is a mad genius. If you haven't checked out his and Spurious' CODA (from BOOM, and to which I may have made a small contribution) you should — billed as a fantasy book for people who hate fantasy,* it's great.


* Which is a bit glib... it's fine if you actually like fantasy.

[Professor Bear]

I've been picking them up on my standing order and while there was a delay as soon as distribution got back on its feet everything sailed through as normal so didn't realise getting these had become difficult.

I was really surprised at my local comic chain store actually managing to keep my standing order during C19, as this has been something they've rarely managed to do when there wasn't a global pandemic going on - but then someone pointed out that people hadn't been shopping in all that time, so the staff couldn't stripmine standing orders for casual shoppers like they normally do.  On the downside, now I have an entire series of Skip Tracer to read.  I'm the real victim of this pandemic - at least the dead's suffering has ended.

[Mardroid]

Please ignore the logical and predictive errors in that reply. I have no idea what "ramping up a year" might mean, but my phone quite obviously enjoys humiliating me in public.

(Did I ever tell you about the time my phone changed then word "warbling" in a message to TV Tarzan actor Ron Ely, and left me telling the ageing small screen hero that I'd spent "many a happy hour as a child, swinging from trees while wanking"?)

SBT

   

Oh man, that image cracked me up. And swinging with one hand is really impressive.

[karlos]

Cancelled with #12, as the bloodbath continues:

https://www.cbr.com/john-constantine-hellblazer-sandman-universe-ends-issue-12-november

[CalHab]

I don't understand that at all. It was a good run and building up a significant amount of interest.

[Colin YNWA]

Yeah but DC is undergoing an implosion right now and if you are not a Bats or Supes book all bets are off. 30% of the work force have apparently gone and there's thought to be a big move towards the Young Adult book market which apparently makes a lot more money for folks.

I think we'll see a lot more surpises from DC over the next few weeks and months.

[Jim_Campbell]

Cancelled with #12, as the bloodbath continues:

Not cancelled, exactly. It was commissioned as a 12-issue run with the possibility to extend if sales warranted which, apparently, they didn't. It's a damn shame but, for all his cult status, Constantine has never shifted a huge number of books — Hellblazer routinely shipped well under 20K during its Vertigo run, which would certainly have seen the title cancelled well ahead of its eventual demise had it been a mainstream DC title.

It's a damn shame, and all the shit going down at DC is pretty alarming, but COVID alone is going to send a lot of marginal books to the wall.