IMO is having a bit of a renaissance at the moment. Don't know if it's anything to do with the film (crap) but it seems to have returned to the atmosphere of the early Jamie Delano era.
Incidentally, for those who were slagging Alan Moore for being unoriginal-here is one of his creations that really stands up as being original and enduring.
I'm not so sure..Mike Carey took it about as far he could, for sure his later stuff was definately lower standard than his early work and Denise Mina's take hasn't grabbed me like I hoped it would..TBH I'd like to see Paul Jenkins back on board steering John..
I really loved Paul Jenkins' run, perhaps it was Sean Phillips' matchless art. Read the first collection, thought is was awful to be honest, too much rambling monologues and some guy actually going into cyberspace (what's that got to do with magic?). However, Deleno's later Slag the monkey story was great stuff.
ADE
I stopped reading Hellblazer after Ennis left it, so I'm probably not qualified to comment.
Actually, that's not quite true. I read the rubbish story that Eddie Campbell did directly afterwards and stopped buying in disgust.
Delano's run was good in bits, but had a tendency to get caught up in his usual, holier-than-thou eco-politics and ended with a nearly incomprehensible bit of extended Tarot symbolism.
Bought a john ridgeway page from hellblazer recently. Looks fucking brilliant.
Definitely one of the best comics of the eighties IMO.