This is a very good thing for Constantine (currently brain-dead) and company (in a nice heap of trouble, by issue's end), who take two steps forward and three steps back in that essential Part 4 of 5 manner. So it's all very predictable, but as the Beast would probably agree, getting there is what's fun.

Gemma and Chas team up and pay a visit to Unca John's storage locker, which is crammed full of mystic books in foreign languages, skulls carved with pentagrams, and obscure idols. Apparently the proprietor must owe our hero a favor, or maybe there's a magic Automatic Bill Pay spell in one of the grimoires that keeps the rent up while Constantine is off gallivanting around the world or being chased by inmates in jail.

But we are quickly distracted from such mundane considerations by the appearance of three guest stars. It spoils nothing to list them: the Swamp Thing, Tim Hunter, and Carey's other blond angel/devil protagonist, Lucifer. Of these, only Swamp Thing makes more than a cameo, helping out in his (its?) typically disgruntled way.

Gemma casts a spell. It works, but it might not have been the best plan in the world. Oh, and there's another witticism lifted from Douglas Adams. That's about it for plot this time around, but it works just fine as we race toward the last issue in the story arc and things look hopeless, as they will.

The characters could still use a little more interior life. It would be nice to know what Gemma's thinking about all this through some inner monologue, rather than the unwisely lengthy conversation she has with her uncle once they finally meet up.

Frusin's artwork is no help, still hasty and crude. Facial expressions are absent or almost unreadable, and the last page looks more like a game of Pictionary than a dramatic climax.

Nevertheless, this is still the most compelling Hellblazer story in quite some time, and if Carey keeps his pace we should be in for a satisfying conclusion.

Rating:

Andrew Simchik