John Constantine, Hellblazer: Scab

John Constantine is an unconcerned, somewhat amoral occultist with a British working-class background. He's a hero, of sorts, who manages to come out on top through a combination of luck, trickery, and genuine magical skill.In this latest volume in the graphic novel series, Peter Milligan (BATMAN, HUMAN TARGET, X-Statix), one of Vertigo's most popular and prolific scribes writes the adventures of Constantine for the first time. John digs his fingers deep into his bumpy past and discovers that old wounds and new loves are both best left untouched. 12 years ago in Liverpool, there was a bloody dockers' strike. Things fell apart when a union leader caved-in to the bosses. Today, John Constantine has a new girlfriend and an extraordinary, horrible new skin complaint: A weeping, dark, knobby scab covers part of his body. And it's growing. What's thebizarre link between this skin fungus and a largely forgotten chapter of British Trade Union history?

From Booklist

Milligan assumes scripting the exploits of London-based sorcerer John Constantine with two story arcs. In one, the magician’s body is enveloped by a horrifying scabby growth that has its origins in a decade-old scandal. In the other, Constantine confronts ghosts buried beneath the construction site of the Olympic Village. Concurrently, he’s trying to come clean with a new girlfriend about the pitfalls of a relationship with a disaster-prone, lone-wolf warlock. Milligan captures Constantine’s sardonic nature but has yet to invest his contributions with the quirkiness that has distinguished his work elsewhere. Giuseppe Camuncoli and Goran Sudzuka’s art is similarly serviceable but unremarkable. --Gordon Flagg

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