Cowabungaa said:
2 Things:
1: As you live pretty close to where I live, I wonder where you get your comics. I fail to find a proper shop other than b-b-b-bol.com.
2: Mind recommending a Constantine comic? Before this thread I only really knew him from the movie, but damn in the comics he seems to be a Harry Dresden on steroids with some Deadpool mixed in between. I like him already.
1: I get most of my stuff online as well, but there are good comic shops in Nijmegen and Arnhem that have a surprisingly good collection... and if they don't have what you're looking for you can ask them to order it for you (well, at least the one in Arnhem... haven't been in Nijmegen in a while). De Noorman is one of my faves. They're not too big but have a good collection and the people there are really cool.
2: I haven't read the Harry Dresden books (it's on my gigantic to-read list though), but from what I've heard he's a lot like Constantine, yeah. There's not a lot of Deadpool in him though. He's a little bit crazy sometimes, but it's more "cynical bastard crazy" than "random maniac crazy".
In all honestly I'd tell you to start reading at the beginning and just read all of it chronologically, since there are all kinds of references and recurring plot points and stuff. Also, since the Hellblazer comics are chronologically accurate (unlike most comic book character, John ages in real-time and doesn't have a 'shifting timeline', even though his demon blood does slow his aging a bit), it just makes more sense that way. Also, what the hell. Here's a character that has at times been written by Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis, Neil Gaiman,
and Warren Ellis. You just
know there's gonna be plenty of cool stuff in there.
Still, if I had to take out one arc it'd be the
Dangerous Habits by Garth Ennis. This is the story on which the movie is (very loosely) based, and it's widely regarded as one of the best. Garth Ennis' entire run is pretty damn good, for that matter. Personally, I'm also fond of
The Fear Machine by Jamie Delano and
Empathy is the Enemy by Denise Mina. Most people do not seem to like by Brian Azzarello's run, but
Hard Time is pretty funny in a twisted way. Put a magic-using British asshole like Constantine in an American maximum-security prison, sit back, and watch the carnage as the whole thing comes tumbling down. There's also the added humor of Constantine walking out of the prison shower yelling "We're all out of fags!"
