Who Is Charles Webb?
A frequent contributor to Comics Bulletin, Twitchfilm, and his own blog, Monster In Your Veins, I do more than write about comics, movies, and games – I make my own. I was the lead writer on the horror-mystery mobile game “Exile,” and contributing writer to several other titles for both classic mobile and home platforms. Most recently I’ve taken on the Lead Game Designer position for the North American arm of Advanced Mobile Applications where I hope to have some interesting projects to tell you all about soon.
Spotlight on: Hellblazer
By Martijn Form
Unbelieveably, Hellblazer is publishing its 247th issue this week. It's the longest running series in the history of Vertigo. The only other Vertigo series that I can imagine having a chance at lasting as long is Fables.
Jason Aaron and artist Sean Murphy created Hellblazer #245 and #246, but Andy Diggle and Leonardo Manco are back with this issue.
Take a look at this exclusive preview of this week's Hellblazer issue.
Apparently, Diggle is continuing his story about "The Laughing Magician," which I think was the best Constantine story since Mike Carey left the book.
Through the years I've been on and off the Hellblazer bandwagon. I've seen both a lot of misses and a lot of memorable comics. I read a lot of shocking stories, from horror to high-end drama, but in the end Hellblazer taught me a lot about writers and creators, and their take on a company owned character. (As you may know, a lot of Vertigo books--and their respective characters--are owned by their creators. Not so with Hellblazer.)Hellblazer introduced me to writer Jamie Delano. I've been following him ever from Vertigo's Animal Man and Outlaw Nation to his latest creation Narcopolis published by Avatar. They say Grant Morrison has a patent on writing weird comics. Trust me: Narcopolis is a sophisticated LSD trip, which I have totally embraced.
Like a lot of other readers, I became a fan of writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon with their tour de force Preacher, but they burned some good rubber on Hellblazer.
Hellblazer also introduced me to the writing of Paul Jenkins. Jenkins' take on Spider-Man--with Humberto Ramos--is a run that I keep re-reading all the time. Ramos can draw rain like no other artist, and I love to see him one day on a Vertigo book. When you study his art style in Dark Horse Revelations, also with Jenkins, you know he would do an awesome job on any Vertigo book.
I was already familiar with writer Warren Ellis from his work on Transmetropolitan, but I got a different side of his writing style on Hellblazer. Ellis is a great writer but is hit and miss with me. It's not so much his writing per se, but the issue of deadlines. He can't meet them! Where the hell is the end of Wildstorm's Planetary or new issues of Desolation Jones or Fell (which I consider the best of the lot)? Ellis is an excellent writer, but he is poor at keeping to a schedule.
Brian Azzarello's best work, of course, is 100 Bullets, and I was a bit disappointed with his run on Hellblazer. But Mike Carey pulled me back into Hellblazer full-time. He provided a classic Hellblazer. Raw Horror with a good complex storyline.
Writers change, artists come and go, but there is always one thing we can rely on: John. Smoking, cursing, British motherf^$%er with his dirty stinking trench coat. Do you think the guy ever brought that coat to the drycleaners? He shows us that you can defeat evil by smoking enough cigarettes. He is the classic anti-hero, even more so than The Punisher or Wolverine is for me. Yeah, Wolverine is an anti-hero. He kills, drinks and smokes, not the best role model for any kid. Do you want your kid growing up to be like Wolverine or the Punisher? I don't think so.
If Mike Carey made Constantine cool again, then Diggle gave John his big magic balls back. And he gave us a sicko psycho villain called Mako. Man, I'm really scared by this lunatic. He will cut your throat and eat your brains, just by looking at him the wrong way. Shivers down my spine, I tell you. I think John finally has met his match.Vertigo's The Losers was the first work by Andy Diggle that I ever read. This hard ass spy story is so great… but so not Vertigo. I think it's more of a Wildstorm book. In the end though, I loved every single issue of the 32 issue run. Artist Jock helped a great deal, I must add. The latest news I heard about The Losers is that it is being developed into a major motion picture. Let's hope that it in the end it will actually be made, and not lost in the shuffle like Preacher on some bulls%^t executive's desk.
Talking about Andy Diggle and Jock, did you happen to read their Green Arrow: Year One storyline? If you're a fan of The Losers, you should read it because it has the same feel, and it even made me love the Green Arrow character more than I did.
Should this even be a question? Why did I put question mark at the end of that sentence? Maybe it would have been better to say: Leonardo Manco is the ultimate Hellblazer artist! This Argentine has been drawing Hellblazer for close to five years. His style is raw, like chewing on a cold rock and gritty like sticking your hand in an old drainpipe. His inking is black as the night itself, and it totally fits this book. No, let me rephrase that. Manco's art is a perfect match made in hell for Hellblazer. And through all the blood and dirt, there is plenty of room for detail in his art.
I hope he sticks with this book.
There is always an unsung hero. For me, on this book, it has to be colorist Lee Loughridge. His color palette works so well with the story. He balances his colors with a lot of grace, between the thick and dark inking Manco provides. Loughridge blends the art and script into a mind-blowing cohesion. There are a lot of fans that pick up a book because of its writer or artist, but I pick up books that are done by a colorist like Loughridge. He got me on The Punisher.
Lee Loughridge can make a good book great. Just look at some scenes situated in Africa (e.g. Hellblazer #239). The mood of his colors are dead-on and staggering. He is a master of color.
Writer Simon Oliver is the future. Fresh from his creator owned The Exterminators, he is now scripting Hellblazer Presents: Chas The Knowledge, but he will soon take over the writing chores from Andy Diggle. Diggle will leave Hellblazer with issue #249, to go to greener meadows called Marvel's Thunderbolts. I don't think I will be following him there, because I don't like that book, even though it's chock full of anti-heroes. Well, maybe I will try an issue, but I didn't like Warren Ellis' take on this raged bunch of criminals.But with Oliver on board the future looks bright for Hellblazer. Or, in the spirit of the book, I should say the future looks pitch black.
See you next week. More Vertigo, same channel.
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