Carey and Manco’s Masterpiece

Dark, mysterious, and scary, yet engrossingly written and charismatic, Mike Carey’s “John Constantine: Hellblazer: All His Engines” is a graphic novel that begs to be read.

A story that combines the magical and demon-filled world of Constantine with a conflict that’s relatable, “All His Engines” manages to tell a story that is not based in any type of reality, yet feels remarkably comfortable and accessible.

For that, it’s easily one of the best Vertigo comics ever written.

Anyone who has read anything with Constantine in it before knows that he’s simply, a bastard. Cunning and conniving, seeing him outsmart villains of all shapes and sizes and help the people he has to, yet somehow always advance himself and further his ambitions, is a blast. However, the few instances where we see the human side of the character are memorable and flesh out an already remarkable character.

Throughout the trade, Constantine is not only forced to confront his darkest fears, a demon that has haunted his dreams since childhood, he’s forced to work alongside him in order to help the only friend in his life that’s ever trusted him, his loyal driver, Chas.

Later on, when he begins to question their friendship and Constantine’s motives, the story becomes less about demons and spirits and more about overcoming doubt and persevering, making it a book that even comic book fans who could care less about Constantine can find something to like.

As a result, this is easily the best story featuring the character.

The writing is so fantastic here that it could be illustrated with stick figures and still be a solid work, but the pencils by Leonardo Manco are superb, totally capturing the gritty and dark tones of Carey’s writing. With a cast of characters bordering on the grotesque at times, Manco keeps everything in perspective and creates a one of a kind environment. Possibly fueled by a combination of biblical art and Gothic art, Manco’s work slows down the tale, in the best way possible, forcing you to look at everything from the hyper-detail splash pages, to the dark and lonely images of the main character. As well, the full-page illustrations of many of the demons are full of color and passion, yet are simultaneously bone-chilling, adding even more ambiance to a remarkable adventure.

With top-notch writing and illustrations that demand your full attention, “All His Engines” isn’t just a must-read, it’s a shining example of what the medium should be: smart, beautiful and engrossed with depth and layers that only become exposed in time.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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