Product Description

Soon to be stepping from the shadows into his own live action movie (starring Keanu Reeves) comes a classic comics character: John Constantine, the enigmatic chain-smoking mystic! Rare Cuts assembles six spellbinding stories that have never before been collected, including the horrifying events of Newcastle, 1978, that ended with Constantine confined to an asylum and, amongst others, a tale of Constantine's rough-and-tumble childhood and the beginnings of his unique skills. Created by some of the most popular and critically-acclaimed writers and artists in comics. Also includes a Constantine timeline and a map of Constantine's London.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #584093 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 168 pages

Review
Leeds Guide 09 Mar-24 Mar 2005: "...excellent, shade-heavy art from David lloyd." www sci-fi-online.com review by Nick Smithson:" This is one of the best Hellblazer collections I've read to date. 9/10." Big Cheese Magazine April 2005: " ..this is one that fans of the comic book and soon-to-be fans of the movie won't want to miss."

Guardian Friday Review Friday March 4th 2005
"..a reminder of Hellblazer at its finest."

About the Author
Grant Morrison is one of comics' most innovative writers. His long list of credits includes JLA, Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Judge Dredd, New X-Men, The Invisibles and The Filth. Garth Ennis is the award-winning writer of Preacher, Hellblazer, War Stories and Hitman.

Customer Reviews

TERRIBLE....... DO NOT BUY.......
Simply awful. The writers have tried to squueze the entire, complex storyline of the Constantine Movie into a small comic of few pages, resulting in a rushed, unengaging piece of reading matter, or for a better word... TRIPE!

Much too expensive when compared to the original Hellblazer graphic novels, which are VASTLY superior.

After the short movie adaptation, the rest of the book is made up of three individual stories taken from the original (and BETTER) Hellblazer Series.

One of these three stories ("Hold Me" by Neil Gaiman) is a haunting, self-contained piece about the ghost of a dead London tramp. This is worth owning.

Unfortunately, the other two are simply "tasters" from other Hellblazer graphic novels, sure to get you all worked-up for nothing, because you'll need to purchase other books to find out what happens. Disappointing.

If you enjoyed the movie and wish to discover the Hellblazer comics then my advice is to start your collection with "HAUNTED", "SON OF MAN" and "ORIGINAL SINS" (in that order) as these will introduce you to Constantine as he was intended to be.

Incidentally, the "Hold Me" story can also be found in Gaiman's title: "MIDNIGHT DAYS" which collects his early works before "Sandman" came about.

Look out! Confusion below...
Customer reviews for two separate Hellblazer compilations seem to be cropping up together.

Hellblazer: Rare Cuts, is a compilation of genuine Hellblazer stories, including the important #11 "Casa Nova" story that formed a backstory to much of Constantines development. This is the collection reviewed positively by Joakim Jahlmar.

Constantine: The Hellblazer Collection, is a dodgy knock-off put out to tie in with the dodgy knock-off movie, and is reviewed negatively R. A. Murtagh.

Hope that clears things up! My star review is an average of the two.

A good introduction to both the series and the character
In connection to the release of the film Constantine, DC has made a decision to promote the Hellblazer comic to the masses. One of the TPBs and hard cover collections that has been published is Rare Cuts, a collection of six separate issues of the comic book which in turn form five narratives as two of these issues are connected. Of these five stories, three - "Newcastle: A Taste of Things to Come" (#11), "Dead-Boy's Heart" (#35) and "In Another Part of Hell" (#84) - are written by Jamie Delano. These three, all of which explore events in Constantine's checkered past, are the best ones in this collection and they provide a good perspective on the character's background.

The inclusion of the "Newcastle" story was, as an aside, the primary reason why I ordered this album. I read it many years ago when published in a Swedish anthology title and have ever since wanted to read it in original. It is unfortunately a shame that DC seems so reluctant to publish a second collection of Delano's run on Hellblazer to follow where Original Sins ends, but at least they have now had the good taste to include this episode which that previous collection constantly refers to (i.e. the events in New Castle).

Rare Cuts also contains a double episode - "Early Warning" and "How I Learned to Love the Bomb" (#25-26) - written by Grant Morrison. Unfortunately this story is by no means one of Morrison's better works and it leaves me rather untouched, which feels sad, both since it takes up a third of the space of the collection and since Morrison definitely has a much better capacity than this story reveals.

Garth Ennis's "This Is the Diary of Danny Drake" (#56) is much better, although it also falls slightly short beside the formidable Delano stories. Nevertheless, it does show Ennis's talent as a writer in general and of Hellblazer in particular (to those who have not read Ennis's run on the title I strongly recommend buying the TPBs available, with the possible exception of Son of Man which does not compete entirely with the others).

A great bonus in this collection is the inclusion of two 2-page prose/info texts - "Years Gone By: A Hellblazer Timeline" and "John Constantine's London" - written by Michael Bonner. They provide a good overview of the series and the character of Constantine (which lies in the general vein of the collection). All in all a worthwhile purchase for fans of the series and newcomers alike.