Amph Constantine (continuing in animated form!)

Well that was a rather dark episode. The beginning indicates the coal miner was abusive to his wife. The end says she used her gypsy powers to summon spirits to kill him then was infected with darkness and started killing the mine owners so Constantine summons the spirit of the abusive coal miner to vanquish her.

I cannot recall what it is called but it appears Constantine uses a ability to find fairy lines and teleport away when he talks about being in the right place under the Sun and vanishes.

So right now this is just a spirit/demon/evil thing of the week show.

 

I enjoyed E2 of Constantine, and am looking forward to this week's episode. Though the show isn't as dark/twisted as the comic series, it's still decent & keeps my interest. E2's demons/monsters were fairly cool, especially the scene at the very beginning - quite disturbing.

I will say that this show at times reminds me of an episode of The X-files, and since I was a huge fan of that show, that's definitely not a bad thing. That being said, Constantine & the woman who's drawing him don't remind me of Scully & Mulder....yet.

 

This must be what people felt like who did not like the first season of Agents of Shield but stuck with and eventually liked it. It's all sort of their to be good but is not quite delivering but I wish to keep at it.

 

The show isn't bad, but man, is it ever Hellblazer-lite. I kind of wish this was the exact same cast except it was on Starz or HBO and they could just have John swear and drink and smoke. And consistently every adaptation has managed to mispronounce the name Constantine.

 

Wonder why they just didn't put it on Netflix. Might still be a possibility. Don't know how 10 o'clock on Friday is doing for it ratings wise.

Back in Sept I got the first trade of Hellblazer to prepare me for the universe more. I had already read Constantines first appearances in Moores Swamp Thing.

Needless to say the first issue of Hellblazer will sell you on the series quick. It fulfills all the promises you'd expect a horror comic would. Strong series starting off, heavy on the 80's satire.

The show lacks the grit and darkness that makes the idea of Hellblazer work so well. Also, Constatine is just a little too heroic in the show. I read an issue where he just lets an entire town, with a story based around this towns dead kids coming back from Vietnam, pretty much die. Even helps it along.

So yeah, I think the Virtigo head and Milligan were kinda right. Dude is imitating Constantine, but he's not Constantine. Does a good job. The show itself is pretty decent, but I can't blame people for wanting more Hellblazer in the show.

 

I like the series, and the third episode was great. Quite disturbing, and I especially liked this since I'm a big fan of both blues & rock music... - the scene where Constantine was playing Anarchy in the U.K. by the S#x Pistols (in order to drown out the demon record) was great, especially since I always thought Constantine looked kind of like Johnny Rotten...

Also, the bluesman who "sold his soul to the d." in the episode was obviously an homage to the 1930's legendary iconic musician Robert Johnson....

I was a moderate fan of the Vertigo/DC Hellblazer comic back in the '90's - never collected the series, but read a couple of the Trades here and there. I agree the show is not as edgy as the comic series, but IMHO it's still an above average adaptation...

 

I just finally got caught up on the third episode tonight on the DVR. The story about a record with a demonic energy was great. Too bad it was not the typical "Rock N' Roll is the Devil's music" stereotype. I hope Papa Midnite lightens up his attitude.

 

Agree that the original comic is amazing, and one of my favorite DC/Vertigo series. I'm currently re-reading the Dangerous Habits Trade, which reprints #41-46 of Hellblazer. Excellent storyline; very bleak & disturbing, but also amazingly well-written & drawn. I like how the artist changes every so often; though I typically like artistic consistensy in comics, in the case of this series it works really well, since it gives each issue it's own unique vibe/tone.

 

I guess I'm one of the few that actually likes Constantine - I thought Episode 4 was the best so far; extremely grotesque scenes with the bugs coming out of people's mouths, and leaving behind their dessicated bodies - quite gory. Reminded me somewhat of that one story in the first Creepshow film.

Episode 4 SPOILER Below:

Also, the Constantine who would sacrifice one of his friends (for the greater good, of course) is a lot more like the character in the comics than what we've seen in the previous three episodes...

 

Episode was good. Comic was way better though. I had given hope that they would have gone all out when they did adapt the first issue. Including having actual scenes from the comic. Oh well....

Edit: and to that they gary wasn't willing to sacrifice himself. John tricked him into doing it. Felt bad about it, but he sucked it up put his glasses on and watched just the same. No hand holding.

It's changes like that, like it or not , that will give the nay Sayers the ammo they need to prove that Constantine is poor imitation.

 

Just for visual reference for how it actually went down...



Yes they can make Constantine and A-Hole, which he is. They just can't make him an A-Hole as he is in the comics. It would make for a very compelling TV character, but not someone most networks would sign off on.

 

Saw the latest episode of Constantine & am increasingly impressed by this show; it's actually my favorite DC series this Fall (and I'm watching all of them). I'm a huge fan of horror movies/comics/books, so I may be biased. I liked how they showed Constantine actually smoking....the dead spirits in the New Orleans, LA area were well-done; extremely creepy, especially the scenes with Papa Midnight. IMHO, one of the major themes in this episode was of letting go after the passing of a loved one, no matter how much you may miss them - very poignant.

I'm intrigued by Constantine's "partner" - I wonder what her deal is?! We seem to be finding more about her in each episode, though what we do find up just brings out more questions than answers.

In any case, hope the show continues, but am not sure it will. It seems that most of the TV series I like end up getting cancelled...

 

Jim Corrigan = Spectre. Intreresting. And he looks like Elliot from Die Hard.

 

Just starting reading Hellblazer, Zed is introduced in issue 4 I believe. She's already a practicing magician.

Which is another thing. I dislike Constatines continued use of "Excorsist." He's magician.

 

This show is in trouble

 

Yeah pretty much a cancellation in all but annoucement.

 

So you didn't read the article then?

 

Thanks for the info. The show has actually gotten me interested in collecting the original Hellblazer comics via the Trade Paperbacks. I don't own any of them, though I've read them off & on over the years from the library.

If I do start to collect them, I will probably begin with the most recent collections that started in 2011. Those seem like the best place to start...

 

Thanks for the link re: Constantine - not at all surprised by this, unfortunately. At least it appears we will be getting 13 episodes of this great & underrated series, which is more than I actually expected.

The article mentioned that both Gotham & Flash are doing better in the ratings than Constantine, which is not at all surprising. I would consider both series much more mainstream, since most people out there are at least familiar with both Batman & Flash (even if they're unfamiliar with the comics). Conversely, IMHO Constantine has several things going against it:

1) Outside of the abysmal K. Reeves film from about ten years ago (which is thankfully largely forgotten these days), I doubt many heard of the character - unless you read the comics.

2) Secondly, the show is on a bad night (Friday).

3)Thirdly, there are so many other great shows on this Fall (TWD, the three other DC series, etc.) that even though some may find the show intriguing based on the ads, it may not be something that most would want to commit to watching at this point...

4) Lastly, the horror/demon elements on the series are not something that some/most?! would feel comfortable watching; I like horror flicks, but I know a lot don't (I know someone who doesn't like them at all because they get too frightened...).

 

It just needed to be grittier. Though I noted Angel Heart was a perfect for modeling, so was Bladerunner. It did not have to be nearly as violent as Angel Heart or Hellblazer. But this was a tad or two brighter than was needed. I was enjoying for what it was though.

 

I'll be sad to see this go, I've found the show to be quite entertaining so far.

Evil.

 

This last episode featured a tried and true Constantine trope. No no the possessed kids, I'm talking about where John gets his ass handed to him by a normal human but he is able to regularly deal with and defeat demons and devils and evil sprits of all kinds.

 

Great episode of Constantine last Friday; quite creepy, and had elements of The Exorcist & The Omen films. Though some of the criticism of the show is that it's not "dark" enough, I think the show is disturbing enough as it stands...

 

I'm going to be pretty bummed out if this gets canceled.

 

Spectacular episode of Constantine last week. The exorcism effects re: the demon who possessed Constantine were amazing, and some of the best I've ever seen in cinema. As far as I'm concerned, the quality of this show is so good each episode may as well be a 1-hour mini horror flick...

Hopefully it'll last beyond this first season, and I'm also hoping we'll find out exactly what Zed's back-story is before this season is over...

Side-note: I was amused that the actor who played Julio in this episode (the little guy who betrayed Constantine @ the jail, and then later grudgingly helped him) was the same guy who played Pedro in the hilarious & now iconic Napoleon Dynamite (2004)