Hellblazer: Rake At The Gates Of Hell

Genre action Author Garth Ennis Publisher Vertigo External Links Vertigo

My first exposure to this character was through the recent film, which I generally liked. My first exposure to the comic was the lackluster movie adaptation, which I reviewed on Static last month. But what did whet my appetite for more were the extra stories included, each drawn from a different story arc in the long running series, and each compelling enough to make me contact Static for more of the same.

John Constantine is not a kind and gentle sort of soul. Embittered and cynical he still, however, manages to look a lot like you and I by the time Rake at the Gates of Hell is over. This is due in large part to Garth Ennis' deft talent for the sort of dialogue that shifts our focus on what the character might do next to what he is thinking now. Constantine is nothing, if not fully human - no matter what he might like you or I to think. His rough edges hide a nagging fear that only the truly innocent or most shallow never feel. It's the fear that a child feels when it's caught doing something wrong, something bad, something way worse than nipping a few cookies out of the jar.

But though a sense of guilt dogs him wherever he goes, he's still a travelin' man or more likely a man-child who can do little more than acknowledge his sins. Catch him off guard and you might get a smile, a plea in the eyes to cut him some slack but you'll never get a promise to do anything that might cause him to grow or change. To know him is to love him, but to love him is to risk everything, probably to lose everything because the man simply won't leave IT alone. And he has a way of dodging bullets that leave those around him dead.

The characters charm and the tension of the series narrative are largely hinged on just that. It's easy to understand why other characters feel so drawn to John Constantine only to tire of and finally despise and abandon him.

It's a fate that could have easily happened to the comic itself if it weren't for the fact that Rake at the Gates of Hell has such a serious view of human suffering. Characters don't just die they die in ways that shake you to the ground. And Constantine suffers plenty. The title may paint him as a devil may care but the story reveals a man increasingly alienated by his reliance on magic to safeguard himself from damnation, those around him whom he's relied on are dead, Hellbound, or ruined by bitterness.

The story picks up with Constantine having twice given the Devil the slip. Aware that another showdown is inevitable, he prepares for the worst even as a riot engulfs the city around him. Attempting to reconcile with former friends and lovers, he's finally left alone to face the music. And you, dear reader, are left wondering in this review if the devil gets his due or if that eternal smirk finds Constantine one more sunrise.

The writing here is just fabulous exploring the height and depth of human relationships even as it it plays with it's unique cosmology. That's the key to getting the most out of the series. At its' heart, Rake at the Gates of Hell is about the nature of love and redemption not a theology primer. In one very revealing moment Constantine says to a friend, "You let that little twinge of guilt stay with you, and slide up close to you on long winter nights, and maybe you'll get some good out've it." A truer starting place I can't imagine for those who have itchy spiritual feet, but a sadder ending place I can't imagine. Catching a man mid stride between heaven and hell rake at the Gates of Hell will have you pondering which way John Constantine is truly headed. If you count yourself among his friends, you just may end up asking the same of yourself.