Constantine: Distorted Illusions – Kami Garcia, Writer; Isaac Goodhart, Artist; Ruth Redmond, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: It’s time for another one of DC’s popular line of young adult OGNs, and a common pattern continues. The characters in these books are often so radically different from their comic book counterpoints that they almost seem like original characters. That’s definitely the case with Constantine, as Kami Garcia’s narrative changes him from a down-and-out magician detective to an up-and-coming teenage mage from a powerful magical family. Normally he was raised by an abusive non-magical father after his mother died in childbirth. Here his father abandoned the family and he’s been raised by a loving mother and a well-meaning stepfather, Roderick, who wants to send him abroad to study with a powerful witch.
Constantine has his own motivation for wanting to go abroad—his best friend and bandmate Veronica, who is looking forward to starting their American tour once he crosses the pond. He agrees to meet with the mysterious Lady Marguerite, who he quickly offends both by being late and touching things he shouldn’t in her base. Before being thrown out, he nicks a magic book from her—becoming the core of the book. But he’s more occupied with kicking off his Washington DC music career with Veronica and her roommate Slaughter. On his tour through the backroom clubs of DC, Constantine meets a beautiful girl named Luna who he becomes fixated on, and starts using simple magical spells to enhance their show—something that soon backfires.
When a pyrotechnic stunt at one of the shows gets them blacklisted from the club scene, Constantine decides to get revenge—by summoning a vengeance spirit and sending it towards the club promoter. Sure enough, it’s not a vengeance spirit that comes out but a demon, and it soon possesses Veronica with devastating consequences. That’s really the core of this book—every bad thing that happens here is Constantine’s decision. He makes mistake after mistake out of some ill-advised sense of rebellion towards both the father who abandoned him and the man who he blames for trying to take his place. It’s only when he admits that he needs help that he’s able to fight back against the forces he’s unleashed.
Overall, similar to the all-ages take on Constantine “Johnny Constantine and the Mystery of the Meanest Teacher,” this story accomplishes what it sets out to do. It’s a distinct softening of Constantine’s character, one who is lucky enough to learn about his self-destructive tendencies at a younger age and be set on the right path. That means this Constantine could wind up being a great mage and hero. Aside from one surprise reveal, it has very few ties to the DCU and works as its own thing. I think it works slightly better than Garcia’s Teen Titans books—it has a very brisk pace and some genuinely disturbing visuals courtesy of Isaac Goodhart that pay tribute nicely to the character’s Vertigo roots, even if this is definitely a kinder and gentler take on the character.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
