PREVIEW: Hellblazer #300

**jsf** · 02-20-2013, 04:11 PM

Hate to say it, but that was right crap. With the exception of the smoking himself back into existence, there was nothing about this that felt like Hellblazer. The scenes with Gemma felt contrived, and the appearance of the First of the Fallen -- almost as John's lapdog -- was ludicrous. We get trite scenes with Finn whilst Chas gets short shrift? Very crap. Sorry, but they should've brought back Ennis or Delano to end this series properly.

**Superdog** · 02-20-2013, 06:54 PM

spoilers and such

To be honest I was a bit confused at the end. What exactly happened? Gemma re-killed him... and then? Was that him at the end or Finn? I had the thought at the end that that was the pub from Hellblazer 120, but alas it is not. Did he possess Finn or something? Did Gemma shoot him or not? There was an image of the dart seemingly un-used.

**Billy Batson** · 02-21-2013, 04:19 AM

Originally Posted by Superdog

spoilers and such

To be honest I was a bit confused at the end. What exactly happened? Gemma re-killed him... and then? Was that him at the end or Finn? I had the thought at the end that that was the pub from Hellblazer 120, but alas it is not. Did he possess Finn or something? Did Gemma shoot him or not? There was an image of the dart seemingly un-used.

To quote iFanboy's pick of the week:

What about that ending? I had to chew it over for a while. I think it went like this: John let’s Gemma pull the trigger on him, since he wasn’t going to make it anyway. He dissipates into nothing, and we find ourselves zooming towards a pub in Liverpool called The Long Journey’s End. Is this a real place no one can go? I don’t know, but I don’t think so. In the pub, we find a withered John surround by what looks like Karen Berger, Shelly Bond, Will Dennis, and someone else I don’t know from Vertigo editorial. To the other side, we see three chaps, who I assume are the current creative team, Milliagan, Camuncoli, and Stefano Landini. Along the walls of liquor are the names of everyone who ever worked on Hellblazer, an area I spent a long time perusing. It’s not a normal ending. It’s not a blaze of glory. But somehow, somewhere, John’s gone down the pub. He’s gone back home. He’s a story. He’s enigmatic, and what happens doesn’t always make sense, and it’s not his way to explain it to you. Is John happy to be there? What does it mean? I’m not sure, but I kind of like it that way. It also feels like a bit of a throwback to Hellblazer #120, by Paul Jenkins and Sean Phillips, where John meets his creator, Alan Moore, in a pub, setting up a precedent for the crossing over of worlds, and the acknowledgement of fiction within the fiction. The thing is, I don’t know what it means, but I’m still thinking about it. I don’t want it explained to me. I want to roll it over. I want to come up with my own ideas, knock those down, and think of some more. It was never easy being a fan of John Constantine, so why should this be any different?

**Filip** · 02-21-2013, 05:36 AM

Nice, quiet little send-off. Piffy's dealing with all of this was gut-wrenching.
I like that Julian appeared at the end. That little Babylonian snot.

**Billy Batson** · 02-21-2013, 05:40 AM

Originally Posted by Filip

Nice, quiet little send-off. Piffy's dealing with all of this was gut-wrenching.
I like that Julian appeared at the end. That little Babylonian snot.

Yeah, I was wondering whether Milligan had forgotten about him or not. Milligan probably would have built him more if it wasn't for the cancellation.

**Filip** · 02-21-2013, 01:07 PM

What about that ending? I had to chew it over for a while. I think it went like this: John let’s Gemma pull the trigger on him, since he wasn’t going to make it anyway. He dissipates into nothing, and we find ourselves zooming towards a pub in Liverpool called The Long Journey’s End. Is this a real place no one can go? I don’t know, but I don’t think so. In the pub, we find a withered John surround by what looks like Karen Berger, Shelly Bond, Will Dennis, and someone else I don’t know from Vertigo editorial. To the other side, we see three chaps, who I assume are the current creative team, Milliagan, Camuncoli, and Stefano Landini. Along the walls of liquor are the names of everyone who ever worked on Hellblazer, an area I spent a long time perusing. It’s not a normal ending. It’s not a blaze of glory. But somehow, somewhere, John’s gone down the pub. He’s gone back home. He’s a story. He’s enigmatic, and what happens doesn’t always make sense, and it’s not his way to explain it to you. Is John happy to be there? What does it mean? I’m not sure, but I kind of like it that way. It also feels like a bit of a throwback to Hellblazer #120, by Paul Jenkins and Sean Phillips, where John meets his creator, Alan Moore, in a pub, setting up a precedent for the crossing over of worlds, and the acknowledgement of fiction within the fiction. The thing is, I don’t know what it means, but I’m still thinking about it. I don’t want it explained to me. I want to roll it over. I want to come up with my own ideas, knock those down, and think of some more. It was never easy being a fan of John Constantine, so why should this be any different?

Nice little review. That someone was Milligan.
The other three on the right were Cammo, Bisley and probably Landini.

I like You're Next t-shirt Fate is wearing. Black humoresque.

**Billy Batson** · 02-21-2013, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by Filip

Nice little review. That someone was Milligan.
The other three on the right were Cammo, Bisley and probably Landini.

I like You're Next t-shirt Fate is wearing. Black humoresque.

I thought it was someone of the editors but then went Jared K. Fletcher. But you're most likely right even though I haven't seen Pete rocking a 'stache.
And yeah, it's Landini.

**Filip** · 02-21-2013, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by Billy Batson

I thought it was someone of the editors but then went Jared K. Fletcher. But you're most likely right even though I haven't seen Pete rocking a 'stache.
And yeah, it's Landini.

No, it goes Shelly, mustachioed John Doe (Will Dennis doesn't have black hair on google pictures that came up), Pete with a pint and Karen.