You may remember that a couple weeks ago I reviewed Filthy Rich, one of the premiere graphic novels released under Vertigo’s new sub-imprint Vertigo Crime. This review is for the other release book Dark Entries. I don’t know much about John Constantine. I’ve read some Hellblazer here and there and seen him appear in other books like Sandman and Swamp Thing. I do know one thing though. It’s pronounced ConstanTINE. Not ConstanTEEN. Rhymes with turpentine. I just wanted to clear that up.

Like I said, I haven’t read much Constantine and when my friend Trish recommended the book to me I asked her if it’s a good intro to the character and she said yes. She was absolutely correct, this story tells you everything you need to know about the character and holds up very well as a standalone story. Do you f**king hate reality television? So does John Constantine. So of course he’s never heard of “Haunted House,” the hottest reality show on TV but he gets to know the program all too well when it’s producer Matthew Keene invites John to come on as a contestant on the show as a mole to figure out why all the housemates are seeing things Keene isn’t showing them. Constantine has to figure out why the house has become actually haunted and not just TV special effects haunted.

Fans of Constantine will find plenty to love in this story. It has all the macabre twists and turns you see in the Hellblazer series and the snarky yet professional paranormal detective’s character is completely intact. Some of the characters at times can feel like walking stereotypes (the American otaku, the badboy etc.) but they all get a chance to shine and become well rounded as the story progresses. The twist in the middle is well done and unexpected but what interested me about it was the presentation. Up until that point all of the page borders between panels were white but once you hit the ‘shit just got real’ moment all the page borders turn black and stay that way until the last page of the book. It gives the second half of the story a real weight and makes you feel trapped in this house with these people. The art is impressive, Dell’edera’s use of spot blacks and line weight give a heft to the art and reflect the darkness of the story. Nothing in the book really blew me away visually but it flowed and he definitely has a knack for drawing hellish occult beings and all the grimdark stuff we love to see in a John Constantine book.

The book is presented just like Filthy Rich with the digest sized hardcover and pulpy feeling paper. This is obviously going to be a trend with the Vertigo crime series but the story doesn’t have that noir or even very pulpy feel that FR had or the outside would lead you to expect. I have always meant to get more into the Constantine mythos and this book gave me a definite nudge to finally get on that. Good solid story with decent art 8/10. I continue to look forward to Vertigo’s new subimprint.