Just picked up the latest Pete Milligan/Guiseppe Camuncoli issue of Hellblazer.
Part 1 of a new story arc - "India". India seems to be everywhere at the moment, maybe I'm just seeing that since one of my latest creations is inspired by Hindu mythology. It got me thinking back to the first "karmapunk" comic I read - Milligan and McCarthy's Rogan Josh back in the 80s.
So its no surprise when the opening scene reminds me of the opening scene of Rogan Josh, and once again it looks like Milligan's diving headlong into discussing issues that other writers often shy away from.
I'd advise anyone to pick up this run from the beginning, if:
1) ..you like Pete Milligan. This is his best work since X-Statix, it feels like he's back on form again after a few corporate gigs which he's phoned in. He's not a dark writer by any means, and peppers the political issues and horror with some nice little humorous or just human touches.
2) ..you like Constantine. I love Milligan's depiction of him - best summed up as a hero who's out of his depth and knows its his own fault, but can't help but dig himself deeper. When he's cocky, its not charming, it leaves you wanting to reach into the page and slap him for thinking he could possibly get away with whatever he's about to do. It'll probably solve his current isssue but introduce three new ones that are twice as bad.
3) .. you like offbeat art. I'm new to Camuncoli's work, but he's got a great style that really suits the book. Its similar in appraoch to Dean Ormston who did the "Life During Wartime" series with Tim Hunter - expressive and stylised rather than polished or realistic. We've even had a two-part filler in by Simon Bisley, which was really nice and understated. (something I never thought I'd say about Bisley's work). His depiction of John is suitably a little bit crazed and disturbed to match the story.
I wouldn't recommend this arc as a jumping on point - Milligan's run so far has consisted of little arcs that all tie together with one big storyline, and thats what makes it really worth picking up. On the other hand, I'm a big fan of reading stories out of order, and you'll probably pick up the gist of what's already happened from this.
So, if anyone's looking for something a bit different and fits one of the categories above - give this a go.
I had not read him for a while but I picked up the previous issue and was really impressed, I'm sure there was stuff I did not know but it still worked as a one shot if I'm willing to take things at face value. I read "India" today and I love where this is going, right now I'm as fascinated with the place as the media seems to be (food, music, culture, cinema, hot actresses) and look forward to seeing where this goes.
A small aside: I've always thought that places with a HUGE landmass and population like china and india should have tons of superheroes... Marvel, Dc and Image better get to work!
Big Hellblazer fan and a big Milligan fan, so I'll probably end up getting this.