United States Spectral Services

[superboyprime]

Jeff Lemire (Vertigo's Sweet Tooth, Essex County) takes over writing duties and takes the book in a new direction...





Dr. Mist went missing on a mission in the Amazon.

Comments

[q99]

Well if there's any new direction books that could work, it'd be this one.

[mrstatham]

Lemire's one of the strongest writers doing the reboot, whereas I personally don't think Milligan works well in a straightforward superhero book. If a lot of the DCnU hadn't been so editorially mandated, seemingly, and they'd let him have fun, as with say, X-Force or X-Statix at Marvel? It'd be fine. As it is, he's a little too esoteric for the current DC.

So Lemire's definitely a more solid choice, given.. Well, Animal Man. If he can carry on with that creepy vibe, his JLD should be solid.

[q99]

Oh, I had forgotten Milligan did X-Statix. Loved that one. Yea, didn't have that sense of fun.

-As it is, he's a little too esoteric for the current DC.-

NuDC does seem to aim for just a few feels, period. You got your superheroes, you got your dark, and you got your people with guns.

[kraesil]

Those z earrings on the poster make me think of Zatanna's Flashpoint costume. Ugh.

[mrstatham]

Actually, they're a pretty consistent design element some artists bring in from time to time;

http://geekdraw.com/picture/rags-morales-zatanna-1.jpg?pictureId=7652429&asGalleryImage=true

[terrykun]

I'm sure there's a story here, but all I see is Zatanna in leather pants.

[glprime]

The lighter thoughts just float away when there's that to dwell on.

[leoboiko]

Oh, there was a Zatanna? I was too distracted by John’s general sexyness. I mean I don’t even like this incarnation, but damn if that wasn’t sexy.

[mrosa]

When Trevor asks John if he knows ominously-named The Black Room, I hoped he'd reply, "Sorry, mate, I don't read Twilight fan fic."

These pages were so unintentionally funny; a US army officer just walks around with a powerful mystical object. What a bummer if a junkie robbed him in a dark alley. And why does he go out the window?

Also, John seems way too interested in magical stuff for my taste; sure, he knows his magic, but he never behaved like a collector or shown particular reverence for fancy stuff like mystical artefacts. He's usually laidback and takes a mocking attitude to the ritualistic, high-fallutin' Aleister Crowley-like magic guys. Why would he even want to steal that stuff? He just wants to drink beers and smoke cigs all day, and be left the alone.

[randyripoff]

I've seen a number of issues of Hellblazer in which Constantine did show interest in gaining specific magical items, and certainly he has knowledge of them. It's entirely likely he wants these to keep them out of the wrong hands, not necessarily to gain power.

[icon_uk]

Given he IS a highly trained army officer, I'd say any junkie who attempted to rob him would have their work cut out for them, never mind what the stone might decide to do if it didn't want to be stolen.

Plus, just suppose that a few of the artefacts might allow him to live his nice quiet life.

[amaresu]

It's been a few years since I've read Hellblazer on a regular basis, but when I did John had entire storage lockers filled with stuff. I'm thinking he didn't just find it laying around. Going after things seems perfectly in character to me.

[filthysize]

Any powerful artifact in the Black Room would probably be really valuable, or really useful to get out of a jam with. That's good opportunity for a conman.

[kamino_neko]

So...you think a Steve Trevor not just a US army officer, but the one and only officer badass enough to be assigned to ride herd on the JL, armed with a powerful magical artifact (like it or not, he pretty obviously would know how to use anything he'd carry) could be taken by a random junkie?

Aside from the JL themselves, or a few other big league heroes, Steve Trevor is the one man in the world who could be trusted to transport an item of power.

[blackruzsa]

Is it just me, or are the characters also characters Neil Gaiman had written at least once back in the day?

Doctor Destiny's dreamstone--> Morpheus' ruby
John Constantine
Black Orchid

Then again, it's DC and he's not the only one who wrote 'em, so it's probably just me.

Still the appeal is there, definitely.

[darkknightjrk]

There's definitely some Gaiman influence, since the cliffhanger for the issue is John realizing that they're going to have to find the Books of Magic.

[mullon]

I'm just going to assume that Zatanna is wearing a practical outfit because of the terrible weather.

[mrstatham]

I'll be entirely frank, I got sick and tired of seeing the stage-magician gear as her only costume. I mean, yes, we get it, that's her gimmick, but it never explained why we hardly ever saw her wearing anything else.

Although that was probably my favourite thing about Seven Soldiers; Morrison and Sook probably gave her about six different costumes.

[auggie18]

Okay, now I'm actually interested in this series for the first time in a while. Well played, DC. Well played.

[stolisomancer]

Mikel Janin does some really good art.

[starwolf_oakley]

I'm not *that* familiar with the character, but John Constantine has something resembling a conscience. If certain magical artifacts are in his possession, or at least somewhere where "bad blokes" can't get them, he'd be fine with that.

Which is a lot like Dr. Strange in that way. He keeps lots of lots of mystical artifacts where "bad blokes":can't use them. Of course, Constantine would never live in Greenwich Village.

[big_daddy_d]

Steve Trevor=DC's Nick Fury!

[bewareofgeek]

Since when did the Zataras use (or need) magic hats?

[kraesil]

He's a really powerful magician so naturally even his hat has some magical function?

[theatervine]

This? This makes me happy. Two of my favorite characters in a caper? Awesome.