In a Hellblaze of Glory (Part 1)

Recently the NBC television show Constantine (based off the Hellblazer comic books) has been cancelled because of it's failure in viewings. This lack of viewers was not a result of the show's quality, but rather because the show broadcasted on Friday nights, a notoriously poor time slot for television programs. I can say without a doubt Constantine is one of my favorite comic book shows despite its early cancellation. In honor of this underrated program, I present The Panel Biter's Top 5 Greatest Things About Constantine!

#5. The Visuals

A show based around a paranormal detective/master of the dark arts needs to heavily present both traditional magic and demonic tones if it wishes to live up to it's source material. The show often delves into horror-genre moments and does great at expressing the unnatural elements of the story. One of my favorite effects of the show are the wings of Manny, an angel who watches John Constantine push back the dark forces. If the effects aren't what sell this show's visuals, it's the atmosphere of horrific settings and mystical locations that bring John's world to life.

#4. The Foreshadowing

This show not only has years of history from the Hellblazer comics, but because it is a DC Comics property the show also delves into the supernatural subjects of the DC Universe. References to Dr. Fate, The Nightmaster, and most prevalent, The Spectre. From the first episode he appears in, we see Detective Jim Corrigan's ultimate fate of dying and becoming the Spirit of Vengeance slowly approaching. If the show would have continued I'd imagined The Spectre's appearance would've been an easy plot for a season finale.

#3. The Characterization

The characters of this show feel so tangible and yet so complex that you really want to see where they go. John is an easy example of this, everyone John loves eventually dies, leaves him, or something worse. Because of this, John is driven by desperation, fear, and overall guilt in his quest to protect Earth from the forces of Hell. His demeanor comes off as arrogant and untrustworthy, but only because he doesn't want to involve people into his profession. Supporting characters also have layers to them as well. Zed is a psychic who hides her past, but desires answers about her powers. Chaz seems to be an immortal cabby, but is actually a divorced father with a limit of how many times he can die. One-off characters are even given lush personalities despite them dying or sticking around.

Please Continue on to Part 2, mates.
http://panelbiter.blogspot.com/2015/02/in-hellblaze-of-glory-part-2.html