Hellblazer #280

Gemma has always been a survivor in Hellblazer, managing to avoid the grisly fate of many of Constantine’s other supporting characters, like her father, grandfather and mother. She has always straddled the line between normal person and occult mage, a female Constantine if John hadn’t been quite so screwed up.

Milligan has pushed her over the edge and the results are mostly promising.

Gemma attended John’s wedding, and was sexually assaulted by Demon Constantine. This is classic John. He let Demon Constantine loose as a decoy for himself, knowing Nergal would be gunning for him at his wedding. And in protecting himself, he wasn’t very concerned about letting an evil version of himself run around on Earth for a short period of time. Something bad always happens, and this time it happend to Gemma.

Hellblazer #280 is probably one of the only issues narrated entirely by someone other than John, and Gemma’s internal struggle concerns whether she will become a “Constantine” or stay a normal person.

Milligan does a good job with this monologue, especially considering we already know the outcome. She still seems to care for John, even though she believes he abused her. Notice how she still takes his advice about not making deals with creatures, even when it’s a creature she summoned and is ostensibly in control of. Although at the end, she proclaims she is now Gemma Masters, what she has done is classic Constantine. She wanted revenge, and didn’t consider any of the possible consequences.

My one concern is the conclusion of this storyline. “It was all a big mis-understanding!” seems like a poor conclusion to a story of sexual abuse and attempted murder.

And a part of me is afraid that Gemma will finally bite the dust, leaving Chas the only surviving member of John’s original cast.

The art is servicable, a halfway point between cartoony and the more realistic art we usually see on the title. The bird monster looks unthreatening, but Gemma is wonderfully drawn with her black mascara running down her face. Kudos are deserved to both writer and artist for showing restraint when referencing Gemma’s assault.

This being a Vertigo title we could have seen a graphic depiction of John raping his neice. Thankfully, such shock value was avoided. Overall, Milligan’s run has been good, but not great, and this issue falls pretty squarely into that description.