Constantine Vol. 4: The Apocalypse Road
Ray Fawkes, writer; Jeremy Haun, artist; Richard Horie & Tany Horie, colorists
DC Comics, 2015
Finally catching up with the final collection of the New 52 version of John Constantine, and I'm glad I did. It's a crossover with Earth 2: World's End, which I haven't read, but the situation is explained parenthetically. Darkseid is destroying the Earth 2 universe, and the "wonders" have failed to stop him. Constantine is just trying to make it home, but to do that he must meet his Earth 2 counterpart...and only one of them can make the trip. He also finds his parents alive, along with Chas, old friend Gaz (dead in our world from Constantine misadventure), and an ex-lover named Maureen who I don't remember from past stories. The group makes its escape, but not without losses--the usual situation in a Constantine adventure. Constantine has attracted Darkseid's attention, so his final big con is to convince the god that he has followed Constantine to a universe that is already dead. It's a fitting end to this series. The story line employs far more actual magic than was ever used in Hellblazer, but the character of Constantine feels right. It's nice to see the final arc drawn by a single artist, too. Jeremy Haun had not worked on the series before the finale, but his style is a great fit.
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