Last month while wandering the science fiction shelves of Barnes & Noble, I noticed a bunch of new original novels featuring DC Comic characters. There are a slew of Justice League and the various superheroes. There are also several for John Constantine, the Hellblazer.
I must never have noticed Hellblazer when it started in the 80s. Now that I have been re-reading all the older comics, the benefits of the wonderful trade paperback compilations out now, I really wish I had followed the book as it came out. I don't know if I would have been ready at that time though. That's when I was still knee-deep in X-Men, Batman, and Superman, and I wasn't very good at expanding my horizons at that point. I really dig it now.
There were several of these Hellblazer original novels. I chose one. All I really have to say is, "Enhh." It was all right.
It was an interesting scenario with a whole town being devoured into an underground kingdom. Lots of magic, which is more than I thought Constantine could actually do so easily. There was nothing special about the prose or the descriptions, especially of several of the creature characters. Several of the creatures and situations were fantastic enough to peak my curiosity.
All in all, I hope the other books are better. The price is probably the greatest negative against it. New paperbacks are $7.99. That seems really extravagant to me. This is one of the reasons I love finding the Star Wars, Star Trek, and other books at the Goodwill. They're worth 50 cents to me, but they sure as heck aren't worth $7.99 to me. That's another good thing with Amazon's resale books. As above, it would be worth picking up for 98 cents used. I just can't justify $7.99. And I honestly think that book publishers need to think about this. I am the primary audience for these titles. If I don't think the book is worth that exorbitant cover price, who else would try these books? That's sad for the future of the books because if no one buys them they will stop making them. I won't find them at Goodwill anymore then.
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