Who needs friends?
After stealing from a powerful mage John stops by a neighbor, who suggests to him to go see his friends and relax from time to time or he won't survive. Ultimately, you see that even his friends are not all that cozy with John.
When Hellblazer was at its best it felt like a punch in the gut. You watched John fall to the depths of human despair repeatedly. I loved the stories because I watched the worst happen to him and he always found a way to push through. Constantine has good intentions, it's just that his good intentions fall second to his self preservation. See, in his line of work,, good people die. You need to be bigger, stronger and/or smarter. It was clear that he is constantly troubled but finds ways to put it aside and always do what it takes to survive.
Sooo, tell me something good
Let's start with the art I like this art quite a bit. Very fine pencil lines and distinct drawing for each character. The colors make it look like what could be one of many urban areas of any big city.
The story is true to the aforementioned punch in the gut. Even with with good intentions in mind Zatanna doesn't trust him. Of course, why should she? Even when he is trying to "relax" for a day off, you can tell he is setting something up. You see his plain set off by the end of the comic. The story jumps around and shines mostly for its ability in showing off Papa Midnight. Now it has been a while since I read most of Hellblazer, but I don't remember, feeling as afraid of Papa midnight as I was in the little time I saw his character in this issue.
The bad
Now I already said i like the art and color but if I'm looking for faults i would point to a couple of panels where John's face is colored like he is wearing rouge and looks similar to David Bowie. Is that necessarily bad, maybe not, but it did make me double take.
THIS FEELS IMPORTANT
So while this whole story is more of a focus on John and his interactions with his supporting characters, and does little to truly to push forward any story arc, it feels like the issue to pay attention to. There will be future involvement with Papa Midnight, and now we see how seriously the characters will take each other. Also, from the conversation with Zatanna, you start to get an impression for how big a player John will be in the the upcoming Trinity War.
So even though this sounds negative, this might be one of the more interesting filler issues I've ever read. I'm calling it filler only for the fact it isn't involved in any particular arc. It however, does progress John's character very nicely, and makes very excited to read more Constantine.