jonesdeini's Hellblazer #281 - Phantom Pains, Part Five: Choke review

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    Paradise Lost

    The air is cleared as John learns the reason behind the radical actions taken by Gemma and nothing between them will ever be the same.  
     
    The Good 
    Camuncoli and Landini are back on art duties this issue. these guys have an incredible chemistry with Milligan and their art really builds the atmosphere needed for his stories.  
     
    I love the humor Milligan infuses into his dialog. John's internal dialog is always rife with humor. The moments with Chas and Epiphany and between Epiphany and Gemma provided their fair share of chuckles.   
     
    Seeing John wrestle with the fact that love may be making him go "soft" was very interesting. It's good to see the effect that Epiphany's had on him and even better to see that he's not oblivious to it. John's faced down death countless times and always done it with a dangling Silkcut, a smug smirk, and two bird salute. But something's changed, for once John was scared. Not of losing his life but of losing his love.  
     
    The highlight of this issue is the character interactions that take place especially between John, Gemma, and Epiphany. Epiphany helps explains what happened with Demon John on their wedding day leaving Gemma in a state of disarray. Gemma working through her feelings about her uncle was just as intense and powerful as last issue.  
      
    As of this issue I'm officially 100% sold on Epiphany being John's soul mate. She is, without a doubt, his anima. She handles herself well this issue and the interaction between her and John is perfectly written. Their relationship is sweet and romantic but anything but sappy and saccharine.  

    The air's finally cleared between John and Gemma and it plays out as messily as you'd expect. You can see that John's truly and deeply saddened and hurt by what's transpired. Gemma's rage is understandable though, her uncle may not have done the deed himself but his scheming and conniving facilitate the horror which fell upon her. I really don't know if the deeply delved rift between these two will ever heal.   
     
    The Bad 
    It would've been nice to see more of John's fight with the demon. But if it occurred off panel in order to make way for the superb character moments in this issue then I can live with that.  
     
    The Verdict 
    Buy This Comic!!! 
    Milligan brings his Phantom Pains arc to an excellent close while setting up exciting future storylines. I'm new to the Hellblazer world but I can confidently say that this is a great time to be reading this historic title. 

    Other reviews for Hellblazer #281 - Phantom Pains, Part Five: Choke

      No More Phantom Pains 0

      Besides the metaphysics in which Peter Milligan is weaving into his Hellblazer run, there is a constant trend of compelling story.  The run started with a false love, which lead John to his now wife.  From the wedding John's "demons" come back to haunt him and this issue is the return to the "rape" of Gemma Masters from issues 275.  The pace is great with Peter Milligan's run, the stories are not formulated and he really has found ways to maximize his creative team to best tell the story.  In th...

      5 out of 5 found this review helpful.

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