Hellblazer, Vol. 3: The Fear Machine
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- Create Date：2021-04-15 14:53:25
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jamie Delano
- ISBN：1401235190
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Summary
In The Fear Machine， John Constantine looks for a way to reconnect to humanity -- but how can such a man ever find inner peace？ Constantine finds himself encamped with a new-age pagan group that's tapping into their own psychic abilities -- but a defense contractor is out to exploit their powers。 Is the company's aim just political， or is it something much more sinister？
Collecting: Hellblazer 14-22
Collecting: Hellblazer 14-22
Reviews
Lucas Peres
，
Dentre os três primeiros arcos do Jaime Delano esse de fato é a obra prima。 Toda a trama vai se desenvolvendo e forma bem envolvente。。。 um ponto meia chato é a quantidade de gente que deve favor à John Constantine。
Emma
，
3。5 really。 Funny seeing Constantine with his 80s hair and clothes。 Also a trip down memory Lane in terms of the politics and cultural cues。
Ruchita Nemade
，
This was probably one of the weirdest arcs I've ever read。It started off pretty okay and then things got weirderAnd then at the very end， plot twist and that was it。。。The plot twist was the true motive and the ending was super rushed It just abruptly ended This was probably one of the weirdest arcs I've ever read。It started off pretty okay and then things got weirderAnd then at the very end， plot twist and that was it。。。The plot twist was the true motive and the ending was super rushed It just abruptly ended 。。。more
Sam
，
This one was tougher than the last one。 I wasn’t crazy about John’s misadventures with the hippie characters; none of those characters felt well rounded。 The main arc this volume covers is slow， and sometimes it was hard to understand。 The “big bad” is kind of laughable， as was John’s trip on magic mushrooms。 Would give a 2。5 if I could， rounded my review up because the second art style （good riddance Mullet-John！） is decent for a much older comic。
Venus
，
Quite odd and I don't know what happened but if a comic book doesn't have you saying "What the fuck？" every few pages， is it really a comic？ Also someone please tell me is it just me or does Eddy look like Benny Anderson？ Quite odd and I don't know what happened but if a comic book doesn't have you saying "What the fuck？" every few pages， is it really a comic？ Also someone please tell me is it just me or does Eddy look like Benny Anderson？ 。。。more
ダンカン
，
The third volume - The Fear Machine， is somewhat better than the first two。 Its an arc-tale of creating a God out of fear using Ley-Lines and such that John Constantine stumbled into after being accused of a serial killer。 Its not a bad read and it is better， just that the ending of the arc needed more than just a quick ending of an excuse to close the chapter。 I like it better than Original Sins and The Devil You Know。
Dan
，
Hippies， pagans， travellers， ley lines， stone circles， old gods and Masonic conspiracies？ I should be all over this， and I was back in 89。 But in 2020 it hasn’t aged at all well。 The bones of the story are still interesting， but the telling is so dull。 There’s no formal experimentation， no attempts to use the page in an interesting way。 The medium has just moved on since this was published， and titles like Gideon Falls or Black Monday Murders are far better doses of occult horror。
Ola G
，
4/10 starsThe beginning is cool enough - neo-pagan hippies， ley lines and dolmens， plus some shady governmental organization in unmarked uniforms and an enthusiastic approach to violence。 Mercury as a kid is a sweet addition， too - the exploration of the possibilities of relationships between her and Constantine， from tenuous friendship to older-younger sibling to parent， was the strongest element of this volume。But then the whole thing came crashing down with neo-pagan Eden in Scotland， where Z 4/10 starsThe beginning is cool enough - neo-pagan hippies， ley lines and dolmens， plus some shady governmental organization in unmarked uniforms and an enthusiastic approach to violence。 Mercury as a kid is a sweet addition， too - the exploration of the possibilities of relationships between her and Constantine， from tenuous friendship to older-younger sibling to parent， was the strongest element of this volume。But then the whole thing came crashing down with neo-pagan Eden in Scotland， where Zed makes a reappearance as a pansexual priestess of Mother Earth （interestingly， Greek mythology has been abandoned for a drizzling of feng-shui， which might have been considered exotic at the time， but right now just seems very trite and shallow）。 The big baddie is also a total fail， and the final conception of a dragon egg by a threesome cavorting among dolmens was the last straw for me。 I don't know what Delano was trying to achieve here， but what he did achieve was a wet dream of rather pathetic neo-pagan porn。 I dearly hope that by vol。 4 Delano stopped smoking whatever it was he smoked writing this， because poor Constantine deserves a much better treatment than this。 Not recommended。 。。。more
Bobby Sullivan
，
I liked this one better the second time through。
Linda
，
Ok， I needed time to process this particular volume of Hellblazer because。 yikes。 But now I can semi-coherently say my thoughts。If you haven't guessed from my overdramatic intro， I'll say it now; I didn't like this volume。 This might be the worst comic I've read in 2020。 From the writing to the plot to the decision of giving Constantine that god awful mullet， this was just an amalgamation of terrible choices。 The plot was hacky at best; erratic in its storytelling which mainly consisted of telli Ok， I needed time to process this particular volume of Hellblazer because。 yikes。 But now I can semi-coherently say my thoughts。If you haven't guessed from my overdramatic intro， I'll say it now; I didn't like this volume。 This might be the worst comic I've read in 2020。 From the writing to the plot to the decision of giving Constantine that god awful mullet， this was just an amalgamation of terrible choices。 The plot was hacky at best; erratic in its storytelling which mainly consisted of telling not showing。 That with the weird pseudo-feminist tone it tried to set with the pagan "naked lady" commune subplot and the monogue about a pedophile just made the whole read deeply unenjoyable。 。。。more
Andrew
，
And so one stormy night I get to finish the 3rd volume of the John Constantine Hellblazer series。 Since these volumes layout the stories in the order they were meant to be read in （although I am not sure what happened to the order that resulted in that statement） we now close out the 80s with these stories。 Now I will admit （and I will no doubt show my ignorance of the series - then again I am reading these books for a reason you know） but considering the whole selling his soul to the Devil it d And so one stormy night I get to finish the 3rd volume of the John Constantine Hellblazer series。 Since these volumes layout the stories in the order they were meant to be read in （although I am not sure what happened to the order that resulted in that statement） we now close out the 80s with these stories。 Now I will admit （and I will no doubt show my ignorance of the series - then again I am reading these books for a reason you know） but considering the whole selling his soul to the Devil it did sort of suggest the magic was based around the Christian ethos - however this book and the stories inside it demonstrate there are forces which are far reaching and utterly unfathomable that such limits would lead you to believe。 Now like I say this caught me out although in a good way since it means there is so much more material here than I originally though and the potential for further adventures makes the following 20 volumes far more exciting laced with all sorts of potential。 I guess with that in mind I should really start looking for volume 4 。。。more
Zac
，
This whole book is a single arc that works quite well as a standalone story。 Constantine stumbles across a group of nomadic hippies and I like that the first couple of issues are mostly about developing the characters and establishing relationships rather than setting up a conflict and a cliffhanger at the end of #1。 Soon the story turns into a Masonic/government conspiracy involving the weaponisation of Ley Lines and other Earthly energies。 It’s pretty good， with a lot of occult and magical ide This whole book is a single arc that works quite well as a standalone story。 Constantine stumbles across a group of nomadic hippies and I like that the first couple of issues are mostly about developing the characters and establishing relationships rather than setting up a conflict and a cliffhanger at the end of #1。 Soon the story turns into a Masonic/government conspiracy involving the weaponisation of Ley Lines and other Earthly energies。 It’s pretty good， with a lot of occult and magical ideas thrown in， though it gets a bit weird when a Lovecraftian-style God-creature shows up。 Buckingham and Rayner collaborate on the first issues and these are solid as per usual。 Then Rayner is replaced by Alcala and the art gets a bit scratchier around the time the monster shows up （so I assume Buckingham is on pencils and the other artists are inking but I’m not really sure how that works）。 There’s an issue by Mike Hoffman in the middle that has a Daniel Clowes vibe to me， which is never a bad thing。 This gets 4 stars for feeling like a graphic novel rather than a trade paperback collection， and for including a lot of the elements that I like about Hellblazer and the Vertigo imprint in this era。 Dream even pops in for a moment！ 。。。more
Chad
，
This is a REALLY slow burn at 9 issues。 John gets down with some hippies before he gets tangled up with a MK-Ultra group who is using remote viewing and other psychics to instill fear in the populace。 So， of course， the freemasons are involved as well。 Might as well get all or your government conspiracy theories involved。 Then there's some stuff with the Earth Mother and animus and anima。 It gets very esoteric towards the end。 Delano's writing can be very dated with tons of flowery exposition， a This is a REALLY slow burn at 9 issues。 John gets down with some hippies before he gets tangled up with a MK-Ultra group who is using remote viewing and other psychics to instill fear in the populace。 So， of course， the freemasons are involved as well。 Might as well get all or your government conspiracy theories involved。 Then there's some stuff with the Earth Mother and animus and anima。 It gets very esoteric towards the end。 Delano's writing can be very dated with tons of flowery exposition， almost becoming a prose work with illustrations at times。 。。。more
Mel
，
Kinda lost the thread on this one。 The buildup to the conclusion didn't hold my interest enough to make the payoff seem as important or satisfying as it should have。 Kinda lost the thread on this one。 The buildup to the conclusion didn't hold my interest enough to make the payoff seem as important or satisfying as it should have。 。。。more
David
，
I enjoyed this one very much， even surprisingly！The ending is classicaly a bit disappointing， but the conspiracy， pacing， side characters and the epic scope of the thing are great。 Very nice story arc with some slower， more lyrical spots， but I enjoyed very page。
Antonomasia
，
In which our protagonist runs off with pagan New Age travellers。 Something， had my life been a bit different， I might like to have done in my late teens/early twenties。 Though just *because* - not under the various dodgy circumstances afflicting Constantine and then these particular travellers themselves。 Yet all the trouble in the comic serves to remind about the motley types of people who'd have been there， some of them potentially uncomfortable to be around IRL， and how it was a way of life n In which our protagonist runs off with pagan New Age travellers。 Something， had my life been a bit different， I might like to have done in my late teens/early twenties。 Though just *because* - not under the various dodgy circumstances afflicting Constantine and then these particular travellers themselves。 Yet all the trouble in the comic serves to remind about the motley types of people who'd have been there， some of them potentially uncomfortable to be around IRL， and how it was a way of life never quite separable from legal issues and worse。 You could play Levelling the Land and skip the track 'The Battle of the Beanfield'， but you couldn't skip stuff like that when it happened to people you were hanging out with IRL。 （Even a comic-book character with supernatural powers of synchronicity only gets to evade *some* of the worst things that happen to his friends here。）All of which is to say that I was predisposed to like this apparently unpopular storyline。Elements of the story and visuals look back to sometimes ancient influences - Constantine being surprised by psychic kid Mercury， who takes him back to her people， is like something from the Odyssey， another trickster's travels。 And in turn there are features here very reminiscent of later works influenced by Hellblazer。 Constantine's initial frustration with the countryside is very much like fellow magical-powered， London-based investigator PC Peter Grant in in Ben Aaronovitch's Foxglove Summer。 And when Constantine eventually disposes of his mullet and beard and dons not his usual beige trenchcoat and short， messy haircut， but a long black leather coat and gelled-back style， it becomes a lot clearer why Spike from Buffy is supposed to have been modelled on him。The story has a common enough SFF theme: if there were scientific evidence that the paranormal was reliable and effective， governments and defence contractors would harness it for sinister ends。 （TVTropes must have a pithier name for that。） How engaging you find any given variation depends on the creators。 Richard Piers Rayner is probably my least favourite of the Hellblazer artists so far （at time of writing I'm up to the end of vol 4 / issue #33） but his stuff is still within the realms of standard comics art and so in the greater scheme of things could be worse， as far as I'm concerned。I found Jamie Delano's writing more variable here than in the previous two collections。 There were panels and pages I found as evocative as ever， but others where I can see why other readers say he is verbose。 Take something like the following， where （unlike in Delano's best writing）， it isn't the case that every word is a meaningful addition: "The broken man's screamed dying word echoes like a monster's cry without some primal castle's walls -- Each soft in his own rawness we walk in silence towards Talbot's house。"The most lyrical stretches are either about the city boy getting to love the countryside: I'd forgotten how still the world could be at dawn。 In the city there are no magic， frozen moments for the Earth to call its own。 No calm space set aside for truce -- when time is suspended between breathless branches…If only I could learn to ignore that B-movie voice， which murmurs … yes， almost too quiet。[Quoted with the caveat that of course in the UK nearly all of what seems to be 'nature' has been a man-made landscape for centuries。 I'm not sure that was even discussed much circa 1990 - and there are limits to what nuanced commentary you can fit into a comic。]Or they are about Constantine's states of mind on the case， which often seem intended to reflect a wider frustration with Thatcherite Britain。 A particular favourite was a set of panels about helplessness， containing the phrase "as usual the taxis have all dissolved in the rain"。 From the perspective of some in 2020， his opposition mindset， if generalised， might also sound characteristic of 1980s individualism。 It is， I think， coming from a sort of pop-anarchism:I've taken sides， made a commitment。 I'm going back to war - - But this time I know what I'm fighting for。 It's simple really -- the right of every living thing to live a life in peace and free from interference。 Simple， he says。 Oh well， always did like the odds as long as possible。 Makes it more exciting， dunnit。And unlike the traditional superhero， he of course can't or doesn't fight every single battle in this war。 Even if there's a happy ending here for some， there's a high body count from his own side as well， confirming that Constantine can a dangerous man to know。 It must be hard work as a writer， creating all these interesting people only to have to kill them off soon afterwards。By issue 14 （the first in this collection）， I'd thought it was getting a bit silly， how much the reader wasn't told about Constantine's legal situation。 But this starts to be explained in this collection， first in issue #18 WRT the deaths of residents in other flats in the building he used to live in。 （And more in the subsequent collection about his past。） However he apparently lets himself be libelled by the papers - everything else about the character suggests he wouldn't want the publicity of a case。Constantine's adjacency to the gay male world continues here - these days it might be called queerbaiting， but it must have been brave in the late 80s and early 90s when writing a character who in many other ways was moulded after the noir PI， all booze and smoke and dames。He's a character who in various ways is traditionally masculine， yet in Delano's version he shows a certain amount of vulnerability， and is often surrounded by alternative culture and sexualities - including the cosmic ecofeminism of the traveller women。 （Some younger reviewers seem to find them incongruous， but to me as a middle-aged reader they seem entirely characteristic of the more spiritual side of 70s-90s ecofeminism， something which was quite noticeable in， e。g。 mainstream environmental books when I was a teenager in the 90s。） There was a daft scene near the end of #22 （and therefore the end of this book） which seems to reference the world egg of several mythologies。 Wikipedia reminds me it was also in Robert Graves' The White Goddess， which a guy like Delano is sure to have read - and which was one of the books pictured in boxes in Constantine's lockup several issues earlier。 The scene also reminded me how essentialist and gendered groups like that could be - another reason I might not have enjoyed them in practice for long。 Reading， I found the announced "Now it's time for femaleness" probably even more alienating than it's hinted the male reader/Constantine does。 （They at least get to be overtly opposite to it and not expected to be part of it。） Concurrently with this collection， I also read a few articles and reviews about the current John Constantine: Hellblazer series by Simon Spurrier， which is supposed to have more similarities to the original comics than any since 2012。 Aside from making politics more central to the story again， compared with the intervening years， there were a couple of other shared motifs。 In The Fear Machine there's a passing reference to William Blake （JC pulled a student barmaid who talked to him about Blake） and fishermen appear here， briefly as benevolent rescuers。 I'm guessing that rather than replaying big obvious themes from the first comics， he's using clever little references and making them a bigger part of the new stories。 。。。more
Laurla2
，
part one: touching the earthpart two: shepherd's warningpart three: rough justicepart four: fellow travelerspart five: hate mail and love letterspart six: the broken manpart seven: betrayalpart eight: the god of all godspart nine: balance part one: touching the earthpart two: shepherd's warningpart three: rough justicepart four: fellow travelerspart five: hate mail and love letterspart six: the broken manpart seven: betrayalpart eight: the god of all godspart nine: balance 。。。more
Mickey McFarland
，
Solid entry in the tale of John Constantine， with some truly disturbing art。
Arya Amirsoleimani
，
The infamous Fear Machine arc。 John is framed for murder and escapes into the wilderness， hangs out with some hippies， and bad shit happens。 Once again Delano tries too hard with the verbose narration and the story is quite boring if I’m being honest。 I was doing okay until about 140 pages in but after that I was struggling to stay interested and just didn’t care anymore。 Couldn’t even finish it。
Adam Stone
，
This volume started out as a potential five star book， with a focus on characters rather than magic or continuity， and giving us a more human glimpse at who John Constantine is。 As the volume gathers momentum， we do get a bit of continuity， and definitely some magic。 But then the volume comes to a screeching nonsensical stop at the end。 Where， for some reason， there has to be a sex ritual， and then 。。。 and then everything is somehow solved in an incredible anti-climax， and we are led to believe This volume started out as a potential five star book， with a focus on characters rather than magic or continuity， and giving us a more human glimpse at who John Constantine is。 As the volume gathers momentum， we do get a bit of continuity， and definitely some magic。 But then the volume comes to a screeching nonsensical stop at the end。 Where， for some reason， there has to be a sex ritual， and then 。。。 and then everything is somehow solved in an incredible anti-climax， and we are led to believe that the next volume might feature an amnesiac Constantine （that is， fortunately， not the case）。 The ending was such a letdown that I considered dropping it down to three stars， but I am mostly glad that I read this volume。The political statements are much more subdued in this volume as they serve the story rather than the story serving the politics。 But it's still a bit messy and a bit much if you don't enjoy politics in your comics。 。。。more
Adrian Bloxham
，
Decent comic
C。 Varn
，
MehWhile I sometimes appreciate Jamie Delano's writing， he can be over ambitious。 This masculine and feminine plot line reminds of Delano's run on Animal Man。 The double murder frame plot seems to just put Constantine in the commune and the resolution of the paranoid gore plot was unsatisfactory。 MehWhile I sometimes appreciate Jamie Delano's writing， he can be over ambitious。 This masculine and feminine plot line reminds of Delano's run on Animal Man。 The double murder frame plot seems to just put Constantine in the commune and the resolution of the paranoid gore plot was unsatisfactory。 。。。more
Scott Rhee
，
The 1980s were a maelstrom of paranoid conspiracies and nightmares: the Cold War， nuclear proliferation， AIDS， Satanic cults， Ronald Reagan， Margaret Thatcher， student riots， police beatings; and from that shitstorm arose a different kind of （anti）hero， “John Constantine， Hellblazer”。Originally appearing in Alan Moore’s “Swamp Thing” series for DC， Constantine was given his own series in the late-80s， written by Jamie Delano， for DC’s more mature line of comic books， Vertigo。He was an unusual pr The 1980s were a maelstrom of paranoid conspiracies and nightmares: the Cold War， nuclear proliferation， AIDS， Satanic cults， Ronald Reagan， Margaret Thatcher， student riots， police beatings; and from that shitstorm arose a different kind of （anti）hero， “John Constantine， Hellblazer”。Originally appearing in Alan Moore’s “Swamp Thing” series for DC， Constantine was given his own series in the late-80s， written by Jamie Delano， for DC’s more mature line of comic books， Vertigo。He was an unusual protagonist in that he was， for one， British， and， secondly， didn’t really have any superpowers or even anything particularly likable about his personality。 He was， in fact， kind of a narcissistic asshole who smoked a lot and didn’t like to get “involved”。 He was a practitioner of magic （the black kind）， and was known to have run-ins with the occasional demon from Hell， some of whom knew him on a first-name basis。In Volume 3， “The Fear Machine”， Constantine is on the run for a double-murder and falls into a hippy commune， where he learns how to almost be a normal human being。 When a young girl gets kidnapped by government agents， Constantine decides to do the right thing and go after her。In his investigation， he uncovers a governmental “deep state” of believers in black magic and ancient deities who are attempting to resurrect an ancient god that will wipe out humanity。Delano and a rotating array of artists （Mark Buckingham， Richard Piers Rayner， Mike Hoffman， and Alfredo Alcala） really push the envelope of what is appropriate and tasteful in this volume。 The violence is rather off-the-charts and stomach-churningly gory。 In other words， it’s awesome， if you like that sort of stuff。Seriously， there’s a child that is kidnapped， beheaded， and disemboweled whose entrails are used to create a demon made out of human intestines in this volume， so， yeah， that happens。If this stuff is not to your liking， “Hellblazer” may not be for you， and I respect your decision。 It’s not for everybody。I have to hand it to the British， though， they really know how to push the envelope in comic books。 As a people， they seem to be really in tune with their dark side。 I would have never guessed this from watching “Downton Abbey”。 。。。more
Joe
，
I almost gave up on this series before the end of this volume brought me back around。 Still enjoying it when it doesn’t stray too much into the half-baked metaphysics
Paul
，
Weird Okay sure。 That's what I'd like to type as my full review， but you requre more words。 Masculine， feminine， conservative， progressive。 Just sounds like megalomania to me at this point。 Weird Okay sure。 That's what I'd like to type as my full review， but you requre more words。 Masculine， feminine， conservative， progressive。 Just sounds like megalomania to me at this point。 。。。more
Will Fenton
，
This is why I started reading Hellblazer。 Crazy， insane， awesome writing and just pure escapism。
Kate
，
Boy， that last little bit really tied everything together nicely。
Somunachi Okee-Aguguo
，
*3。5。 Wasn’t as loved as the previous volumes but I still enjoyed the story overall。 The art is consistent with the others。 The story was a bit confusing for me in the beginning but once the story picked up I understood it much better。 It’s not the best out of the volumes I’ve read so far but it’s still an interesting read and as a fan of John Constantine I enjoyed it quite a bit。
Johanna
，
Ive never read a HellBlazer before。 Twas introduced to John Constantine through Sandman by Neil Gaiman so thought I'd give The Fear Machine from my local library a go。 The writing could have been better。 It felt choppy in places。 Otherwise great illustration。 Ive never read a HellBlazer before。 Twas introduced to John Constantine through Sandman by Neil Gaiman so thought I'd give The Fear Machine from my local library a go。 The writing could have been better。 It felt choppy in places。 Otherwise great illustration。 。。。more
Xilks
，