Welcome to Part Seven in this 18 part FOREVER EVIL: BLIGHT crossover. J.M. DeMatteis gives us a rather satisfying tale of The Phantom Stranger as he defies God'will and then decides to force his way into Heaven. Yeah...sure that's going to go well. Fernando Blanco and Miguel Sepulveda handle both the pencils and the inks while the ever talented Guillem March gives us the cover. Tune in next to CONSTANTINE #10, for PART 8 of THE BLIGHT.
CONSTANTINE #10: John Constantine and his current team consisting of Swamp Thing, Phantom Stranger, Nightmare Nurse, Deadman(in the deceased Crime Syndicate's version of Aquaman known as The Sea King) and Pandora arrive in Heaven where they are promptly greeted by The Spectre and Zauriel. Spectre tries to take control and release his wrath on them when he is stopped by The Voice or, as Constantine refers to him, "a fluffy little doggie". One by one, the Voice reveals the pasts and faults of Pandora, Deadman, The Phantom Stranger, Swamp Thing and even Constantine himself (he starts to reveal Nightmare Nurse' origin but is halted along the way). Constantine attempts to leave and Zauriel pursues. He traps the angel in a Celestial Circle within the House of Mystery. And we discover that each member of the team, except Constantine, had a positive experience in Heaven-being told how worthwhile he or she were. Zauriel steps out of the Circle and reveals that The Voice sent him here to assist in defeating The Blight. Constantine sends the House to find the Blight and we learn what happens next in PANDORA #7.
There are days I really like this book and there are days like this one when I curse myself for spending three bucks on this instead of something else on the new release rack. This rambling wreck of a tale is just a lot of filler telling us things we already KNEW about the supporting cast. It's a long way to get to "capturing" Zauriel and heading off to fight The Blight. I like Ray Fawkes work and, in fairness, the story is well written. But it takes too long to get from Point A to Point B; surely DC Editorial is to blame to make this series within a series last longer. Guest artist Ben Lobel, who is actually identified in the credits as "Guest Artist" does a smashing job on the art and the Spectre looks mean and nasty as all hell! And we get a nice cover from Howard Porter, who always gives us 100%.
TRINITY OF SIN PANDORA #7: Zauriel has collaborated with the members of Justice League Dark to help Constantine in his quest to save Zatanna. Pandora reveals that when she was in Heaven, she was asked by The Voice: "What are you?" Unsure, she believes that the Light is in everyone and that everyone creates The Light. So, when the time comes, she goes head to head with The Blight and uses The Light within every man, woman and child on the planet to free Chris Esperanza. Unfortunately, The Phantom Stranger grabs the youth and protects him from the others, which gives The Blight the perfect opportunity to reform and The Phantom Stranger to dissolve before being tackled off the George Washington Bridge by Pandora where they both sink to the bottom of the river.
Things seem awful grim for our team of heroes and this is only the halfway mark of our saga. Two team members down and a whole bunch still missing because of the Crime Syndicate thing. So now we let Constantine, Swamp Thing, Nightmare Nurse, Deadman in the form of the deceased Sea King and Zauriel the Angel seek out The Blight and try to save their world. Have you noticed that this world needs an awful lots of saving lately? Between The Crime Syndicate and Gothtopia and this...be glad you live on this earth! Ray Fawkes and Staz Johnson do a nice job keeping this story moving while Julian Totino Tedesco gives us a nicely painted cover. I have read better issues of this title and I also have read worse.
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #27: Following the apparent demises of Pandora and The Phantom Stranger in TRINITY OF SIN PANDORA #7, Zauriel attacks the great darkness that is The Blight only to beat eaten by it in one big "CHOMP". In actuality, all three have had the cup of Death pass them by as they now resides within The Blight, where they have access to a fetal positioned Chris Esperanza. Swamp Thing and Deadman, in the body of the Sea King, distract The Blight while Constantine and the Nightmare Nurse become responsible for the Blackmare Curse which unleashes some pretty nastiness from their own souls. Meanwhile Blight, Zauriel stops Pandora and The Stranger from freeing Hope(i.e. Chris) because Hope isn't done yet. He then tells the pair to follow their hearts. The Blight is defeated, Chris is freed and transformed to the next level: The Will of the Presence. Constantine can once again feel the love of his life and all the other magic users. They have become part of The Thaumaton. What is a Thaumaton? Find out in PHANTOM STRANGER #16.
Okay, so J.M. DeMatteis gets us past the halfway point and FINALLY ends the whole deal with The Blight. Now it's up to our heroes to find the magic users and free them from this giant machine called the Thaumaton. So, that's about average for this company: craft an 18 issue crossover and spend the first half just getting the first story arc completed. As usual, we are treated to the wonderful art of Mikel Janin, who was also responsible for the cover. The good thing about this is that DeMatteis, a seasoned writing vet, is responsible for two chapters each month, so there is some cohesiveness here. To be honest, I would expect the end of FOREVER EVIL to spell the end of the TRINITY OF SIN titles. The Phantom Stranger REALLY belongs in JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK and Pandora REALLY has no place in the DC Universe now that we know she was set up as the fall guy/girl by the powers from Earth 3 so many centuries ago.
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