Hellblazer: City of Demons (Comics) | Review

Getting hit by a car is bad enough. Having two sadistic doctors harvest your demon-tainted blood to create an army of psychotic slaves? That's just another Tuesday for John Constantine. City of Demons proves that sometimes the worst monsters wear lab coats.

This standalone mini-series pulls Constantine into body horror territory while keeping that signature mix of occult dread and dark comedy intact. Writer Si Spencer and artist Sean Murphy (Batman: Curse of the White Knight, Batman: White Knight) crafted something refreshingly self-contained yet deeply rooted in continuity threads.

Whether you're a long-time Hellblazer reader or someone curious about England's chain-smoking magus, this five-issue arc delivers exactly what Constantine does best: turning personal mistakes into apocalyptic consequences for everyone around him.

After surviving a brutal hit-and-run outside a North London pub, Constantine finds himself hospitalized at St. Bartholomew's with broken bones and paranoia running wild through his mind. While his soul scrambles around the hospital convinced demons are scheming against him at every turn, his body becomes a target.

Two doctors, Malachy Young and Jonathan Yorke, discover the demon blood coursing through Constantine's veins. This blood comes courtesy of an old transfusion from the demon Nergal, referenced in Jamie Delano's early Hellblazer run and subsequent storylines.

The doctors aren't just harvesting his blood out of curiosity or scientific interest. They're weaponizing it, injecting it into ordinary patients to create an army of demon-possessed thralls under their complete control. These aren't your typical supernatural threats. The infected turn into psychotic killers driven by dark compulsions.

A mother dismembers her own daughter and stores the pieces in recycling boxes. Random citizens become walking nightmares with only one connection: they all received Constantine's corrupted blood. Spencer uses this as both plot device and metaphor for contagion.

Constantine teams up with Marie Cameron, a no-nonsense nurse who gets pulled into his world of occult chaos and supernatural danger. Together they race against time to stop the doctors before London drowns in demonic violence. The pacing stays tight across five issues.

Constantine himself feels authentic here. Spencer nails the character's voice: cynical, self-aware, darkly funny, and burdened by decades of supernatural baggage and guilt. He's paranoid enough to assume every single accident is a demonic plot against him, yet pragmatic enough to work with whoever's available at that moment.

The doctors themselves embody a particular brand of evil that Hellblazer excels at: mundane human cruelty amplified by supernatural ambition. They're not demons or ancient evils. They're professionals who see an opportunity to impress Hell and take it without hesitation.

Marie Cameron deserves special mention. She's not just a damsel or sidekick character. She's competent, resourceful, and brings her own agency to the table. The story gives her a satisfying arc that culminates in a twist sharp enough to surprise even seasoned veterans.

Without spoiling it, the ending re-contextualizes everything that came before in a way that feels earned rather than cheap or manipulative. Connection-wise, this story seamlessly slots into the established Hellblazer continuity. It references the Nergal blood transfusion and the Critical Mass arc starting in issue ninety-two of the series.

City of Demons essentially asks what happened if some of that demonic taint remained. It creates a bridge between classic Hellblazer mythology and new story possibilities. The mini-series proves Constantine stories don't need massive stakes to work effectively.

Spencer resists the temptation to pad things out or rush the conclusion unnecessarily. Each issue naturally builds up to the next while delivering satisfying beats on its own merits. The story structure mirrors Constantine's investigative process: paranoia, confusion, then slowly connecting the dots together until everything clicks.

Sean Murphy's artwork might polarize readers, but it's impossible to ignore. His style skews heavily toward detailed linework and angular character designs. Constantine looks weathered, scarred, and unsettling when he needs to be. Murphy sells the creepy bastard energy perfectly.

Dave Stewart's coloring amplifies Murphy's inks with a dark, bleak palette that drowns London in shadows and sickly hospital fluorescents throughout the entire series. The color work sells atmosphere better than any individual panel could possibly alone. This story lives in shadows, grime, and decay from start to finish throughout.

Where Murphy excels is in conveying violence and body horror without relying on excessive gore. The infected victims look disturbingly wrong, their expressions twisted by demonic influence in ways that stick. Action sequences maintain clear storytelling despite dense detail.

The criticism worth acknowledging: Murphy's visual storytelling occasionally stumbles here. Some page layouts don't flow as smoothly as they should, forcing readers to puzzle out panel progression. These moments are rare but noticeable. Spencer's writing complements Murphy's art perfectly with dialogue that crackles with energy.

City of Demons stands as one of the stronger standalone Hellblazer stories from the 2010s era. It captures what makes Constantine compelling: a protagonist whose past mistakes literally come back to haunt everyone around him. Spencer and Murphy treat it seriously throughout.

Sean Murphy's artwork won't please everyone out there. If you prefer clean, straightforward panel layouts, his dense, angular style might frustrate you. But if you want atmosphere and grime, Murphy delivers in spades. Dave Stewart's coloring elevates the entire package with bleak, shadow-drenched tones through the series.

This mini-series works equally well for longtime Hellblazer fans and newcomers. Veterans will appreciate the continuity callbacks and how the story respects Constantine's history without drowning in exposition. New readers get a self-contained arc showcasing Constantine best.

City of Demons proves Constantine stories don't need massive crossover events or reality-bending stakes to work. Sometimes the scariest threats come from doctors with syringes and a desire to impress Hell. Spencer and Murphy delivered a nasty little gem worth reading.

Hellblazer: City of Demons is available for purchase in physical form as trade paperback edition and in digital format on Amazon Kindle and ComiXology platforms. You can also find the individual issues if you prefer collecting the original five-part mini-series separately.