053: Constantine and His Magical Friends

SPOILERS FOR THE HELLBLAZER COMIC SERIES, NBC’S CONSTANTINE 1x01, CONSTANTINE, and SILENT HILL (2006). Mild spoilers for THE WALKING DEAD SEASONS 2, 3, & 4; SUPERNATURAL SEASONS 4 & 5; GOTHAM SEASON 1; and HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER SEASON 1.

In this episode:

• Friend of the show Christina joins us as we do our best to give you an overview of what makes Constantine so awesome and why we're so excited / worried about this adaptation.
• Christina actually got to see an advance screening of the pilot at NYCC. Her verdict is mostly positive.
• Pros? Matt Ryan seems to have a good handle on the character and some of the scenes have a definite X-Files vibe going for them
• Cons? Pacing issues (which are pretty much par for the course as far as pilots are concerned) and some of the characters are still struggling to find their voices. The effects are also a little hit and miss.
• Let's address the elephant(s) in the room: Constantine (2005) is a decent supernatural thriller but we can't in good conscience call it a Constantine movie. The New52 Constantine just doesn't feel like a good fit when it comes to his place in the wider DCU and he seems hamstringed (hamstrung?) by the rating of the mainstream DC books.
• We also gripe about the New52 and our issues with DC's "House Style."
• Actually, there's a lot of pissing and moaning about comics in this one. Fair warning.
• Part of that is the assertion that DarknGritty seem to be uttered in the same breath when it comes to the direction to take stories in recent years, but they're really two different concepts that don't necessarily have to go hand in hand.
• Christina regales us with stories of early HellBlazer, especially the way in which it grapples with social issues of the time.
• Comics are inherently political media. That's not really part of the podcast, I'm just soap-boxing at this point.
• We speculate on the state of the universe this adaptation is going to take place in. We already know from the presence of Dr. Fate's helmet in the trailer that there's a wider magical universe out there, but what exactly is the composition of that universe?
• Most importantly, how close will this adaptation cleave to Judeo-Christian Mythology and the Good / Evil binary that have been nearly ubiquitous in network supernatural TV series thus far.
• Also importantly, are we going to see Zatanna or Swamp Thing at any point during this adaptation?

THERE'S ALWAYS AN ADDENDUM:

• Christina recently launched a podcast called Bond Girls located over at Deadshirt.net. You can find it here and here.
• As far as further reading to catch you up to speed on exactly who Constantine is before the show begins, Christina recommends the HellBlazer trades Original Sins and Dangerous Habits.
• We get into a lot of asides during this recording. They don't really venture into super spoiler-y territory, but in case you're worried, they cover Twin Peaks, Sleepy Hollow, Ghostbusters 3 Rumors, The Walking Dead, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Gotham, Supernatural, DC's New52, Marvel's Ultimate Universe, Bones, and Leverage.

Music:

• Intro music: "This is My Design" - original song, music by Ian. More on this as it develops.
• Outro music: "Don't Fear the Reaper" - Blue Oyster Cult | YouTube | iTunes |

http://archive.org/download/AMOT053/AMOT053.mp3