Some thoughts about Constantine: The Hellblazer #9

Constantine is in hell, how will he escape?

Both John and Papa Midnite are being tortured by Neron and if they want to escape, they will have to make a deal with another demon.

Mixed thoughts about this.

Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV continue their story where they focus on the ramifications of the last chapter with both John and Midnite being imprisoned in hell by Neron. Credit where credit is due, I still really like the characterization they gave to Neron as a more elegant and egocentric being which makes him more distinctive than his previous incarnation. The worldbuilding of hell is decent too and the plot delivers a lot of content.

HOWEVER, remember in the last chapter when I said that the plot progressed mostly because of Constantine's stupidity due that he pretty much dared Papa Midnite to torture his boyfriend? Well, here the plot progresses because the rest of the characters are pretty stupid compared to John. John doesn't really outsmarts them as much as they're presented as gullible idiots who actually trust John about helping them to get out of hell. Also, he pretty much goes alone in another part of hell to be attacked by monsters just because his ego was hurt after Midnite tricked him which also makes him an idiot.

Riley Rossmo remains in art duties and his work is still pretty good able to create a wide variety of creatures from hell while maintaining a distinctive style that makes the script much more special.

Aside from that, I'm not sure about the characterization of John here. Not enough to really hate the issue but is enough to not really love it.