Hellblazer #214

Mike Carey and Leonardo Manco kick off "R.S.V.P." with this brooding 2006 Vertigo installment, as Tim Bradstreet's cover sets the mood perfectly — a trench-coated John Constantine pressed against a graffiti-covered brick wall in a dim, fire-lit alley, looking very much like a man either hiding from something or about to spring into action. The atmosphere is pure urban menace: weathered signage, scrawled names across the brickwork, and warm amber light spilling from barred windows overhead give the scene a lived-in, dangerous edge. It's a quietly tense opener to what promises to be a compelling two-part story.