Hellblazer #257

This Vertigo series has always excelled at capturing Constantine at his most raw, and Simon Bisley's painted cover for issue #257 delivers exactly that — a shirtless, battle-worn John Constantine glowers out at the viewer, cigarette in hand and jacket hanging open, while a young red-haired woman sits pensively on a bed in the seedy room behind him. The whole scene radiates a weary, morally complicated atmosphere that fits perfectly with the "Temptation" chapter of Peter Milligan's three-part "Hooked" arc. With interior art by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Stefano Landini, this September 2009 issue is Hellblazer doing what it does best — putting its deeply flawed hero in situations where nothing good is likely to follow.