HELLBLAZER #180
Red Sepulchre, Part 4 of 4
Writer : Mike Carey
Pencils : Marcelo Frusin
Cover Artist : Tim Bradstreet
Inks : Uncredited
Colors : Lee Loughridge
Letters : Clem Robins
Editor : Will Dennis
Solicitation Text : "The thrilling conclusion to "Red Sepulchre!" The Cold War has turned red hot, and
Constantine has been forced to take sides. But when he surrenders the sepulchre to Domine Fredericks, the
balance of power shifts, and old friends - as well as old enemies - finally get what's coming to them.
Annotations
Issue Synopsis : Standing outside the still smouldering remains of Albert's apartment,
Joshua Wright decides to leave John
Constantine under the watchful gaze of Peake while he ventures inside to confirm that
Clarice has come to
a messy end. With Joshua out of sight, Constantine indulges in a little small talk, revealing to Peake that
the Sepulchre is actually the drawstring on the Russian sailor's dufflebag before kicking him square in the
balls and making off with his mobile phone and car keys. Inside the gutted apartment,
Joshua learns that he's been tricked and that neither Albert nor Clarice is present.
Map makes his by now usual disembodied appearance to Albert and Clarice, telling them that he used
magic to trick Joshua Wright into thinking that they were in another apartment, the building that was
subsequently blown up by Wright. Explaining to the pair that they are now in debt to Constantine, he lays out the
part they have to play in John's latest endgame.
Buoyed on by her uncle's stinging words, Gemma confronts Fredericks about his real reasons for taking her
under his wing. Domine slaps the young woman off her feet and admits that his sole interest in her was her
connection to the Sepulchre. He goes on to state that once it was proven that she had no link to same, she
was of little real use to him - except as a means to blackmailing John Constantine. Fredericks has Gemma
tied to a chair and her mouth taped shut.
Racing on foot through the streets of London, Wright and Peake stop at a phone box to warn Goodall that
Constantine is on his way back to the mansion. The lights in Goodall's wing of the mansion go out as
Joshua hangs up and orders the knackered Peake to find him a car. Returning to the storeroom, Goodall
finds the drawstring from the Russian sailor's dufflebag lying in a small pool of blood. John appears in the
doorway of the storeroom as the ghostly image of Kali posses Goodall.
Elsewhere in London, Clarice, Albert and Map bust out the Latin chants and make with the old school
magic.
Back in the mansion, Constantine and Fredericks come face to face once again. Domine confronts John
with the small hand mirror in which he has bonded Gemma's essence - warning him that if he breaks the
mirror, a dire faith will befall his niece. Constantine treats Fredericks to a history lesson, telling him the
history of the Sepulchre and explaining how it can be used to invoke a beserker rage in someone when used
as part of a spell that involves exposing it to blood.
Joshua and Peake arrive back at the mansion, just in time to run straight into the possessed Goodall.
Springing into a violent rage, Goodall attacks his two former workmates - breaking Wright's neck and
gouging out Peake's eyeballs with his thumbs.
His patience worn out, Fredericks demands that John give him the Sepulchre but before Constantine can
comply, Gemma losses consciousness and causes her chair to tilt over, leaving her comatose on her side.
The still raging Godall crashes through a nearby window and quickly disposes of Fredericks, causing the
hand mirror to smash to pieces on the floor but Domine's spell appears to dissipate harmlessly. John uses
some magic of his own to halt the rampaging Goodall before burning the Sepulchre and leaving
Fredericks' mansion with Gemma in his arms.
Later, at the funeral of one of the men killed during Wright's assault on the Tate club (and later used by
Clarice as part of her demon summoning spell), John and Clarice
meet to discuss recent events. Constantine appears to have forgiven her for the part she played in Gemma's
abduction but concedes that his niece is still pissed off at him. It turns out that the spell being worked by
Albert, Clarice and Map was used to protect Gemma from Frecericks' binding spell.
Eager to learn why
Domine wanted the Sepulchre in the first place, Constantine quizzes Albert and Clarice. The pair tells him
that Fredericks planned to use it as part of a blood sactifice to open one of three doors - the first of said
portals being the one between the worlds of the living and the dead. Albert also tells John about the
nightmares Domine was having about a dog before Constantine takes his leave.
[ Previous Month's Issue ]
[ Next Month's Issue ]
|
|
Gemma vents her spleen...
|
|
...Fredericks offers a counter argument.
|
|
Goodall on the verge of an out-of-body experience before...
|
|
...doing for Joshua Wright and...
|
|
...Peake...
|
|
...and Fredericks.
|
|
Constantine disposes of the Sepulchre.
|
|