Review by Frank Plowright

The teenage Londoner John Constantine lives in a world of magic. Both his father and stepfather are known to the few as among the best wizards in the world, and John has magical talents, yet isn’t keen on training to nurture his ability. He agrees to a trip to Washington on the pretext of training, yet quickly decides his time is better spent with his friend’s band.

Distorted Illusions is the upper end of graphic novels marketed at teens rather than adults. There’s acknowledgement of casual sex and drinking, and under Kami Garcia the younger Constantine is very much the forerunner of the older version seen in mainstream DC comics. He’s a self-centred opportunist, and a risk taker confidently willing to dabble in magic he doesn’t really understand, yet this younger version is still naive enough not to realise when he’s being deceived.

Constantine’s world is brought to life by Isaac Goodheart in appealing detail, irrespective of whether the surroundings are magical or a grimy rock club. There’s also a lot of thought put into how people look, as seen by the way the cast are dressed on the cover, but that can disguise their not always being well put together. On balance, though, this is appealing art that becomes more interesting throughout, and is far more complex than is usual for DC’s young adult projects.

Garcia runs the actions have consequences plot, with Constantine’s magical manipulations for an easy life taking a disastrous turn. However, in terms of both plot and personality, it’s an improvement for the person affected as they’d previously been bland, and now have an interesting series of interactions. The lack of personality affects all but the two lead characters, with everyone else single note, but as it’s John and Luna who carry Distorted Illusions that’s no great problem, and toward the end there are some excellent brief character moments.

Taking a look at Constantine’s teenage life and providing a credible story is more complicated than your standard DC young adult graphic novel as he’s such a complex character, and rarely likeable, but Garcia and Goodheart make light of that. The result is a page-turning step into darkness.