Constantine: The House of Mystery (2022)

DC Showcase Animated Shorts:

Constantine: The House of Mystery (2022)

Dir. Matt Peters

C: THoM is a kind of epilogue to the Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020) movie, showing what happened to John Constantine after he made his fateful decision therein. [1]

He's now in the House of Mystery and, as is normal for the magic user, his luck is mostly bad. But he's not alone. Many of his friends are there, too. That's good, right? Right?

The story is a 'time reset' scenario, wherein we witness the same starting event more than once, but it moves at a speedy pace and there's a welcome level of dark humour throughout that helps it not feel repetitive.

If he's to escape the cycle, he'll need to use his cunning and his cynicism yet again.

Matt Ryan reprises the role. The honed level of wry wit in his portrayal works better for me in animation than it did in live action.

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020)

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020)

Dirs. Matt Peters + Christina Sotta

Apokolips War marks the end of the DC movie continuity that began with The Flashpoint Paradox (2013). I didn't like the New 52 very much, so have no problems if its influence on the animated universe comes to an end - if indeed that's what actually happens. At time of writing, it remains to be seen if that's the case.

The story begins with a quote written large onscreen, a slight paraphrasing of a famous prayer that was penned by the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. While initially untitled, in modern times it's become known as the Serenity Prayer. If you're not familiar with the title, it's the verse that encourages one to accept the things that they cannot change; have the courage to change the things that they can; and the wisdom to know the difference.

Constantine: City of Demons (2018)

Constantine: City of Demons (2018)

Dir. Doug Murphy

An animated solo adventure for Liverpool's most famous warlock that has him investigating the reasons why his oldest (living) friend's daughter has fallen into a coma. Originally presented in episodic form (5 parts) it was later merged into one feature-length production.

Matt Ryan is once again on voice duties, as he was in the previous year's Justice League Dark animated movie and the live action Constantine TV Series (2014-15). There are differences with regards continuity between the two formats, so I'm choosing to view them as separate things. But it's perhaps also worth noting that episode ten of the live action TV series (Quid Pro Quo) used the same source text as City of Demons does, namely the Hellblazer: All His Engines (2005) comic book by Mike Carey and Leonardo Manco.

Justice League Dark (2017)

Justice League Dark (2017)

Dir. Jay Oliva

I wonder how many names were in the hat when the creative team were struggling to come up with a catchy moniker for their new magic-themed 'League' collective. Given what they settled on, the others mustn't have been much good at all. But despite the name, the team itself is an interesting bunch of individuals.

Their genesis in animated form occurs when a spate of supernatural happenings perturbs the regular Justice League. Batman is chosen to enlist the help of folks who understand the workings of magic, in the hope that they'll be able to get to the bottom of the mystery.

It's an original story, not adapted wholesale from any of the existing comic book adventures, so deserves credit for that, if nothing else.