Constantine -The House of Mystery

These showcases from Warner Bros. Animation are very welcome. They give animators a chance to stretch away from the core DC characters; Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and the Justice League and look at those that are less well known.

However three of these are already available so the pull for fans will be the extended short Constantine - The House of Mystery directed by Matt Peters and written by Ernie Altbacker. John Constantine has gradually been moving up the league of characters and is now firmly in the periphery of the major players within the DC Universe or has the DC Universe moved towards him?

Certainly, the Constantine character of DC’s much missed Vertigo line would probably never have got a look in the mainstream range with its emphasis on demons and the supernatural, social commentary as well as being extremely violent. Things have shifted though and we are presented with a story that sort of harps back to that time.

Constantine (Matt Ryan) finds himself in an old house that is magical, featuring Escher type interiors and at a party with his love Zatanna (Camilla Luddington) and children plus friends including Jason Blood/Etrigan (Ray Chase). However just as he’s getting used to things they change and turn into demons, and kill him, again and again?

Could this be because after the Justice League Dark: Apokolips War that left the earth decimated Constantine tasked The Flash with turning back time and he’s messed up again, annoying The Spectre of all beings.

Matt Ryan is probably now the definitive Constantine live action and animated, the surly humour and arrogance of the character down perfectly. Similarly returning actors Luddington and Race would seem settled. As to the story its familiar stuff in some respects but serves to introduce the House of Mystery which is another of DC’s artefacts from its magical universe.

The three others shorts do vary in story quality but their animation is quite distinct with Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth having a much more retro appearance nodding towards creator Jack Kirby. The Losers, a bunch of WWII troublemakers is more contemporary. While the Blue Beetle is a smorgasbord of colour and characters such as The Question and Captain Atom that has a cheap and cheerful approach to the animation and dialogue.

The sole extra is a solid featurette explaining the reasons behind the DC Showcase series.

Constantine - The House of Mystery will be available on Blu-ray from 2nd May and digital download 3rd May.