• Story: Simon Spurrier
• Art: Matias Bergara
• Colour: Jordi Bellaire

Matias Bergara steps in for another guest stint on art, the tone of the book changes, but the incisive quality remains rock solid. Where writer Si Spurrier had been attacking Brexit and British racism he moves on here to attack the royal family – no strangers to being attacked (rightly so) in Hellblazer books, but rarely as effectively as done here. A disgraced duke with a love of barely legal virgins encounters the old man Constantine has been pursuing, who offers him unicorn semen. He convinces the duke it’ll win him his mother’s favour and provide an excellent distraction from his never ending scandals. But what happens next is sheer horror and it takes Constantine to stop it.

Having John narrate the story allows him to provide us with our perspective on these people, and never seeing the flunky he’s narrating to draws us right in both to the horror and the personal feelings Constantine and Nat have for the corrupt royals. It’s an uneven fight in the end, but notable for the threat Constantine thinks the Queen poses, rather than her problem children. The emphasis on satire here is a welcome lift from the pitch black tone of the previous three issues – it’s a superb piece of show running by editor Chris Conroy – but there’s no drop in the incisiveness of the commentary. The power (and danger) of stories remains the focal point, and the brutality of Spurrier’s collision of myths with reality is inspired. It’s a fearless, anarchic commentary on storytellers from every era and background, as well as their audiences.

Bergara’s art jumps from snarky satire to understated horror in the blink of an eye. I love his expressions and his mastery of black comedy, conveying more layers of emotion no doubt than were even in the script, suggesting as perfect a match with Si Spurrier as regular artist Aaron Campbell. Jordi Bellaire’s colours in turn cement the delivery of the artwork, this issue amplifying scenes with perfectly judged yellow glows, and measured night time blues when the unicorn is revealed. Her role in delivering this note perfect take on Constantine – the best in thirty years – is as fundamental as Spurrier’s, Campbell’s and Bergara’s, and I can’t emphasise enough how much of a disaster it is for the comics industry that there are only three issues left before cancellation. This book is the best there is out there.