Hellblazer (also known as John Constantine, Hellblazer) is a contemporary horror comic book series, originally published by DC Comics, and subsequently by the Vertigo imprint since March 1993, the month the imprint was introduced, where it remains to this day. Its central character is the streetwise magician John Constantine, following his popularity in the Alan Moore run on Swamp Thing. It has been published continuously since January 1988, and is Vertigo's longest running title, the only remaining publication from the imprint's launch.^[1]

Production history[link]

Origins[link]

After favorable reader reaction to John Constantine's appearances in the comic book series Swamp Thing, where he had been introduced by Alan Moore during his authorship of the title, the character was given his own comic book series in 1988.^[2][3] The series was intended to bear the title Hellraiser, but this title was revised before publication due to the contemporaneous release of Clive Barker's unrelated film of the same name.^[4]

The initial creative team was writer Jamie Delano and artist John Ridgway, with Dave McKean supplying distinctive painted and collage covers. Delano introduced a political aspect to the character, about which he stated: "...generally I was interested in commenting on 1980s Britain. That was where I was living, it was shit, and I wanted to tell everybody."^[3]

The book, originally published as a regular DC Comics title, became a Vertigo title with the imprint's launch in March 1993 (issue #63 of the series). It is the only title published during the imprint's launch that continues to be published today.^[1] In October 2011, it was announced that this would join DC titles in being published digitally on the same day as its physical release, starting in January 2012.^[5]

It has recently been announced that a younger John Constantine will feature in Justice League Dark, one of the new titles launched as part of September 2011's DC Universe reboot. He will be part of a team including Shade, The Changing Man, Deadman and Madame Xanadu.^[6]

Creative personnel[link]

Many writers have had lengthy runs on the series, such as Garth Ennis and Mike Carey, who respectively have had the longest and second-longest runs on the book to date. Other writers who have written for the series include Paul Jenkins, Warren Ellis, Brian Azzarello, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Denise Mina, and currently Peter Milligan.^[1]

Numerous artists have worked on the series as well, such as John Ridgway (the original series artist), Simon Bisley, Mark Buckingham, Richard Corben, Steve Dillon, Marcelo Frusin, Jock, David Lloyd, Leonardo Manco, and Sean Phillips. Notable cover artists have included Dave McKean (who designed the first run of the series' covers), Tim Bradstreet (who designed the most), Glenn Fabry, Kent Williams, David Lloyd, and Sean Phillips.^[1]

In the comics[link]

Setting and protagonist[link]

Hellblazer is set in a contemporary world, albeit a world of magic and supernatural conflict behind the scenes. Although issue 14 made a passing reference to superheroes, the series has since developed its own pocket universe in which the supernatural or paranormal does not play a large role in the lives of most ordinary people, and in Earth-threatening circumstances no superhero interventions are shown or hinted at, suggesting that superheroes no longer exist there. However, some DC Comics characters—most notably the fringe supernatural characters such as Zatanna, The Phantom Stranger, Shade, The Changing Man, Dream of the Endless, and Swamp Thing have made appearances.

John Constantine, the main character of Hellblazer, is portrayed as a kind of confidence man who does morally questionable things, arguably for the greater good. He usually triumphs through guile, deceit, and misdirection, but often makes more enemies in the process than he defeats. Indeed, it is a common theme in the book that Constantine is unable to effect any lasting change or enjoy unequivocal victories. While sometimes striving for the good of mankind, Constantine is often manipulative and a dangerous person to have as a friend, as the lives and souls of those around him become perilously involved in his misadventures. He takes pains to protect himself from direct attacks, but his friends and relatives are often endangered in order to strike at him. The spirits of deceased friends haunt him, individually or as an entourage of ghosts.^[1]

Constantine has made appearances in other comic book titles, such as Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, The Sandman, Lucifer, and Shade, the Changing Man. He was a recurring supporting character in both Swamp Thing and The Books of Magic throughout their numerous incarnations. Some attempts to use the character in other superhero or family-friendly comics were altered due to editorial mandate, such as "Gregori Eilovotich Rasputin" in Firestorm and Captain Atom (who refers to Constantine as "an impertinent bumbler in England") and "Ambroise Bierce" in Stanley and His Monster.

John Constantine was reintroduced into the DC Universe in 2011, initially in the Brightest Day crossover event title Search for the Swamp Thing, and in the ongoing The New 52 title Justice League Dark.^[7]

1988-1991: Jamie Delano (#1-40, #84)[link]

Having previously worked on D.R. & Quinch for 2000 AD, a title made popular by John Constantine's creator Alan Moore, Delano was selected to start the character's first run in his own comic by then editor Karen Berger in 1988. Delano's run was characterised by his political satire, taking on late 1980s and 1990s tropes such as with city financiers being literal demons, and Constantine meeting with Freemasons from the Houses of Parliament. He also had environmentalist issues crop up, especially in "The Fear Machine" (issues #15-22), where John fell in with a travelling community of environmental activists. Indeed, editor Karen Berger noted on Delano's departure the irony that his final issue was handed in the week that Margaret Thatcher was forced out of office.^[8]

There were five main storylines in the run. The first, collected as "Original Sins",^[9] deals with John travelling to America to exorcise a demon, Mnemoth, and investigate a strange cult known as Damnation's Army, crossing paths with a demon called Nergal (from whom he gains demon blood), and having to be responsible for killing an old friend, Gary Lester, and betraying another, called Zed, in the process. The following four issues, "The Devil You Know"^[10] finally explain John's failure to save a young girl, Astra, from a demon in Newcastle, an event that left him near insane and incarcerated in an asylum known as Ravenscar, and still haunts him in the comic's present. He eventually discovers that the demon responsible for this was Nergal, and uses a technological scheme to trap him, and lead him back to hell. It also contains a crossover with Swamp Thing, where Constantine loses his body while the Swamp Thing uses it to procreate.

This was followed by a lengthy nine-issue story arc, "The Fear Machine",^[11] revolving around a masonic plot to collect people's fears, in order to resurrect a demon known as Juntakillokian, and his efforts to prevent this with the help of environmentalists, including Mercury, a young psychic girl, and Marj, her mother, with whom he becomes romantically involved. The penultimate major run of Delano's tenure was "The Family Man",^[12] which differed from the main body of the series thus far in that Constantine's nemesis is not supernatural (beyond an opening metafictional encounter with a fictional fence), but a former policeman turned serial killer. John's ethical quandary as to whether murder is ever acceptable, and his coping with the murder of his father, Thomas, frames this story. During this run on the title, Grant Morrison (issues #25 & 26) and Neil Gaiman (issue #27) both filled in during a three-month break, Grant Morrison's story dealing with nuclear fear, and Neil Gaiman's being a simple romantic ghost story.

Delano's run ended with "The Golden Child", where John is reunited with Marj and Mercury, who help him discover that he murdered his more perfect twin in the womb, culminating in an extended story, in which we are shown what would have occurred had the other twin survived in his place.^[13] During his run, there was also an stand-alone issue, the Hellblazer Annual #1, exploring Constantine's ancestry, and featuring the video to John's punk band, Mucous Membrane's song "Venus of the Hardsell".

Jamie Delano returned to the title on several occasions. Between the Garth Ennis and Paul Jenkins runs on Hellblazer, he finally told the story of why John's best friend Chas 'owes' him, and he returned again for one of the five Christmas stories in issue #250. He also wrote the mini series The Horrorist in 1995, and Bad Blood in 2000, both featuring John Constantine. A more substantial return was made in 2010 for a hardcover graphic novel Hellblazer: Pandemonium with artist Jock to commemorate the 25th anniversary of John Constantine's first appearance in Swamp Thing.^[14]

1991-1999: Garth Ennis (#41-83, #129-133) and Paul Jenkins (#89-128)[link]

Irish writer Garth Ennis then took over the title in 1991, again from 2000 AD, where he had been working on Judge Dredd. He proceeded to write the longest run for any writer on the title.^[15] His take on the title was more personal than Jamie Delano's, with John's relationships coming to the fore. It also had a strong religious theme, with John's dealings with the First of the Fallen, and some storylines, such as the relationship between an angel, Tali, and a succubus demon, Ellie, would go on to be used again as a major plot device in Preacher, one of his most popular works. He also references the music of The Pogues and the poetry of Brendan Behan, both of these being relevant to Ennis' Irish heritage.

His run started with "Dangerous Habits" (41-46),^[16] which was the basis for the 2005 film Constantine, and dealt with John Constantine contracting lung cancer, and the desperate deal he makes with the First of the Fallen, and various other lords of Hell, to save himself. In the course of trying to save himself, he visits Ireland, where he becomes reacquainted with Kit Ryan, an old friend. The following few issues follow the early stages of his relationship with Kit, a plot to install a demon on the British throne in the plotline "Royal Blood", and in the extended issue #50, his first meeting with the King of the Vampires. One minor story in this arc (issue #51) was written by guest writer John Smith.^[10][17]

The next major arc, "Fear and Loathing", (issues 62-67) covers a high point of John's personal life, with his relationship with Kit going well, and a fortieth birthday party where his friends Ellie, Zatanna, and the Swamp Thing attend, and use their various abilities to create a large quantity of Bushmills whiskey and marijuana. The story then takes him to his lowest point, through his dealings with the National Front, their threats towards Kit, and her leaving him to return to Ireland.^[18] Following this, John is defeated, and lives homeless on the streets, drinking to forget his life. This remains the case until the King of the Vampires hunts him out, and is poisoned by his demon blood, leaving him out in the sun at dawn, killing him.^[19] Following his recovery, the storyline "Damnation's Flame" (Issues #72–77) follows a trip to the US, where Constantine is put into an alternative America by his old adversary Papa Midnite, a Vodun shaman. He is accompanied by the spirit of JFK, who has to hold his brain in place from his infamous wound. He eventually learns how to escape, shortly before running into the First of the Fallen, in the guise of Abraham Lincoln. There then follows a small break where he meets the spirit of a dead friend in Dublin, offering some closure to his recent problems.^[20] Ennis' run ends with "Rake at the Gates of Hell", a story which finally brings together the racism storyline, with riots in Mile End, echoing the real-life Brixton and Broadwater Farm riots in London, the revenge attempt of the First of the Fallen, started in "Dangerous Habits", and the end of John's relationship with Kit Ryan. John's eventual phyrric victory leaves this run with closure, and a relatively clean slate for a new writer to take over.^[21]

Following a brief interlude by From Hell artist Eddie Campbell, the series' direction was taken over by Paul Jenkins in 1995. He had been former editor of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and other Mirage Studios lines.^[22] He had pitched to several comic houses, having tired of editing, and eventually managed to gain stewardship of Hellblazer, the first largely untested writer to achieve this.^[23] His four year run is the longest run to remain uncollected.^[24] Jenkins' run is more traditionally English in its themes, with Albion, Arthurian legend, and old English battles all featuring, and even an appearance by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and a speculative explanation of the writing of Kubla Khan, and what the interruption of the 'man from Porlock' may have been. He also returns to Jamie Delano's coverage of anarchist lifestyles, and the effects of the Criminal Justice Act of 1994, a highly unpopular law which restricted the ability of the public to throw raves and large demonstrations.^[25][26]

Major storylines in this run include "Critical Mass", where Constantine is forced to use magic to purge his darker side into another human body, in order to avoid being damned to Hell as part of a trade to save the possessed son of a friend, thus creating the antagonistic character, Demon Constantine, with the assistance of Aleister Crowley.^[27] The landmark hundredth issue gave more detail on John Constantine's father, and the abusive relationship that they had shared. However, it is unclear as to whether this is happening in reality, or in his mind as John convalesces in a coma.^[28] "Last Man Standing" reveals that his friend Rich is the current descendant of King Arthur, and Merlin's attempt to discover God's secret, an act which would destroy England, using John's few remaining friends as bait.^[29]

The tenth anniversary issue breaks from the usual format, in breaking the fourth wall, and addressing the reader as if they are in a pub with Constantine for a monthly get together to hear his stories. Over the course of the issue, most of the characters from Constantine's history appear, along with Death of the Endless from Sandman. There are also appearances by writers and artists, including series creator Alan Moore, Garth Ennis, and Jenkins himself.^[30] Jenkins' run then draws to a close with two storylines, "Up the Down Staircase" and "How to Play With Fire", which relate the First of the Fallen's new plan, to essentially let mankind ruin itself through television and consumerism, and Ellie's plot to leave Constantine friendless and alone. John eventually saves himself, through a literal deus ex machina, in a campfire conversation with God. However, neither plan is completely successful, and Constantine ends the run alone.^[31] Paul Jenkins later returned for one of the five stories in issue #250.

Ennis briefly returned to the title in 1998 with "Son of Man", filling the gaps between Paul Jenkins' and Warren Ellis' runs on the title. This more irreverent story is about the consequences of Constantine resurrecting the dead son of an East London gangster, using the spirit of a demon.^[32] He also had two specials published during his run on the title, the Hellblazer Special and Heartland, which follows Kit Ryan's return to Ireland.

1999-2002[link]

Warren Ellis (#134-143)[link]

Warren Ellis took over the title in 1999, after his work on Transmetropolitan which had moved to the Vertigo imprint, following the closure of Helix Comics.^[15] He was meant to become a full time writer for several years, as Delano, Ennis and Jenkins before him, but left the title early after DC refused to publish the story "Shoot", about high school shootings, following the Columbine High School massacre, despite the fact it had been written and submitted prior to the event.^[33] The story was finally published in 2010.^[34]

His brief run began with "Haunted", a London based story in which John investigates the brutal murder of a former girlfriend, Isabel by an Aleister Crowley style magician, Josh Wright. The story introduces, or reintroduces many characters who have become an important part of the Hellblazer universe, including Inspector Watford (originally from Jamie Delano's run on the title), aging magician Clarice, and Map, a powerful magician who works on tube renovations in his part as custodian of London.^[35] The remainder of Ellis' brief tenure was taken up with single issue stories, collected as "Setting Sun".^[36]

Brian Azzarello (#146-174)[link]

Following a brief interlude by Croatian writer Darko Macan, the series was then taken over by Brian Azzarello, once again hired on the strength of his own series for Vertigo, 100 Bullets. Azzarello's run is one large meta-story, that follows John Constantine on a trip across America, starting with his incarceration in prison,^[37] then variously uncovering a pornography ring,^[38] catching a serial killer,^[39] taking on a Neo Nazi group before finally dealing with the architect of his incarceration, Stanley W. Manor,^[40] a thinly veiled pastiche of Batman.^[41] Brian Azzarello did return for one of the five stories in issue #250.

2002-2006: Mike Carey (#175-215, #229)[link]

Following Azzarello's run, writer Mike Carey took over the title, following his Eisner award-winning title Lucifer, set in the Sandman universe.^[42] Carey's run attempted to return John Constantine to his roots, with the title largely set back in London, and featuring many characters from former runs on the title. Mike Carey also has the honour of being the first Liverpudlian to write the Liverpudlian character. His is at present the second longest run by any single author on the title, second only to Garth Ennis.^[15]

The start of his run introduces Angie Spatchcock, a fellow magician, and reintroduces his niece, Gemma Constantine, who has also fallen into magic use, to her uncle's consternation. After ridding his sister's house of an evil spirit, and finding out Gemma has gone missing, John returns to London, to find his old colleagues and enemies are all taking sides in the hunt for a mythical item, known as the Red Sepulchre. John eventually locates the item, and finds Gemma, freeing her from his old enemy Josh Wright.^[43] Following several forewarnings, Constantine then travels the world to set up a plan for a forthcoming tragedy, which will occur when "Three doors are opened", involving Swamp Thing and the Garden of Eden amongst others.^[44]

John's preparations have no effect, however, as he is tricked into killing the guardian that had been preventing the tragedy, freeing a beast which can control the collective unconsciousness of mankind. John Constantine cuts his own wrists, in order to free himself from consciousness, and plays a confidence trick on the beast, allowing his friends time to use the collective consciousness to rebuild the guardian that had kept the beast trapped. However, in this process, Swamp Thing has his human soul removed, setting up the fourth run of the comic, relaunched shortly afterward. In the process John loses his memory, setting up the events leading up to the 200th issue.^[45] Leading up to the landmark issue, John has little control over events, and is led along by a psychic serial killer, who threatens to kill Chas and his family, and a demon, Rosacarnis, who offers his memories back, at the cost of 24 hours in her service. John eventually gives into this offer, and the 200th issue shows how Rosacarnis manipulates his reality, making him raise three children with her, in the guise of Kit Ryan, from Garth Ennis' time on the title, Zed, from Jamie Delano's, and Angie, from the current run,^[46] with three different artists, Steve Dillon, Marcelo Frusin and Leonardo Manco each drawing one story, as the past, present and future of the title.

Carey's final run followed the attempts of John's three new children attempting to kill all of his family and friends, culminating in the death of his sister, Cheryl, at the hands of her possessed husband.^[47] John then travels into Hell to try to rescue her soul, with the assistance of Rosacarnis' father, Nergal. The plan ultimately fails, and John returns broken, and intending to renounce magic.^[48]

Mike Carey returned to the title for a single issue between Denise Mina and Andy Diggle's runs on the title, and also wrote the well received^[49][50] Hellblazer graphic novel All His Engines about a strange illness sweeping the globe.^[51]

2006-present[link]

Denise Mina (#216-228)[link]

Denise Mina was unknown in comics when she took over the title in 2006, but had three acclaimed crime novels to her name, the Garnetthill trilogy, the first of which won the CWA award for best debut crime novel. Her run on the title took John to Scotland, to attempt to stop a plot to make everybody empathise with each other. However, John fails to stop this, and a spate of suicides in Glasgow are caused.^[52] With help from Gemma Constantine, Angie Spatchcock and Chas Chandler, a plan to reverse the problem is made, but hinges on the result of the World Cup match between England and Portugal. When Portugal win on penalties, it seems all is lost, but as they are in Glasgow, the result is celebrated, saving the day.^[53]

Andy Diggle (#230-249)[link]

Andy Diggle, having previously written the Hellblazer special, Lady Constantine, and Vertigo titles The Losers and Swamp Thing, took over the title in 2007,^[54] another former editor of 2000 AD to have done this. He left the title in 2009 after accepting an exclusive contract with Marvel.^[55]

The run starts by introducing two main antagonists, an aging politician, who is using a strange portal to enter other people's minds and commit crimes,^[56] and Mako, a cannibalistic mage who devours other magicians in order to obtain their power. Constantine's attempt to play them off one another only succeeds in making them join forces in a further plot.^[57] Constantine then traps them both with considerable ease, and questions how this has been so easy. It then becomes apparent that he has been manipulated by the 'Golden Child', his twin who did not survive childbirth, and has been manipulating events for the whole of the series, including his battle with cancer and many other events. He declines his twin's offer to merge souls, suspicious that his twin has been weakening his will in past years to make him accept this offer, choosing instead to take control of his own destiny.^[58]

Peter Milligan (#250-Present)[link]

Peter Milligan, a veteran of the Vertigo line, having written both Shade, The Changing Man and Animal Man at the publisher's inception, then took over,^[59] starting with a short story in the landmark 250th issue, and taking over full time following this. His run has implemented several major changes, including John Constantine's wedding and the loss of his thumb.

In a rare change, Milligan's run on the title starts with John living in domestic bliss with a nurse, Phoebe. Over the course of the first storyline, several new characters are introduced, including Epiphany Greaves, the alchemist daughter of a notorious London gangster, and Julian, a Babylonian demon. Over the course of the run, John has dealt with a demon taking revenge on people involved in the Liverpool dockers' strike^[60] gone insane and sought help from Shade, The Changing Man, after chopping off his own thumb, seen Phoebe die at the hands of Julian,^[61] and traveled to India to try to find a way of saving her.^[62] Following this, he has realised that he is in love with Epiphany, and married her in the 275th issue. However, the events of this wedding have turned Constantine's niece Gemma against him, due to the Demon Constantine sexually assaulting her in the restroom. The strain of this traumatic incident turned her against John, and she enlisted the help of a coven of witches to kill him, which later came to a head when John was forced to fight off a brutal Demon summoned by them using John's iconic trenchcoat to target him.

Afterwards, John's coat (which Gemma sold on eBay) began to manipulate it's (numerous) new owners into murder, suicide, or other horrific acts until coming into the hands of a man from the U.S. who tried to kill John and Epiphany. During the time the coat was missing, John's magical abilities had begun to go out of control. John eventually resolves this, and he was re-united with his coat. Since this, Gemma and John have a very shaky relationship with one-another, and she began a sexual relationship with Epiphany's crime-boss father Terry in order to "punish" John. When he confronted her about this relationship though, she told him that she would not stop unless he was able to retrieve her mother's soul from Hell. John agreed.^[63]

[edit] Justice League Dark

As part of the DC universe reboot in September 2011, Peter Milligan started the new title Justice League Dark, which will feature John Constantine as a prominent part of the team. Milligan has explicitly stated that the continuity of the two series will be mutually exclusive, and that there will now be a Vertigo John Constantine, and a younger DC Comics Constantine.^[7]

Reception[link]

Over the two decades that it has been published, Hellblazer has normally been quite well received. While not attaining the sales of 'mainstream' comics, it has sustained healthy figures, consistently being one of the top selling Vertigo titles, and is sustained by healthy sales of trade paperbacks.^[64] Delano's original run on the title is looked on fondly, with journalist Helen Braithwaite stating, "His take on the character of John Constantine has never been equalled. Delano's Original Sins graphic novel should be in every comic book fan's collection." She added that, "His writing evokes an incredible sense of dread and terror in a reader."^[65]

Publications[link]

In other media[link]

Film[link]

The first adaptation of Hellblazer ever filmed for the screen is one of the scenes in the documentary feature film The Mindscape of Alan Moore, which was shot in early 2002. The dramatization consists of the John Constantine character wandering through London and, in the film ending, experiencing a mystical epiphany of sorts.

In 2005 Constantine was released, a feature film that did not use the same title as the comic book, in order to avoid confusion with the Hellraiser horror franchise. The only links to the character of John Constantine were the name and a plotline loosely based on the "Dangerous Habits" story arc (Hellblazer #41–46).

DC Comics announced a sequel to the 2005 Constantine movie was in the works, with producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura linked to the project. He stated: "I'd love to do it...We want to do a hard, R-rated version of it. We're going to scale back the size of the movie to try and persuade the studio to go ahead and make a tough version of it."^[66]

In September 2010, Warner Brothers commissioned a sequel script from Frank Cappello, one of the original Constantine's two credited writers. The story is said to be an original idea from Cappello and does not draw from any previous published Hellblazer stories. The screenplay's tag line is "Through the Eye of The Needle".

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Hellblazer

• DC Comics - Complete Hellblazer issue #1 in PDF format
• Hellblazer at the Open Directory Project
• The Ultimate Hellblazer Index - Index of Hellblazer comic and John Constantine's appearances elsewhere
• Hellblazer Trades - Timeline of John Constantine appearances in collected editions of DC and Vertigo comics
• Straight To Hell - Fan site with issue summaries and discussion forum
• The Sting connection - Interview with Alan Moore discussing the creation of John Constantine
• Fresh - designs showing the evolution of the latest Hellblazer logo
• Roots of the Swamp Thing - An exhaustively detailed timeline of the events of Vertigo's Swamp Thing and Hellblazer comic series.

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John Constantine ( /ˈkɒnstəntaɪn/)^[2] is a fictional character, an antihero/occult detective in comic books published by DC Comics, mostly under the Vertigo imprint. The character first appeared in Swamp Thing (vol. 2) #37 (June 1985), and was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch. Constantine is the protagonist of the comic book Hellblazer, published continuously since 1988.

Publication history[link]

John Constantine first appeared in 1982 as a recurring character in the horror series The Saga of the Swamp Thing, in which he acted as a "supernatural advisor" to the main character.^[3]

In these early appearances, Constantine was depicted as a sorcerer of questionable morality, whose appearance was based on that of the musician Sting (specifically, as Sting appeared in the movies Brimstone and Treacle and Quadrophenia). Alan Moore created the character after artists Stephen R. Bissette and John Totleben, who were fans of The Police, expressed a desire to draw a character who looked like Sting.^[4][5] They had already drawn at least one such character in Sting's likeness, as a briefly glimpsed background figure wearing a black-and-red-striped t-shirt, in Swamp Thing #25 (1984). In his earliest Swamp Thing appearances, the character is drawn with a marked resemblance to Sting, and in Swamp Thing #51, Constantine appears on a boat with the name "The Honorable Gordon Sumner" on the bow.

John Constantine's official debut was not until Swamp Thing #37 when he was drawn by Rick Veitch and John Totleben. Moore describes the creation of Constantine as being drawn from a number of "really good ideas... about serial killers, the Winchester House, and... want[ing] to draw Sting in a story."^[6] Calling these disparate strands a "big intellectual puzzle," Constantine was the result of "fit[ting] it all together."^[6] Initially created "purely to get Sting into the story," by the time of the 1985 San Diego ComicCon, Moore stated that "[i]t's turning into something more than that now."^[6] Veitch's contribution was to give Constantine an earring, something he considered risque for 1985.^[7]

Asked in 1985 about the similarities between John Constantine and the character Baron Winters (from Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan's Night Force), Moore revealed that he was a "big fan" of Wolfman and Night Force, but that there was "no intention to rip off Baron Winters."^[6] He stated

Constantine and Winters met each other during Moore's run on Swamp Thing and again during Gaiman's The Books of Magic.

Speaking to comics magazine Wizard in 1993, Moore elaborated:

In 1988, Constantine was given his own title, Hellblazer, published by DC Comics. In 1993, at the launch of DC's Vertigo Comics imprint, Hellblazer was made an official Vertigo publication. It is the longest continuously published Vertigo title.^[8] Before the launch of the Vertigo line, Constantine appeared in several DC Universe titles, but for many years afterwards editorial policy forbade the use of Constantine outside the Vertigo line.^{[citation needed]} (This editorial edict led to the appearance of several characters copying Constantine in DC's superhero books). The policy was reversed in 2011, when a version of Constantine appeared in the DC Universe crossover series Brightest Day, a spin-off series, Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing, and the New 52 series Justice League Dark.^[9][10]

Characterization[link]

Although a compassionate humanist who struggles to overcome the influence of both Heaven and Hell over humanity and despite his occasional forays into heroism, Constantine is a foul-mouthed, British cynic who pursues a life of sorcery and danger. His motivation has been attributed to an adrenaline addiction that only the strange and mysterious can sate. He also seems to be something of a "Weirdness Magnet" (a term also used to describe Blue Devil).

Constantine is shown to be someone with a wide and international circle of contacts and allies, and is supremely adept at making friends. He has had many girlfriends as well, and mentions past boyfriends.^[11][12] At the same time, his close friends inevitably suffer or are outright killed simply by being in his life; this has left a severe mark on him. In #69, when the King of Vampires killed the man next to him and casually asked if he'd been a friend, John replied "Must be. He's dead."

While Constantine has worn many clothes over the years he was originally portrayed as often wearing a blue pin-stripe suit, tan trench coat and occasionally gloves. As the series progressed his trademark attire became a grungier (or perhaps the same just older) trench coat, white shirt and black tie, but has recently returned more to his earlier fashion. Constantine smokes Silk Cut cigarettes, consuming thirty or so a day.^[13]

Real time aging[link]

Constantine is unusual among comic book characters in that he has aged in real time since his creation. During the first year of his solo series, Constantine celebrated his 35th birthday. Five years later in 1993, he turned 40.

There have been no mentioned birthday celebrations since then, but nothing in the comics has stated a retcon of Constantine's age or the real time development of his comic. In fact, DC Vertigo published a timeline in their Rare Cuts TPB, which establishes birthdates of many characters. This is further supported by the use of dating in the comics themselves.^{[original research?]} For instance, All His Engines takes place at a specific date in 2004, and shows both Geraldine and Tricia Chandler as having aged roughly ten years since their first appearances in issue #84. In Hellblazer, it is mentioned multiple times^[when?] that the aging process of Constantine himself might be different due to the demon blood that he obtained from Nergal. In a 2011 interview, DC co-publisher Dan Didio said that "Constantine in the Vertigo universe is in his 60s, and what you have in the DC Universe is a character who is markedly younger".^[9]

Fictional character biography[link]

Youth[link]

In Constantine's early appearances in Swamp Thing, his past was a mystery; his life as a child and young adult was not developed until Jamie Delano's Hellblazer stories. There, we found out that he was born in Liverpool, England, on May 10, 1953. His mother, Mary Anne, died giving birth to John and his stillborn twin brother because an earlier abortion—forced on her by John's father, Thomas—had weakened her womb. Because he was unable to accept responsibility for his wife's death, Thomas blamed John and the pair grew up with a deep dislike for one another. Whilst in the womb, John strangled his twin brother with his own umbilical cord; in a parallel universe glimpsed in Hellblazer #40, the twin survives to become the well-loved and well-adjusted magician that John never was.

In their childhood, John and his older sister Cheryl lived briefly with their aunt and uncle in Northampton to escape from their father's alcoholism and subsequent imprisonment for stealing a female neighbour's underwear. They moved back to Liverpool when their father was released. One of John's first acts of magic, as a child, was to hide all of his childhood innocence and vulnerability in a box to rid himself of it.^[14] Later, in the 1960s, a teenage John ran away from home, but not before a botched curse caused his father to become withered and frail. John eventually made his permanent home in London in 1969, rooming with Francis "Chas" Chandler, a young man who has since gone on to become John's closest — and longest surviving — friend.

During the 1970s, John became involved in occult circles in London, and visited San Francisco, where he met, and subsequently began a relationship with, the female magician Zatanna Zatara. He also became enamored of punk rock; after seeing the Sex Pistols at the Roxy Club in London in 1977, John cut his long hair and formed his own band, Mucous Membrane, whose members included Chandler (as a roadie), a drummer named Beano and fellow Liverpudlian Gary Lester.

John's first venture into occult "heroism", as depicted in a flashback in Hellblazer #11, was a disaster. On tour with Mucous Membrane at the Casa Nova Club in Newcastle, he found the aftermath of a magical orgy gone horribly wrong: an abused child, Astra, had conjured a hideous monster that took revenge on the adults who were tormenting her, and the monster refused to leave.

With typical recklessness, John convinced some members of the band, along with several occultist friends, to try destroying the creature by summoning a demon of their own. Unfortunately, this demon was not under their control and after it had destroyed the child's monster, it tormented Constantine's friends and took the child to Hell. John suffered a nervous breakdown after this incident, and was committed to a mental institution, which he drifted in and out of over the years.^[15] He was severely abused by the staff during the time he spent there, as they believed that he was the one who had molested and murdered Astra. John was never officially cured in any way — his time at the asylum ended when London crime lord Harry Cooper used his influence to spring John, wanting him to return his dead son to life. (Incapable of doing this, John roped several friends into forcing a demon to inhabit the corpse, and tried to forget the whole thing)

The guilt of Astra hung over him for many years until, in his mid-forties, he used some magic and con-artistry to free not only her, but also the souls of all the other children trapped in Hell. As for the rest of the "Newcastle Crew," the incident left the group both physically and psychologically scarred. However in The Sandman (vol. 1) #3, Dream relieves Constantine of the nightmares that had plagued him since the incident.

Occult "hero"[link]

Years later, John was able to persuade the same group to help with his investigation of the Brujería cult, as seen in Swamp Thing #37–49. However, the cult murdered most of them, including John's then-lover, Emma. These people, and others who have died due to John's carelessness, have continued to appear to him as silent, reproachful ghosts. Chas is the most prominent one of very few human friends to have survived a long-term association with John.

After this, John became involved in a clash between the demon Nergal and his Damnation Army human agents and the Resurrection Crusade evangelist group; both groups were trying to fulfill the prophecy of the birth of an influential child, the latter trying to birth the Second Coming and the former trying to birth the Anti-Christ. Both sides fixed onto John's new girlfriend and ally Zed, and she was lost to the God's Army. However, Constantine was infused with demon blood by Nergal so that, by having sex with Zed, he could ensure she could not be used for the Second Coming. John then helped ensure the Swamp Thing could spawn a child, so that the prophecy was fulfilled and Hell could not use it. Having found out that Nergal was the same demon he encountered in Newcastle, John fought him and got revenge (deliberately sacrificing former friend Ritchie Simpson in the process).

In 1991 while in his late thirties, John contracted terminal lung cancer. During this time, he sought the help of a dying friend, Brendan, who had sold his soul to the First of the Fallen, the most powerful lord of Hell. When the First came to collect the soul, John tricked him into drinking holy water, which rendered him helpless and prevented him from collecting the friend's soul at the appointed time.^[13]

For this, the First promised to make John suffer unprecedented torment in Hell when he dies. Slowly dying from cancer, John hatched a plan to save himself from eternal torment. He secretly sold his soul to the other two Lords of Hell. When they discover Constantine's actions they realized that they could not allow him to die, or else they would be forced to go to all-out war over his soul — a war whose only winner would be "the Lord of the Hosts" (i.e. God) and his angels. However, they were also far too stubborn and proud to enter anything resembling an alliance. As a result, they were forced to cure John of his cancer.^[13] This led to the First plotting a grand revenge on Constantine, who manipulated the demon via his ally Ellie (a succubus) into coming into a trap; the plan only barely succeeded, and while the First was temporarily defeated many of John's friends were killed.

Between the two battles John entered a heavy relationship with Northern Irish girl Kit Ryan, one that saw him briefly consider settling down and which others saw as his last chance at normality. However, his schemes against the First indirectly put her in danger — something he promised her would not happen — and she left, causing him to briefly fall into a major depression and become homeless for part of 1993.

Constantine then went on to have a series of adventures and misadventures playing the role of puppet and puppeteer with his signature style and profane sarcasm. He managed to free Astra and every other child in Hell, but at the cost of the First returning to power; also, as part of the scheme, John's worst attributes were given separate existence as "Demon Constantine" which meant he himself could not go to Hell. As part of an attempt to regain his nastier edge, he used Ellie, and this led to her taking out a revenge scheme in 1998 that forced him to turn to the First for help; Ellie ended up in Hell, several of John's oldest friends left him, and he sold his soul ensuring he was damned once more.

Soon after, he battled the demon in Harry Cooper's son's corpse while helping Chas out, and was left despondent at the memory of his dead friends and how all the carnage had been caused by him refusing to clean up the mess he started. The following year, he tracked down a rival magician who had murdered an old girlfriend of John's, and took revenge by torturing him into insanity.

The new millennium[link]

In 2000 while in America, he was framed for the murder of an old friend called "Lucky" Fermin (who had committed suicide) and locked up in a maximum security prison. After arranging a prison riot and having his release orchestrated by FBI agent Frank Turro, Constantine (officially killed in the riot) traveled across America for a time on a personal quest to ask the forgiveness of the widow of Lucky, for whose death he felt responsible even though he was innocent of his murder. After encountering, roughly in order, the psychotic pornography-making relatives of Lucky, a huge black boar, and a group of snowbound killers, Constantine's journey culminated in his discovery that Lucky's widow Marjorie had joined a neo-Nazi group. Constantine, who has often shown a dislike for "fascists", disassembled the group from the inside and burned Marjorie's house to the ground after Lucky's ghost revealed he had killed himself as part of a deal he and Marjorie had made with Stanley Manor, a billionaire who Constantine once swindled in the seventies, to frame Constantine for murder.

At this point Constantine was contacted by Agent Turro, who had initiated his release from prison, and asked to take part in an attempt to incriminate billionaire Stanley Manor (whom the agent knew was responsible for numerous illegal and immoral acts, but who, because of his wealth, could never be brought to justice). To this end Constantine frequented a BDSM sex club, seduced Stanley, raised the ghosts or the illusion of the ghosts of Stanley's parents, and finally faked his own death, all part of a con to bring about Stanley's own suicide. Unfortunately, Turro was killed in the process.

On return to Britain in 2003 and after reconciling with his sister (who believed he was dead), he went on to be involved in a magic war in London and was horrified to find his niece Gemma — who he'd wanted to keep out of this life — had become a witch. He soon ended up organising a counterstrike against the Shadow Dog, warned of its coming and believing it was an entity that brought death and madness; instead, it was a guardian against the true enemy, the Beast, who was manipulating John into giving it free access to humanity. Horror and carnage swept the globe, and only with the help of Gemma and the Swamp Thing did he resurrect the Shadow Dog and defeat the Beast. In the process, he was rendered amnesiac, leaving him vulnerable to the schemes of the demon Rosacarnis. To get his memories back, he had to spend a day in her service in which she had him father three demonic children, who went on to massacre anyone who knew Constantine, from friends to enemies to people who'd only briefly met him. Among them there was also his sister Cheryl; one of his sons had in fact exploited her husband's religious fanaticism to make him see his wife as a witch — and thus a person to be killed. This would set up Constantine to go on journey to Hell in the hopes to return his sister's soul. Accompanying him was Nergal, the demon he thought he had killed by sending him to the border of Heaven. Actually Nergal had escaped that fate, but was punished by the First with death; yet his essence survived, was able to build a surrogate body, and tried to get his power back from Rosacarnis, his own daughter. Greatly weakened and without his original demonic body, Nergal could do nothing when Rosacarnis ordered him again killed.

Notably, Nergal possessed Chas in order to contact and help Constantine — when the possession ended, Chas found himself briefly but totally uninhibited, and this led him to betray his spouse with a barely-of-age prostitute - and later, when he got back home, he also beat his wife. Constantine's demonic daughter spied him, contacted him and got some fragments of Nergal's "soul" out of Chas, rendering him again his old self — this was not an altruistic act, as she was able to discern who was aiding John. She subsequently left Chas to the wreckage that his life had suddenly become. While in Hell, John and Nergal met the demon Constantine, who tried to kill the original one. John was forced to let Nergal enter his body in order to finish him. Later they also encountered Ellie, who seemed to have quite pardoned John for him selling her out to the First. She was not subject to any torture or punishment, either. The couple finally arrived at Rosacarnis's hall, where there was a feast with all three of Constantine's children, the First, and many demons from all Hell.

Nergal left Constantine's body and went to inhabit that of his brother, whom Rosacarnis had poisoned for years (he had an invulnerable body, and wanted regency; so she incapacitated him with poison and kept him that way ever since). After doing this, Nergal storms towards his daughter and Constantine. Constantine forces Rosacarnis to "swear so it will stick" that she will release his sister's soul if he stops Nergal. She agrees and John then offers himself as a human voodoo doll. Because of Nergal's earlier possession of his body, any damage done to John would be mirrored on Nergal. Nergal, however, calls the bluff, showing that the effect goes both ways by clawing at his chest slightly. John begs Rosacarnis to kill him to save his sister, but just as she's about to, the First of the Fallen intervenes and immediately kills Rosacarnis, since Constantine's soul is his by "right of insult" and will only be taken when he deems fit. The First also kills Rosacarnis' two sons, but spares the daughter, who had been dealing with issues of identity and had doubts about whether she wanted to continue to exist.

Following this, The First commands Nergal to release the soul he's holding. Cheryl's soul is pure and innocent and does not belong in Hell, but The First offers her a truly devilish deal. Informing her that her husband, Constantine's brother-in-law Tony, has killed himself with her blood still staining his hands, thus making him twice damned, and offering to fairly divide her husband's punishment between the two of them if she stays of her own free will. Constantine attempts in vain to argue that Tony murdered her and does not deserve that mercy. Despite all that has happened, Cheryl still loves her husband enough to accept The First's deal and decides to stay. Constantine can do nothing as The First gloats over his victory and then sends him back home. Unable to look at his niece Gemma's tear-filled eyes because of his failure, Constantine runs barefoot down the stairs and into the Liverpool night.

After the death[link]

After the loss of his sister Cheryl and the very strained tension with his closest friend Chas, Constantine has an adventure during which he discovers a cult devoted to unleash empathy across the world so as to combat "The Third Place" that appears to be a metaphysical plane of apathy.

John goes along alone and sorrowfully pitiful until his services are requested by an incarcerated gangster. In the process of asking for the magus' assistance in the passing on of his dead daughter, he makes a comment that will make him question who he has become. After being attacked by a disloyal crony of the gangster boss, John is tied to a port column as the tide comes in. He tries several times, unsuccessfully, to talk the crony into revealing the names of other victims he has brought to this spot. Finally the crony blurts some of the names of his victims. Constantine then frees himself from his handcuffs, almost drowning in the process, and raises people that the crony had killed from the dead to take their vengeance, including the boss' daughter. He then offers to send her on, to the jealousy of the other ghosts. He warns her, however, that she will go to "where you think you belong." She agrees, but soon regrets this as she is being dragged into Hell.

Following this he returns to the gangster to inform him of his daughter's death, neglecting to mention where she actually ended up, and winds up with the criminal in his debt. John capitalizes on this soon enough when he goes to a mega-casino owned by the gangster and rides a synchronicity wave of gambling, and ends up owning the establishment. The reason he did this was that the casino was in the same building that had once housed The Ravenscar Secure facility for the Dangerously Deranged, the mental hospital he had been confined to after Newcastle. John fires the entire lot of the employees and begins a summoning. At first it appears as though it is too much for him and that he will be overtaken by the images of the ones he has hurt, but the being turns into the form of a baby. This baby, who is the sum of all his guilt and self-hatred, is then promptly thrown off a cliff and into the sea.

After killing the creature, Constantine is now free, and becomes even a bit more cocky and picks back up his earlier style from the beginning of his book and his appearances from Swamp Thing: a double-breasted blue suit underneath his trench coat, and slicked-back gelled hair.

Later on, a Sudanese shaman who had first bound the hunger demon Mnemoth (Hellblazer #2) has been having dreams of Constantine and a war-mage named Mako who is coming to kill him and devour his being. The reason that Constantine is a specific target of the war-mage is because he is "The Laughing Magician" who is also known as "The Constant One." Mako wants to devour him so he can absorb that power and have his being made a fixture of the universe. To counter this attack to come the African magus puts a dream of his into a tree root, with Constantine's true nature in those dreams. After doing this a young man is sent as a messenger to find John and deliver the message. Constantine sends the root to a wealthy politician so as to throw Mako off of his scent. Mako then makes a deal with the politician who owns a mirror that looks into Hell, Mako is allowed access to the mirror to increase his power, if he will convert an ornamental egg to hold his soul when he dies. But Constantine manages to create an image of the politician whilst Mako is in the egg, and sever his ties with the real world, Constantine then possesses the body of Mako, so that the politician will kill himself and be stuck in the egg for eternity with Mako. Constantine also uses the body of Mako to expose the dodgy dealings that the politician had performed.

Constantine later notices that something is wrong on the synchronicity lines and it seems that he is going head first against the traffic. Remembering that Mako mentioned Ravenscar when he found out about Constantine, he tries to summon his unborn brother, but instead is summoned to his brother. The soul of Constantine's brother tells John that he was not to be born and that it should have been he who had been born instead, as he is the Laughing Magician, he requests that he and John merge their souls so that they become one and can fix the world, they had previously attempted this but John was apparently too strong willed. John then makes the link that it was the soul of his unborn brother that caused him to get cancer and for his relationships to fail, and that anytime he tried to take control of his life, something bad would happen to make John weaker, so that the souls might be able to merge. After realizing this, John cuts the soul of his brother out of his own soul, so that he can control his life and live his way.

Other appearances[link]

John Constantine appears in an early issue of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. There in 1989, he helps Dream recover a pouch of sand which had served as one of Dream's totems of power. John had purchased the pouch during Dream's imprisonment and it had then been stolen from him by an ex-girlfriend. John and Dream find the woman using the sand as a drug and driven mad by it, and Dream recovers the pouch, granting the woman a peaceful death at John's request and promising to end the nightmares John had been having "ever since Newcastle".^[16] John's ancestor Lady Johanna Constantine also plays a significant role in storylines of The Sandman and an Elizabethan-era "Jack Constantine" is mentioned.

He briefly met Oliver Queen in a London pub, telling him to metion his name to the dark forces in Sherwood Forest, although Queen did not do this.^[17]

In another of Gaiman's comics, The Books of Magic, John is at hand to show the hero Timothy Hunter around the then-present day DC Comics Universe, along with Mister E, Doctor Occult and the Phantom Stranger. He later appears several times in both the monthly "Books of Magic" series and several mini and maxiseries featuring Timothy Hunter.^[18]

During a crossover, Constantine met Shade, The Changing Man during the Hotel Shade era, by Peter Milligan and Chris Bachalo.

Constantine also makes a small cameo in Vertigo's Lucifer. In issue #5 he is seen drinking at Lucifer Morningstar's bar Lux, among guests that seek an audience with Lucifer about the gateway to the void outside of creation. According to himself he's not there to propose a trade with Lucifer, only to take "a quick look at the field".^[19] Coincidentally, Lucifer Morningstar makes a cameo in Hellblazer Vol.1 #192. Lucifer writer Mike Carey wrote Hellblazer between issues 175-215.

Constantine is one of the few people aware of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and one of the few to have foreseen it. Although longtime allies Zatanna, the Phantom Stranger, and Swamp Thing are still either active or frequently referred to in the DCU's world of superheroics, the world of Hellblazer has become more realistic and no mention is made of John's interactions with superheroes, which include attending the funeral of Hal Jordan uninvited, drinking with Doom Patrol member Mento, meeting Batman, attending the opening of Guy Gardner's Green Lantern theme bar, helping an incarnation of the Challengers of the Unknown save London from one of the Millennium Giants and, in his own comic, playing host to a stoned Zatanna at his fortieth birthday party. He does complain about superheroes not getting in trouble for collateral damage as he does at the beginning of The Fear Machine story arc.^[20]

Constantine was slated to be a main character of the aborted company-wide crossover Twilight of the Superheroes, however the project was ultimately shelved.

Alan Moore was written into issue #120 of Hellblazer by then-author Paul Jenkins. Moore is seen sitting in silhouette at the back of a bar as John Constantine (who is on a pub crawl with the reader) informs us of all that they have done together ('back before I was a player') and raises a drink to him; Moore, in response raises one back in the shadows. Constantine also made light of his previous encounters in real-life with Moore, mentioning that they had 'bumped into each other a few times'.^[21]

A man who looks suspiciously like John Constantine can be seen in a panel in Neil Gaiman's Batman: Secret Origins story "When is a Door". In it, a film crew is asking people on the street what they think of Gotham's super-villain problem, John is shown smoking a cigarette, responding "Sorry squire, I'm not from 'round here' make that "no comment."" Though it is not stated that this is Constantine, he has the same appearance, speaks in a decidedly British fashion, and this would not be the first cameo Gaiman has given him in a comic. The story was later reprinted as an extra in Gaiman's "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader".

While not seen in the JLU (Justice League Unlimited) comic books he was mentioned. He also rates a mention along with Swamp Thing as unavailable in The Spectre (vol. 2) #11 (a crossover with Millennium, to which he alluded in Swamp Thing, trying to get the latter to assist).

Constantine appeared in the pages of Justice League of America: Wedding Special, during the bachelor party of Green Arrow. He was walking behind Metamorpho during a conversation between Hal Jordan and John Stewart.

In the final issue of the Brightest Day series, Constantine appears on the last page, remarking "Bollocks" at news that a new Swamp Thing has appeared. Constantine starred in Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search For Swamp Thing, a three-issue mini-series that saw John interact with various DC superheroes during his pursuit of the new Swamp Thing.^[22] DC Co-Publisher Dan Didio stated that the John Constantine in the DC Universe will be closer to his original incarnation while Constantine in Vertigo's Hellblazer will continue unaffected.^[9]

In The New 52, Constantine appears as one of the lead characters in Justice League Dark.^[10]

After Swamp Thing's resurrection by the white lantern Constantine is shown looking over the bodies of the polluting executives Swamp thing has just killed.

Powers and abilities[link]

Unlike most comic book magicians, Constantine rarely uses magical spells, unless he has to, especially in combat. Constantine faces most of his challenges relying primarily on his cunning, his vast knowledge of the occult, manipulation of opponents and allies, and an extensive list of contacts.

Constantine's blood is demonically tainted, initially by a blood transfusion from the demon Nergal, and later by sex with a succubus. His blood has been shown to have healing properties. It also acted as a defense mechanism when attacked by the King of the Vampires (Hellblazer #69).

Although John has generally been shown to lose most fights against a superior combatant and generally avoids physical battles — he has been known to win fights, either by using a magical weapon (Hellblazer #217) or by fighting dirty (Hellblazer #42, #57 and the graphic novel All His Engines).

Some examples of Constantine's magic:

• Divination — Used a pendulum and map to find the location of a magical disturbance. (Hellblazer #4 and #182)
• Demon summoning — Summoned the demon Nergal to destroy a monster for him, which it did (although John lost control, due to his inexperience). (Hellblazer #11)
• Cursing — Placed a curse on his father that caused him to waste away. (Hellblazer #31)
• Spirit ward creation — Placed a magical sigil on a succubus named Chantinelle that prevented the forces of Heaven and Hell from tracking her. (Hellblazer #60). As well as using sigils to hide himself from Satan (graphic novel collection Rake At The Gates Of Hell) Also placed various sigils on an abandoned caravan that he housed himself in to hide himself from the demon Nergal. (Hellblazer #12)
• Golemancy — Raised a golem. (Hellblazer #167)
• Oclumancy — Erased a man's traumatic memories. (Hellblazer #217)
• Necromancy — Raised a group of murder victims as zombies to attack their murderer (Hellblazer #230) and raises a soulstorm that blows a hole in a wall and kills a weapons tester.
• Vivimancy  - Explained to his niece Gemma how to commune with his still living soul, after making himself braindead to avoid "The Beast" getting into his mind (Hellblazer hardback - Staring At The Wall).
• Illusion — Making people think he's someone or something else. Or using Illusion to scare susceptible opponents into catatonic insanity (graphic novel collection Hard Time)
• Synchronicity highway or synchronicity wave traveling — An instinctual supernatural ability to be in the right place at exactly the right time. This has led John to uncanny luck at games of chance, the ability to avoid harm and to meet the right kind of ally to help prevent or stop an apocalyptic event from happening (Jamie Delano's Hellblazer run).

Constantine has also exhibited considerable mastery in "stage magic skills" - hypnosis, sleight of hand and escapology.

He may also have many other more powerful abilities as he sold his soul to two demons who at the time were part of the trinity that ruled over all of hell. No one has yet mentioned what Constantine sold his soul for except that immortality was not it, as he killed himself shortly after as part of his plan to stay out of hell while dying of lung cancer by making it so that if he died the three would have to fight over him. He is also in perpetually good health and for a while was watched over closely by the three lords of hell. Since Lucifer quit and the Sandman captured Azazel though, this protection may have been removed or actively turned to attempts to kill him.

Other versions[link]

• The character of Jack Carter in Warren Ellis and John Cassaday's comic book series Planetary is an analogue of John Constantine;^[23][24] he fakes his death and turns into an analogue of Ellis' Spider Jerusalem, stating that with the Eighties over, it's "time to be someone else": this has been interpreted as Ellis criticising the Constantine character for being too tied to his origins as a reaction to eighties politics and stating that more modern characters have since taken on his mantle.^[23] Ellis had previously written several issues of Hellblazer, a run which ended when DC Comics refused to publish his story "Shoot" because it dealt with the sensitive subject of high school shootings (such as the Columbine High School massacre).

• Constance Johanssen, a blonde, chain-smoking British woman in a trenchcoat^[25] was also created by Ellis for his Pryde and Wisdom series for Marvel Comics. “Constance Johanssen. Excellent occult detective. Has a habit of getting her friends killed. Two hundred at last count.” ^[26]

• Grant Morrison originally wanted Constantine to become a supporting character in his Doom Patrol series, but DC's editorial policy at the time prevented Constantine from making extended appearances in superhero comics, for fear of spoiling the realism of Hellblazer. As a result, Morrison created the magus Willoughby Kipling.^[27] Like Constantine, he was a chain-smoking, trenchcoat-wearing cynic. Unlike Constantine, however, he was a lifetime alcoholic and looked rather like Richard E. Grant's character in Withnail & I^{[citation needed]}. It was revealed in Hellblazer #51 that he and Constantine have met, and he had a brief voice-over cameo in Warren Ellis' JLA: Classified story "New Maps of Hell".

• Neil Gaiman, a long-time friend and admirer of Alan Moore, created John Constantine's ancestor for his award winning series, The Sandman. Johanna Constantine, despite being more polite than her descendant, showed the same daring attitude. The crowning achievement of her career was transporting the severed Head of Orpheus from France to Greece. After a deal with the Mad Hettie, who John himself had made contact with several times, she died at the age of 99, despising her immediate family and was buried somewhere near the temple where she had left Orpheus. The Two Constantines have met on at least one occasion.

• Ambroise Bierce is the name of a character intended to be John Constantine in Phil Foglio's Stanley and His Monster limited series, but changed at the last minute due to editorial policy. Gregori Eilovotich Rasputin played a similar role for Firestorm and Captain Atom that Constantine did for Swamp Thing, while Hellblazer! was a Jack Kirby-style reinterpretation of the character who appeared in Doom Patrol and The Books of Magic.^[28]

• A Mite version of John Constantine appeared in Batman: Mitefall.

• According to actor Misha Collins, the wardrobe of the character Castiel on the TV show Supernatural is based on that of John Constantine.^[29]

Also, the song Stranger in the Mirror by Ookla the Mok is written from Constantine's point of view, including a lyrical reference to 'the Newcastle incident'.^[30]

In real life[link]

Alan Moore claims to have met his creation on two occasions. In 1993, he told Wizard Magazine^{[citation needed]}:

"One day, I was in Westminster in London—this was after we had introduced the character—and I was sitting in a sandwich bar. All of a sudden, up the stairs came John Constantine. He was wearing the trenchcoat, a short cut—he looked—no, he didn't even look exactly like Sting. He looked exactly like John Constantine. He looked at me, stared me straight in the eyes, smiled, nodded almost conspiratorially, and then just walked off around the corner to the other part of the snack bar.

"I sat there and thought, should I go around that corner and see if he is really there, or should I just eat my sandwich and leave? I opted for the latter; I thought it was the safest. I'm not making any claims to anything. I'm just saying that it happened. Strange little story."

His second meeting with his creation was illustrated in 2001's Snakes and Ladders, an adaptation by Eddie Campbell of one of Moore's performance art pieces:

"Years later, in another place, he steps out of the dark and speaks to me. He whispers: 'I'll tell you the ultimate secret of magic. Any cunt could do it.'"

They met a third time in fiction, when Moore was written into issue 120 of Hellblazer by then-author Paul Jenkins. Moore is seen sitting in silhouette at the back of a bar as John Constantine (who is on a pub crawl with the reader) raises a drink to him.

In other media[link]

Film[link]

• John Constantine was portrayed by Keanu Reeves in the 2005 film Constantine. The film used some elements from Garth Ennis' "Dangerous Habits" story arc (issues #41-46)^[31] and others — such as the inclusion of Papa Midnite — from the "Original Sins" trade paperback.^[32] However, the film changed several aspects of the source material, including a number of cosmetic changes to the lead character: Reeves played the role with his natural accent and hair colour and basing him in Los Angeles, although the director pointed out that the comic book was not exclusively set in London either.^[33] Other differences to the character were made, for example giving him a psychic ability to see "half breeds" as they truly are - a curse that caused him to attempt suicide which in turn damned him to Hell. He was also given the ability of angelmancy as he manages to use the two magical glyphs (called "The Perfect Red King" from Eugenius Philalethes's "The Speculum Veritatis") on his arms to combine to summon the half breed Gabriel to his location to help or communicate with him. Unlike the comic version, Constantine's exorcism tools are primarily based on Christian relics rather than generic supernatural items; the novelisation expanded on this by explaining that, as Constantine comes from a Christian culture, he has a greater natural understanding of the power of Christian relics that makes it easier for him to use them. Constantine's exorcisms as a consequence are motivated by a desire to redeem himself, yet they are constantly doomed to fail as everything he has done has fundamentally been for his own benefit rather than for the selfless betterment of others. The resolution of the lung cancer plotline in the film was also amended, with Lucifer saving the redeemed Constantine to give him a second chance at failing after Constantine willingly sacrificed a chance to save his own life to ask Satan to send the innocent Isabel Dodson to Heaven after she committed suicide to prevent herself being used as a host for a demonic incursion, this selfless deed allowing Constantine to regain his place in Heaven.^[34]

Novels[link]

• The novel Hellblazer: War Lord by John Shirley (author of the novelisation of the movie) features Constantine talking about "another John Constantine in an alternate universe, [who] has black hair and lives most of his life in Los Angeles" whilst giving a brief summary of the movie's plot.^[35]

Toys[link]

• DC Direct created a toy of John which is more related to his comic book appearance.

Awards[link]

• 1986: Won "Favourite Supporting Character" Eagle Award
• 1987: Won "Favourite Supporting Character" Eagle Award
• 2005: John Constantine was named the third greatest comic book character by the magazine Empire.^[36]

See also[link]

• List of Hellblazer publications

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Hellblazer

• Qusoor: Hellblazer Index
• Roots of the Swamp Thing: Swamp Thing Timeline
• Hellblazer Trade Index
• Qusoor: Alan Moore interview - The Sting connection
• Box Office Mojo: Constantine Film box office