Hellblazer
John Constantine, Hellblazer is an American contemporary horror comic-book series published by DC Comics since January 1988, and subsequently by its Vertigo imprint since March 1993, when the imprint was introduced. Its central character is the streetwise English sorcerer and con man John Constantine, who was created by Alan Moore and Stephen R. Bissette, and first appeared as a supporting character in Swamp Thing #37, during that creative team's run on that title. Hellblazer was released as launch title for Vertigo in March 1993, becoming the imprint's longest-running series and the only launch title to continue its run into the new century. In 2013, the series concluded with issue 300, and was replaced by Constantine, which returned the character to the mainstream DC Universe. The original series was revived in November 2019 for twenty-four issues as part of The Sandman Universe line of comics, under the DC Black Label brand. Well known for its extremely pessimistic tone and social/political commentary, the series has spawned a film adaptation, television show, novels, and multiple spin-offs and crossovers.
The series was the longest-running and one of the most successful titles of DC's Vertigo imprint, and was the stepping stone for many British writers. Notable writers who have contributed to the series include Jamie Delano, Garth Ennis, Eddie Campbell, Paul Jenkins, Warren Ellis, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Brian Azzarello, Mike Carey, Denise Mina, Andy Diggle, and Peter Milligan. Hellblazer was one of the first modern occult detective fiction works and heavily influenced the genre to come.
Production history
After favorable reader reaction to John Constantine's appearances in the comic-book series Swamp Thing, where he had been introduced by writer Alan Moore, the character was given his own comic-book series in 1988. 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. Initial writer Jamie Delano was, in his own words, "fairly ambivalent" about the change of title.The initial creative team was 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." The book, originally published as a regular DC Comics title, became a Vertigo title with the imprint's launch in March 1993. 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.
Creative personnel
Many writers after Delano's foundational run had lengthy runs on the series, such as Garth Ennis and Mike Carey, who respectively had the second- and third-longest runs on the book. Other writers who wrote for the series include Paul Jenkins, Warren Ellis, Brian Azzarello, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Denise Mina, and Andy Diggle.Numerous artists worked on the series, as well, such as John Ridgway, Simon Bisley, Mark Buckingham, Richard Corben, Steve Dillon, Marcelo Frusin, Jock, David Lloyd, Leonardo Manco, and Sean Phillips. Cover artists included Dave McKean, Tim Bradstreet, Glenn Fabry, Kent Williams, David Lloyd, and Sean Phillips.
In the comics
Setting and protagonist
Hellblazer was set in a contemporary world, albeit a world of magic and supernatural conflict behind the scenes. Although the official setting of the series was the DC Universe, well-known DC characters were rarely seen or mentioned. Some DC Comics charactersmost notably the fringe supernatural characters such as Zatanna, the Phantom Stranger, Shade, the Changing Man, Dream of the Endless, and the Swamp Thingmade appearances.John Constantine, the main character of Hellblazer, was portrayed as a kind of confidence man and occult detective who did morally questionable things, arguably for the greater good. He usually triumphed through guile, deceit, and misdirection, but often made more enemies in the process than he defeated. Indeed, it was a common theme in the book that Constantine was unable to effect any lasting change or enjoy unequivocal victories. While sometimes striving for the good of mankind, Constantine was often manipulative and a dangerous person to have as a friend, as the lives and souls of those around him became perilously involved in his misadventures. He took pains to protect himself from direct attacks, but his friends and relatives were often endangered in order to strike at him. The spirits of deceased friends haunted him, individually or as an entourage of ghosts.
Constantine 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. Grant Morrison created Willoughby Kipling for Doom Patrol after being refused Constantine by DC, changing his appearance to that of Richard E. Grant in Withnail and I, following which Phil Foglio was forced to create "Ambroise Bierce" in Stanley and His Monster, having been refused both Constantine and Kipling.
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.
1988–1991
Jamie Delano (#1–24, #28–40, #84, #250)
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 -90s 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", 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 Thatcher was forced out of office.Five main storylines were in the run. The first, collected as "Original Sins", deals with John travelling to America to exorcise a demon, Mnemoth, and investigate cult Damnation's Army, crossing paths with a demon called Nergal, and having to be responsible for killing an old friend, Gary Lester, and betraying another friend, called Zed, in the process. The following four issues, "The Devil You Know" 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 haunted him to the comic's end. 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", revolving around a masonic plot to collect people's fears, to raise a dormant god 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", which differed from the main body of the series thus far in that Constantine's nemesis is not supernatural, 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 and Neil Gaiman both filled in during a three-month break, with Morrison's story dealing with nuclear fear, and Neil Gaiman's being a ghost story about homelessness.
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 what would have occurred had the other twin survived in his place is revealed. During his run, there was also a stand-alone issue, Hellblazer Annual #1, exploring Constantine's ancestry, and featuring the video to John's punk band, Mucous Membrane's song .
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 miniseries 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.
1991–1995
Garth Ennis (#41–50, #52–83, #129–133)
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 second-longest run for any writer on the title. 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", 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, and later becomes reacquainted with Kit Ryan, an old friend of Irish origin. 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 was written by guest writer John Smith.
The next major arc, "Fear and Loathing", covers a high point of John's personal life, with his relationship with Kit going well, and a 40th 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. 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. Following his recovery, the storyline "Damnation's Flame" 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 John F. Kennedy,. 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. Ennis' run ends with "Rake at the Gates of Hell", a story which finally brings together the racism storyline, with riots in Mile End; 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 Pyrrhic victory leaves this run with closure, and a relatively clean slate for a new writer to take over.
Ennis briefly returned to the title in 1998 with "Son of Man", filling the gaps between Paul Jenkins's and Warren Ellis's 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. 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.