John Constantine – An Introduction

 

So since I be will talking a lot about him and his comic series on this blog, I thought it would be good to give you my readers an introduction to John Constantine and the Hellblazer comic, so that you can have a basic understanding of what I’m talking about.

  

So who is John Constantine?

Well, John Constantine (that’s pronounced tine not teen, take note from the man himself above) is a Scouse (that’s a person from Liverpool for the non English readers) working-class magician, occult detective, and con man, who is usually found living in London. He has very cynical outlook on life and for the most part he is an incredibly selfish man, doing what it takes to save his own skin in the many dangerous of situations he gets himself into which often results in the deaths of those around; friend and foe alike.                                                      

Despite all this he is a humanist, and feels strongly about doing at least some good in life to atone for the numerous mistakes he frequently has when trying to deal with a situation. A key part of his character is that he is haunted (both figuratively and literally) by the dangerous mistakes and ghost of the many friends and allies whose deaths he had caused. Constantine very rarely has any happiness in his life as anything that he comes into contact with results in death and misery.

But it’s not all depressing and no fun for Constantine. He is known for his dark deadpan humour, sarcasm and his incredible cunning intelligence; which he uses cleverly to get out of many situations. he also usually seen in his trademark trench coat and always chain smoking a Silk-Cut cigarette (His favourite brand.) An interesting bonus fact about Constantine is that he was one of only a few comic book characters who aged in real time, being 34 when the Hellblazer comic started, and nearing his 60th in the last few issues.

There still so much more to Constantine’s character to talk about, most of which I’ll discuss in future reviews of issues.

So where does Constantine originate from?

John Constantine as we know him first appeared in June 19835 Swamp Thing #37. He acted as a kind of supernatural adviser the titular Swamp Thing and became a supporting character until he appeared in his own ongoing comic 'John Constantine: Hellblazer' (Or simply 'Hellblazer') in January 1988.

The character of John Constantine was created by Stephen R. Bissettee, Jamie Delano and comic legend Alan Moore, with much of his appearance based on the singer Sting.

For the most part, John Constantine: Hellblazer was part of DC comics Vertigo publication.

Vertigo was originally created to allow the comics to have more graphic content than main DC titles. This also meant that their age-restricted titles were free to contain explicit contents of violence, substance abuse, sexuality, nudity, profanity, and other controversial subject matter.

'John Constantine: Hellblazer' ran for 300 issues from January 1988 to April 2013. It was Vertigo's most popular and longest running comic. It was cancelled and finished with issue 300 to make way for DC's 'New 52' reboot, replacing Hellblazer with 'Constantine' which featured a younger and toned down John Constantine. The cancellation and reboot was met with dismay and negative opinions from both fans and people with the comic business.

Ok, ok, so why are you so obsessed with John Constantine: Hellblazer?

Well, I wouldn't say 'obsessed'. 'Passionate' is the word I think would be more appropriate.

For starters, John Constantine is one of few English comic characters who doesn't insult your intelligence, he is usually well written characterised and ultimately becomes a believable person.

Also unlike other 'English' characters in comics (you can also possibly include most media), he isn't your stereotypical englishman and doesn't fall into the horrific Dick-van-Dyke territory.

I also chose to collect all 300 issue of Constantine just so I can say I have a complete run of a comic series; but mainly it was to see what sort of context and history the writers wrote about in the comics and how the coimcs, the stories and John Constantine himself are reflected and affected by the times it was written in.

Most of all though I find him interesting, and the stories on-the-whole are well written and thought provoking. The Hellblazer comic itself also showcased the talent of some great British writers and artists, with nearly all the issues being written by British writers (some stories were written by a couple of non-British writers, but they will be discussed when I get round to reviewing their issues.)

So overall I hope you people out there reading my blog will stick around as there are many great Hellblazer stories coming up which I will review and analyse as well as seeing the character growth of John Constantine.