Hellblazer is a comic book series published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, which features the misadventures of John Constantine. It is ongoing since the 1980s.
The character John Constantine was originally created by Alan Moore, and first appeared in the horror series Swamp Thing. When he first appears, John Constantine is a trenchcoated sorcerer with a tendency to get on people's nerves, and who also happens to be the spitting image of the musician Sting, specifically as he appeared in the movie Quadrophenia. In fact, he was created specifically because artists Stephen R. Bissette and John Totleben , who were fans of The Police, wanted to draw a character who looked like Sting, and were already drawing background characters in his likeness. In one Swamp Thing story this is acknowledged when Constantine is observed to be rowing a boat named The Honorable Gordon Sumner, Sting's real name.
The character was given his own comic book, Hellblazer, in 1988, which was initially written by Jamie Delano and illustrated by John Ridgway , who had previously worked on the UK titles Doctor Who Monthly, Warrior and 2000 AD. The front covers of the early issues usually featured striking semi-collage designs by artist Dave McKean. Others who have worked on the series include writers Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis, and Brian Azzarello and artists Mark Buckingham and Steve Dillon.
Hellblazer is a decidedly dark comic book, its main character often seen doing morally questionable things while tricking his way through a modern world with a lot of magic and supernatural conflict going on behind the scenes. While sometimes clearly heroic, Constantine is more often than not merely fighting for his survival and usually making more enemies in the process. He is also highly manipulative, and has frequently sacrificed the lives and souls of others around him in order to achieve his ends. Many of these individuals haunt him, and he frequently finds himself being followed around by an ever increasing entourage of ghostly figures.
Constantine has been featured in several other comic book titles, such as The Sandman and The Books of Magic.
An Americanized Hellblazer movie, titled Constantine, was released in 2005.
John Constantine
John was born in Liverpool on the 10th of May, 1953. His mother, Mary Anne Constantine, died in childbirth, and his father, Thomas, appears to have resented John for this. John appears to have strangled his twin in the womb.
Before he was ten, John and his older sister Cheryl, go to Northampton to be cared for by their Aunt Dolly and Uncle Harry because of Thomas' excessive drinking and prison spell.
After seeing the Sex Pistols at Roxy Club in London in 1977, John forms his own band, Mucous Membrane.
External link
- Straight To Hell - large fan site with summaries of many issues
- The Sting connection - collection of excerpts from a Musician magazine article and an interview with Alan Moore that discusses the ideas behind the creation of John Constantine.
