#hellblazer original run

[dramamccringe]

[mutalieju]

tbh garth ennis did not focus on john's relationships with kids which is probably the weakest aspect of ennis's characterization of john. Of course even he writes john's relationship with gemma well.

With the way even being reminded of astra is obviously massively traumatic to john a charitable reading would be that john is just avoiding it all but it's just true that children as a rule are conspicuously absent as characters in his run over all.

(There is of course 'son of man' aka the later arc he pops in to write which infamously has a two-page rant by john about how much he hates kids but you do really need to consider how you want to engage with that considering the overall story and the levels of irony and unreliable narration the story is working on.)

[transmothofaman]

Something something pathetic asshole something something

(Feel free to like and reblog but don’t repost please)

[jesncin]

Re: the whole Si Spurrier Bi/Pan Johnstantine debacle thing

For context, Spurrier (the writer of the current Hellblazer run) explicitly had John self identify as pansexual in narration despite John being canonically bisexual. The cover of the issue (I believe this was the artist's intention, but can't confirm) also evoked the bi flag colors in its colorscheme. When asked about this on twidder, Spurrier doubled down (paraphrasing: "John shouldn't have any queer label, he's bad representation"), deleted tweets, and just left fans in a mess.

My tldr take: John Constantine is bisexual. Spurrier didn't and doesn't know the difference between bi and pan, mixed them up and spouted respectability nonsense to cover himself. He's an old man who doesn't fyuck with gay people, simply. I don't think he has deep seated hatred for the bi community or anything. He made a mistake (still a bad one) and didn't apologize for it. Shame this is the author spearheading such a prominent queer character.

The long take:

I see a lot of people bringing up modern media that reaffirms John's bisexuality but I believe it's important to look at the historical context.

John Constantine in his original Vertigo Hellblazer run was an inherently counter-culture character. A working class guy growing up in the punk scene, aligning himself with queer people, explicitly ACAB, a rebuttal to the classic Superhero tropes, etc. It's only fitting that Constantine's bisexuality was revealed in a similarly counter-culture manner. Under guest writer John Smith (and artist Sean Phillips and colorist Tom Zuiko), John just casually mentions having "the odd boyfriend" in passing narration about his struggles with commitment. This may not seem like a big deal with today's standards, but it's important to recognize that this issue came out in 1992. Hellblazer already had a handful of queer characters at this point and suddenly after years of queer coding, the main character just reveals his bisexuality in passing.

So that's the historical context in our comics world, how about within the canon of Hellblazer? Well, John was born in 1953 in Liverpool, meaning he was a teen in the 60s, formed and toured with Mucous Membrane all over the UK but mostly London during the 70s (as a young man in his 20s). When we cross reference that with what's going on in the UK queer scene at this time, it's no wonder why John is presumed to be bisexual.

[From Stonewall UK]

In the same article, Stonewall mentions that the term "pansexual" became popular in the 90s. While this aligns with when issue #51 reveals Constantine's "odd boyfriend" comment, it's clear that the term "bisexual" would be the term Constantine grew up with during his formative years. While this distinction might seem unnecessary or even arbitrary to some people, these identities do matter in their nuance and historical context. Identities and histories are not interchangeable after all. With all this context in mind, to me, John Constantine will always be bisexual.

To Spurrier's comment on "John Constantine shouldn't have any label anyway, he's bad representation/role model for any identity" (paraphrasing, I know he probably said this in a defensive moment since if he truly believed this then he wouldn't have explicitly had Constantine refer to himself as pansexual in Dead in America #7), I think using respectability in defense of a character as counter-culture as Constantine is a demonstrable example of Missing The Dang Point.

[from Nerdist article written by Jules Greene]

Spurrier, the gays like John Constantine especially in his og Hellblazer run because he wasn't a walking Pride ad. We like that he's a mess. We like that he's working class. We like that he's messed up and painfully human. If you don't understand that about Constantine, then you fundamentally misunderstand why people find him so appealing to begin with.

[f4nd0m-fun]

I keep coming up with cryptid!Batfam ideas, and @hallowsden is a very helpful coconspirator.

This is the Hell-touched AU

Constantine paused as the figure coalesced into a human shape, though his magic sight was privy to the multitude of eyes and shadows that stretched as far as he could see. "Bloody hell," he muttered, pulling out a cigarette, only to pause as several eyes bore into him, shadows slinking over, refusing to let him light the smoke.

"Perhaps I should have brought the swear jar." While the voice seemed normal at its most audible point, there was echoes and screeches buried beneath the words.

Before John could finish processing the jar comment, Batman stepped fourth and spoke in some language not of earth.

Constantine may have been magically versed in many languages but even he could only catch a few words, one of which angled somewhere towards 'caregiver'.

"Bats?"

"Not now, Clark." Part of his words dipped into the incomprehensible tongue, almost an overlay before he cleared his throat. "An issue has come up in Gotham, I am needed."

Gotham... somewhere the hellblazer refused to step foot in, the land reeking of sulfur and rotting magic, the air stagnant with pain and hopelessness, a city chained by greed and insanity.

The monstrosity's form layered over itself and Batman, before the two were gone with hardly a sound, no hint but the lingering scent and magic showcasing that they had ever stood in the room.

John shuddered and finally lit his cigarette. "Bloody Gothamites, the whole lot is cursed."

In this AU, Gotham is a part of hell, whether it was originally so and rose to the mortal realm, or because of the demon chained to its land - Lady Gotham. Whatever the reason, curses run rampant, and Lady was already weakened by being forced into the mortal realm. Because of this, she cannot do much, but nearly everyone in Gotham is demon-touched in some manner, but some also have inklings of being angrl-touched, some more than others.

The Waynes and Kanes are among the most hell-touched due to their long lineage in Gotham, but there are those Gotham tries to welcome with open arms and, in doing so, warps them to be more demonic than they should be as a newcomer. This does not always turn out well, as the chains on her limit her control

Some who are hell-touched have demonic traits, usually very minor and easy enough to excuse as meta traits if anyone ever asks. Others have much stronger traits, and there's the lucky ones who can morph their form, though they will never fully lose the traits of their demon-blood.

----------

Alfred seems the epitome of a normal butler from the outside, until you realize how unflappable he was towards Gotham's chaos, or hear his tales of being a veteran in years long gone. Perhaps he's yet another demon, right? But no, not even that fits him. And perhaps you'll never be privy to the full truth, but the Waynes and Gotham herself know. Alfred is no mere demon, he is eldritch, from before the world was even a speck in the Creator's eye. And while the children are physically fighting for Gotham, he is there for them, but he is also there for Gotham, spiritually untangling what he can from her.

Bruce Wayne's appearance doesn't seem to relay his ancestry as much as one might think, but his fangs and claws are clear for any to see, as well a his piercing blue eyes, glowing life sulfur flames amidst a backdrop of black sclera. Batman, on the other hand, has stiffly curving horns arcing over his head, leathery bat wings and a sturdy tail, with digitigrade legs and talons, perfect for scaring enemies or for carrying what appears to be his young.

Dick Grayson was never truly one of Gotham's. She certainly granted him care and consideration and treated him as kindly as her curses would let her, but he was never able to accept more than the slightest blessings, if they could be considered as such. He never learned to fly like Batman did, but he became faster and stronger, his only visible demonic traits being nails and teeth slightly sharpened. Even so, he put forth as much effort as the rest of the colony, doing his utmost to help anyone he could.

Barbara may have lost her ability to walk, but that doesn't mean she's defenseless. She still has her claws and horns, and a unique affinity for technology that she's worked hard to hone after what happened to her.

Jason Todd had wings too small for much more than gliding, but his autumn rich curls hid the beginnings of majestic horns, his pale blue eyes shining with a hope few in Gotham could muster. But Robin had augments to his wings, enabling short flight to follow his mentor, at least until his grounding. Gotham could not let go of him for long, and dragged him back herself, but failed to do so completely, watching him be whisked away by Talia. Red Hood never regained his wings, not fully, more bone than flesh, what few feathers left struggling not to fall off. Pain arcs through his body from time to time, but he has a duty to Gotham and her people, one he would willingly choose any day. As for his pit rage, it is the equivalent of eating something you cannot process, as his system already had its fill of demonic energy from Gotham.

Tim Drake was born in Gotham, but his family's adventures dragged him throughout the world until the tender preteens. Before that only, he had been loosely tutored on the travels, but now his parents had deemed public school of importance, and also thought he could help organize their collections when he was not learning. One night, while cleaning up a gallery, he found an artifact he apparently had not put away yet, a statue that Catwoman would find quite fascinating. Upon interacting with it, pain ricocheted through him. When it finally stopped, his form had been twisted. For anyone else the statue would have merely given one the abilities of a cat, perhaps a curse to go with them, but his supernatural features were malleable enough for the power to take advantage of, turning him into a human feline. Eventually, he went to join Batman as Stray, knowing he needed a Robin but not wishing to take the name on himself. Many rogues seemed to think him a child of Batman and Catwoman, and they oft went uncorrected. He likes to perch on his family.

Cassandra is demon-touched primarily through the league and proximity to the pits, but nothing strong enough to truly take root until Gotham welcomed her to her new home. While her features are limited to black sclera and not much else, she is strongest in the ability department, able to literally move through shadows and hide in them at will, though she cannot speak while doing so and it can be hard watching for a shadow signing. Due to her past and being hell-touched, she is a bit stronger than Dick, though not as physically strong as those who grew up in Gotham.

Duke is more angel-touched than the others are, resulting in the enhanced strength of his light abilities and visions. That doesn't mean there isn't demon in him though, it just showcases itself more quietly.

Stephanie may very well have the sharpest claws and fangs of the family, but her razor wit is one of her best attacks depending on who you ask. Her and Cass sometimes seem joined at the hip, and, while their styles are somewhat opposite, they work quite well together.

Damien was created with the blood of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul, grown in a Lazarus Womb. He looks like a tiefling, with skin dark like Talia but tinted the slightest bit red like his father, burning green eyes like Talia but black sclera like Bruce, and the very same Wayne horns and talons that dominate the generations. He does not have wings and it seems unlikely he will ever have them, but that does not stop him in his tracks.

[mucousnnembrane]

saw his on pinterest and just had to post it here as i thought it was so fascinating.

from what i can tell this is a page that would have been in other DC/Vertigo comics to promote the dangerous habits arc in the original hellblazer run!

[leona-florianova]

I need China Miéville to write more Hellblazer stories, because that short one in the christmas special of original Vertigo run (250) wasnt enough .. like..Miéville had John figured out and his way of writing urban fantasy would work perfectly.

Perfect.

(*tho it would be so much better if it wasnt colored by Jamie Grant n Stefano Landini.. why would you do this to lineart like this...its so painful to look at..)

[subsequentibis]

i understand why they made the changes to cassidy's backstory in the preacher tv show, and for the most part i'm on board with a lot of the changes to his character in general - my impression is that his original storyline was kind of influenced by ennis's run on hellblazer and getting sick of the constantine character who would use his friends up, get them killed, and get to keep going being beloved by fans because comics just Go in perpetuity like that - because the original storyline really lays into addicts and people who relapse, it's shockingly unsympathetic and hard to swallow at least for me. so while i like a lot of his story changes overall, making him a more sympathetic character it's easier to root for, still keeping a manipulative, lying edge to him but with more nuance to it, i can't say i'm too fond of the change for him pre-vampiring from idiot younger brother being dragged around by protective older brother to putting him in that older brother figure sort of role. as much as i think it tracks with the story they're telling i find that it sort of flattens his character out or makes it a bit more generic. i miss when he used to be a little twit.

[doomedwarlock]

#DOOMEDWARLOCK: " I'm a nasty piece of work , chief . Ask anybody . "

Lev's non selective JOHN CONSTANTINE from Vertigo Comics, DC Comics and the Sandman Universe. Exclusively comic influenced.

promo template - character playlist

RULES & INFO UNDER THE CUT -

RULES -

Basic etiquette is expected: no godmodding, ic is not ooc, etc.

I don't consider all of hellblazer canon to my portrayal, I might make a list at some point, but most notably I am choosing to ignore Brian Azzarello's Hellblazer and the final 50 issues of the original Hellblazer. Also Hellblazer: Rebirth and any comic that takes place in a different universe. If you wish to rp with specific versions of John (like DKoS or Injustice verse) feel free to come plot!

A giant quest onto itself- I haven't consumed every media John has appeared in. For reference I have read/watched (in no particular order):

the entire original Hellblazer run and its special

Constantine: The Hellblazer

Hellblazer: City of Demons

Hellblazer: All His Engines

Hellblazer: Chas the Knowledge

sandman #3

Swamp Thing 1982

The Horrorist

That one action comics issue he appeared in

Sandman Universe: Hellblazer,

Hellblazer: Dead in America

Hellblazer: Rise and Fall

The Trenchcoat Brigade

Dark Knights of Steel

injustice year 3

Batman: Urban Legends

Batman: Damned

Zatanna and the Ripper

Spirit World

both dark justice league movies

Pre established connections and plotting is encouraged. Especially if your muse is from DC or the Sandman universe.

Hellblazer is a british political satire horror comic about a queer man in the 80s, this means trigger warnings for canon typical gore, a general pessimism about the world, politics and Britishness. Smoking and alcohol abuse will also be present. I will tag these triggers and any other common ones that may arise.

if you decide to unfollow me please (soft)block me

rp memes are the best way to start interacting with me, they are always accepted no matter how long ago I reblogged it.

INFO -

A foul-mouthed, disillusioned, chain smoking British cinic, John Constantine has had an affinity for magic since his youth. After running away from home as a teenager after a botched curse caused his father to become withered and frail, John eventually made his home in London. Quickly becoming involved in the city's occult circles. From there he made a name for himself for being a powerful sorcerer, one who can solve most problems with only his wit, but also a weirdness magnet. Becoming inevitably linked with forces truly out of his depth.

Though John's age varies across media, for simplicity's sake I will keep it at 43. His usual stomping ground is London, but he travels around very often for various reasons so he can easily be put wherever he needs to be. He's a very easy character to add to other universes (just ask DC).

He is also a relentless flirt, please don't mistake this as me trying to force a ship. If you / your character don't like his advances, feel free to let me / him know ic / ooc. Characters under 25 are too young for him.

Mun is 23 and Belgian

[ratblazer]

What do you think of spurriers original run out of curiosity? Like the sandman universe volumes

Aughh it's so good! I got into hellblazer JUST after this run got cancelled which pained me so, but it'd such a good read. And I absolutely adore the artwork, it's been so inspiring as I've figured out my own way of drawing John

[dramamccringe]

[based-bobcat]

Canonicity is a fickle thing. Especially for something as comic books.

If you pick anything other than option A, please put in the tags what writers/runs/books you don't consider to be canon. Especially if you consider writers from the original run to be non!Canon.

Most of the people I talk about Hellblazer with share the same general opinion, but I'd still like to know :)

Please reblog after voting for a wider audience and go nuts in comments or tags!

[zahri-melitor]

I realise this is not going to be a huge shock to those of you who remember that I originally went into my n52 read at "I am touching the MINIMUM POSSIBLE TITLES to get through this" and know the outcome...

but I just ran through the n52 list and marked off all the titles I am actually interested in trying out or looking at further when I want to try something different or I get there in my read and it's...substantial.

Animal Man

Aquaman

Aquaman and the Others

Batman: The Dark Knight (I will give it ONE MORE CHANCE)

Blackhawks

Catwoman

Demon Knights (tragically quite excited for this one even if n52 Nimue is not my favourite depiction of Nimue)

Green Arrow

Justice League Dark (gonna try again)

Swamp Thing (vol 5)

Swamp Thing (vol 6)

Wonder Woman

Talon (I will try again)

Team 7 (apparently I enjoy hating myself)

Constantine

Constantine: The Hellblazer

The Movement

Secret Six

Doctor Fate

Martian Manhunter

Superman: American Alien

Superman: Lois and Clark

...At least it's fewer than the 26 whole runs in n52 I have already read?

[jesncin]

making john a twin is so big brained

Thank you, but John being a twin wasn't originally my idea! Johnstantine is a twin in canon (in the original Hellblazer series, during Jamie Delano's run), I'm just playing into what I consider are missed opportunities narratively (informed by personal life experience)! Constantine's what the twin community calls a twinless twin or surviving twin.

[smashpages]

Out this week: Swamp Thing by Rick Veitch, Book One: Wild Things (DC, $29.99): Oh, now this is both interesting and welcome — DC begins to collect Rick Veitch’s run on Swamp Thing, which ended in controversial fashion. This first volume features the beginning of his run, from issue #65 through #73, as well as the issues of Hellblazer that crossed over around that time by Jamie Delano and John Ridgway. It also includes a story from Secret Origin #23 that Veitch wrote featuring the Floronic Man, with art by Brett Irwin.

The question I have, though, is whether we’ll see a second volume — and if that volume will include the version of Swamp Thing #88 that Veitch wrote and Michael Zulli drew, that featured Swamp Thing meeting Jesus Christ. The controversial issue was completed but never published, and Veitch quit the title as a result. Which is too bad, because it was part of a bigger time travel epic that Veitch never got to finish.

See what other comics and graphic novels are arriving in stores this week.

[hbosscreations]

Fixing Hellblazer: Dead in America

Apparently I'm not doing being negative today, so I'm going to channel my bullshit into fixing things.

Let me tell you a bit about me. I love bad horror movies. I LOVE horror movies that aren't great, but you can see how they COULD be great under different circumstances. My favorite thing to do for years was take a movie that wasn't good and think about what needed to be done to fix it.

Dead in America actually has a pretty simple fix that would help with the rewrite. You'd have to rewrite the whole thing, this draft isn't salvagable, but if you really want to tell the story about American Racism, it's such an easy fix, I don't know why they didn't do it in the first place.

Make Noah Ikumelo the main character.

Seriously. That's the big change.

Maybe he's not the focal character for the entire 11 issue run, but have him be the perspective of at least one issue instead of the random racists that keep getting their stories told like we're supposed to care about them.

Issue 1: Flee

Tommy is dead, K-Mag is dead, they're on the run, and John says 'well, I've got friends in America who could help us out'.

Noah's scared, Nat's scared, John seems to have a plan. So, they're off to America with no money, no papers, nothing but the clothes on their backs.

It's okay at first, John's magic lets him manipulate people a bit, gets them through security checks and keeps them fed, but it's definitely not enough to keep them safe forever.

Noah has a bunch of exposition he gives about being black in the UK, about being disabled, about his feelings about his mother (being a cop, being in a coma, being weird about magic).

How he has always felt unheard until John came into the picture and saw him.

They're traveling, the fear starts to wear off, Noah realizes they've fled the country and his mother is alone.

Where's his gran? This is a point to show flashbacks. Maybe she's not mentally all there? Maybe Noah has been sleeping on John's couch. Maybe he's been learning magic during the months we don't see in the original run. Not a lot, John tells him that he likes that Noah's not really involved in this shit.

Until the murder dreams, when Noah starts getting a crash course in magic and hasn't had a chance to think about anything except John and his stupid plans.

The issue ends with them on the freight ship they stowed away on approaching the docks. They've arrived in port, and it's time to leave. John puts his hand on the double decker bus and reassures them both that he's got this. He's got a plan, and things are going to be okay.

He looks fondly at Noah, and Noah wonders if he can trust that face. Can he believe John?

He doesn't really have a choice, does he?

Issue 2: Where is everyone?

This issue is mostly from John's perspective and his narrating voice takes control again.

John reaches out to old contacts. They're gone. Dead or never existed in the first place. No capes and cowls in this universe. Just magic, divinity, and damnation.

They're fucked.

Meanwhile, Noah and Nat both realize that they're being treated differently than John is. Both have experienced different types of prejudice based on race, gender, disability, and now there's an extra layer of it. The American layer that the story really wants to talk about.

John gets a little, but it's pretty clear that people are generally cooler with a blond haired, blue eyed, white man with an accent than they are with Noah's lack of speaking and Nat's heavy Glaswegian accent.

There's a level of cruelty that makes being trapped in another country, unable to call anyone and tell them that you're alive, unable to know if your family is safe, unable to know if you were even a suspect in the crimes committed, extra fucky.

John's contacts he'd normally call are all of touch the easy way.

So, fine. If he can't call them, he'll go to their usual haunts and track them that way.

Hence, road trip.

This leads into the actual comic scene where John is in St. Augustine, Florida and talking to the statue.

You can still have the Girl Scout come and be cryptic and cruel, have John losing his shit over the fact that he's damned Noah to hell.

(Or we can include my favorite headcanon that Noah was supposed to be a tulpa designed to distract John. I don't know if it would work here, but a story about a kid literally designed to be a sponge for prejudice and cruelty might be a mirror this story about racism could play with. It would need a MUCH more competent writer than me and at least two sensitivity readers.)

Noah wants to pull over for a hitchhiker, they've got the space and he's kind, but John cautions him that America is VERY different from London. We learn that Noah has not traveled much outside of his home city if at all because of his mother's profession and then her coma, leaving him in the care of his gran, who lived on the estate and therefore didn't really have much in the ability or desire to go far.

The dream with Dream still happens, which gives us a nice connection to the previous story as well as John's whole...being dead thing. They're looking for the sand, they're looking for friendly faces, they're looking for magic in a world that John quickly realizes is GASPING and DYING.

Because the multiverse still got punched in the dick by Tim Hunter, and while this world hasn't been hit by him specifically, it's feeling some of the multiversal repercussions of an apocalypse that massive.

And John doesn't have the power to get them out of this while he's a corpse. The longer he rots, the weaker he gets.

Dream gives his orders. John agrees.

They wake up, Noah is being threatened by the cop because he's black and driving a bus. We don't make it about the cop being too stupid to know what a bus is this time, instead, we make it because the bus looks strange and 'why is a black boy driving a bus unless he stole it? obviously he's a thief and he's refusing to speak out of disrespect'.

That fucking sucks, but it also works more to the actual threat of racism in the US. The OTHERING. They're dangerous because they're OTHER. They're lesser because they're OTHER.

Nat keeps the cop's gun after he's frozen. She's freaked. Noah's freaked.

John calmly tells them the spell won't last forever and they need to drive. Nat goes to the wheel and we watch Noah sneak up to the upper level and cry.

John watches from the stairs until he's sure Noah is asleep. He doesn't know how to offer this particular kid comfort, how to offer to hold him without revealing his death or just being too attached.

We see him put his coat over the boy as a symbol of protection. He brushes a hand over Noah's head and asks Dream to look out for the kid.

"I know you're pissed at me and I don't really have the right to ask, but hasn't he had enough nightmares for now?"

Noah's dream about all the horrible things he's processing from the previous issue, the previous run, and that night melt into something more pleasant. Maybe the groundwork for him learning John is his father.

John is back with Nat as she's driving. She's angry. The conversation from the original issue can stay and be expanded on. John tries to comfort her, tries to ease the tension, and it eventually works.

She gets what he's doing, even if he's not doing a good job.

This is a Classic John Constantine who cares about other people but isn't necessarily good at showing it.

The sun starts to rise.

"Where the fuck are we going now? We're a target in this thing, John, and that cop's gonna call us in."

John reassures that they're fine and he's got a new plan.

Most of the hero types don't exist now, but that's fine. He's started to tap into the multiversal memories that he'd repressed in the 2019 issue, and he's pretty sure that he's got a friend who will exist in this universe, even if people like Zatanna and Superman don't.

After all, the Green is a multiversal constant.

This leads into the ending of the original issue 1, with the swamp being filled in and turned into a golf course.

And that ends issue 2.

I don't know if I want to invest energy into re-imagining the entire run, and I suspect that would require the run to be finished before I can properly fix anything except the opening. If you actually read this...sorry about the way it's written, this was all just thought to typing, so it has 0 polish.

I think this is a series that could have worked under different circumstances. I think there are elements here that are good, but this was clearly not written with any real oversight or a coherent story beforehand.

I would have loved for them to learn magic on the bus. Scenes of Nat and Noah picking up spells, Nat teaching Noah the proper way to throw a punch that won't fuck up his hands. Noah being REALLY good at making sure they all manage to eat properly (I am deeply invested in this child shoving oranges into people's hands because 'do you want scurvy?').

A scene of John teaching Nat sign language while Noah slept because he's already so isolated and they all need to take care of each other. Nat forcing John to drive, only for him to hit a car and immediately switch back to her driving. Nat reading a novel aloud to keep Noah awake while they drive at night.

Basically, we need to make them seem like they're actual people who actually spend all of their time trapped together.

Also, does John eat? How have they noticed that he doesn't eat? Does he sweat? If he showers, does that damage his skin and hair, since he's apparently molding at the start of the series?