#hellblazer vibes

[jesncin]

Hi I love you guys' work. I know I already sent in an ask before, but I'm also a queer Indonesian creator who loves animated stories and musicals. And plans to make her own animated indie musical show on YouTube. Which is queer and based on space. And the main character is plus sized, queer, and has a non binary love interest. I wanted to ask since Indonesia is still really homophobic, how do you deal with being a queer Indonesian creator making queer content while your country is extremely homophobic. Because I often feel scared to do so because of what the government might think. Sorry for randomly asking this btw

Hello there! That sounds like a very ambitious project! Best of luck to you, I'm all for more queer space adventures.

So I'm sure to a lot of queer Indonesians looking at the work I'm doing, they're thinking "how the heck are jesncin doing all that and being so loud about it" haha. At least so far (who knows what the future holds now that my book is out) I've managed to create queer Indonesian art online for years (including smaller published work) and had very little homophobic pushback. Which I know I'm very lucky with- I've lost a lot of peers to bigoted locals and hate campaigns. It's a mix of strategies and contingencies I keep to foster as safe a space as I can.

It's a common practice among queer Indonesian activists to speak predominantly in english, something I already do because of my language barrier. Most locals don't bother interacting with an account speaking in english- weaponizing their language barrier haha. I stuck to western spaces early on, but because I drew a lot of blatantly queer Indonesian art- queer Indonesians (diaspora or otherwise) naturally flocked to my stuff. The audience filters itself. I don't interact with local discourse at all. I also stayed away from visibility events (on twidder like #artIDN or #ArtistsofIndonesia or even #tetapbangga for Malaysians) until I felt comfortable with the community I fostered to join in. It's common especially for queer tags to be monitored by bigots looking for people to pick on. Speaking of which, block and don't interact with them. Don't give into the temptation of replying to bigots because it just gives them more ammo. Their goal is to exhaust you so you lock your account and "can't spread your agenda" or whatever.

I purposefully wanted to publish my stories through an American publisher for a lot of reasons, but it certainly helps that Lunar Boy can be out and proud out there where it can't get to be in Indonesia. I notice queer authors here tend to publish either online or internationally with an independent publisher too. Still- you'd be surprised how much the local queer community is enthusiastically ready to support you. Because of the state of Indonesia as it is, everything is handled more "under the radar" for the sake of safety. My personal biggest fear is starting another moral panic incident- but the many queer Indonesian communities I've been in have their own strict rules and precautions to keep members safe. They're worried about that too, but they want to help you succeed! Once my book released, the Indonesian queer community had my back and even helped me with some author events and exclusive meetups. At least for me, it was instrumental to be connected to the local community.

That's where I am for now. I created Lunar Boy while being closeted the entire time. I've erased my queer publications from my resume when applying to author events locally. There's always some kind of assimilation that happens in the process. I'll always be scared of pushback or sparking another moral panic incident. But that's the risk this kind of representation is, isn't it? I had no one else to look up to. No other queer Indonesian graphic novelist making explicitly queer Indonesian stories. It was an isolating experience making this book. But now that I'm here, the next person who comes along won't be alone. And seeing the people who've connected to Lunar Boy, especially other queer Indonesians from all around the world, makes it so worth it.

[constantinepanels]

Hellblazer, Issue #49 (1992)

[schwadudle]

I can't even explain how much I love this <3

[kazz-brekker]

read the invocations by krystal sutherland as an arc i got from work and god i love when magic is just truly weird and terrifying and gross and has an awful cost. there are genuinely inhuman and frightening demons that latch on your soul like a parasite and slowly drain it in exchange for magic! demonic bargains gone wrong that rot a person from the inside out and decay the world around them! an orchard where the trees grow rotten fruit and ground weeps blood because unavenged murder victims are buried there! the terrifying sense that the characters are tampering with forces beyond their control or understanding!

[auroral-melody]

does anyone know of any other sandman/sandman universe/vertigo servers (that aren't dedicated to dreamling exclusively)? i'm sort of trying to reach into the bigger fandom to see if i've just been missing people who might like my extremely specific comics content

[harleycao]

While I don't know much about him, Gambit gives me sort of John Constantine vibes.

(specifically gambit in X-Men: the animated series)

Anyone else feel it or is it just me?

[talentforlying]

assigning john constantine covers of creep by radiohead while he tries to kill me in my mind for assigning him creep by radiohead in the first place!

swamp thing constantine - richard cheese cover. hellblazer constantine - vincint cover. nbc/arrowverse constantine - actual song by radiohead. city of demons constantine - kelly clarkson cover. constantine: the hellblazer - jinkx monsoon cover. john constantine: hellblazer - tom ellis cover. 2005 constantine - scott bradlee's postmodern jukebox cover. justice league dark constantine - pentatonix cover.

[petty-d4bblr]

Well. I finally finished dragging my ass through The Hellblazer Rebirth and I am here to report that my plan to read Preacher next has been put on hold so I can re-read Vertigo Hellblazer in its entirety (yes, even the goddam Azzarello and Milligan eras) again and cleanse my eyes.

I say "cleanse"...; rub my eyes in grime and 80s/90s British politics. But it's still better than whatever the hell I just read was. Damn.

John Constantine deserves better, DC. He deserves better.

[diataragmenos]

.

[laughingmagi]

How do i make a Disco Elysium inspired verse??? Like, I mean, it's only tangentially related in that i'm lowkey imagining it as Disco Elysium but it's Hellblazer. It's so niche, right? I'm also not even that deep in the game but i'm so obsessed because for me it's one part feeling around the mechanics, and one part vibes. It's enormously satisfying. Like when I do a thing to facilitate another thing, I get rewarded with...with...advancing the storyline and communing with a corpse BUT LOOK OKAY DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN?????

[millylotus]

Secret Son John Constantine

Inspired by @herbatahleb's funny little fanart

As the title says The Everlasting Trio have a child and his name is John “Hellblazer” Constantine

He’s making his parents proud

John was born of a kind of soul blood pact between the three, he got his blonde hair from Sam, his eyes from Tucker, and his overall appearance is a mix of the three of them

John grew up to follow in Tucker & Sam’s footsteps of magic, he’s a born sorcerer unlike them though

His relationship with his parents is generally good, but because of how he treats his soul his relationship with Danny has deteriorated

They argue about this alot, John’s soul is his own and what he does with it really isn’t any of Danny’s business, Danny has the concerned parent vibes of the parent of a sex worker, their fears are founded but they need to trust their kid to know how to take care of themselves

John hates visiting home because of it, Dani will sometimes drag him back home for holidays but he doesn’t stay long

Sam & Tucker try to get them to get along but it isn’t really working

Then one day Danny gets accidentally summoned by the Justice League

---

John doesn’t recognize the summoning circle as it buzzes to life, he doesn’t know what type of creature or being will pop out. If they’re good or bad, or even merciful but he knows they’re strong from the intricate design or the circle. So he recklessly jumps forward, pushing Hal out of the binding circle so the Lantern isn’t bound to the summoned being.

John takes the binding with a scream of pain, feeling electricity shoot up his spine.

He can hear the Leaguers shouting his name, he’s vaguely aware of Jordan supporting him. But what he hears clearest was the voice of a man he most despised in the world at the moment.

“Really John? You didn’t have to do that, he would have been fine.”

John closes his eyes tight and breaths deep, he looks up to the voice and looks into the toxic green eyes as they met his own brown ones.

“Good to see you too Father.”

The green eyed being rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, “Yes, hello Son. It’s great to see you again as well.”

The League had only heard a few things about John Constantine’s family. They knew he had three parents who’re polyamouros, that he has an older sister and an aunt. Besides that all they have are silent grumblings about “Father won’t like this” when he does something risky.

But to see a young filipino man probably no older than twenty, floating over John “Hellblazer” Constantine and looking down on him like a disappointed parent. It was jarring.

Wonder Woman was the first to say anything “John, could you perhaps explain what just happened?”

John and his father broke their intense eye contact to look at Diana, who barely flinched at the sudden attention, the others behind her weren’t so fearless.

Constantine sighed carefully stepping away from Hal, “This is my Father.”

Hal snorted, “Yeah we got that man.”

“Yes John, introduce me to your friends here.”

---

Danny is generally snarky when meeting the League, he makes some weird comments about John hanging out with superheroes, that could be construed as rude

The others are kinda pestering John about who his dad even is, while John is more focused on getting the fucking bind removed

He eventually has to ask Zatanna for help

Danny for the most part is hanging out with the League while John’s working

Someone calls him Mr.Constantine and Danny quickly corrects them saying that isn’t his last name

Which sparks a whole conversation of John’s last name, which Danny isn’t about to say cause real names have power and such

Danny sees John working closely with Zatanna and asks if he’s with her or not, John is beyond embarrassed and even worse is when Danny brings up King Shark, mentioning that Dani really liked him too

John snarks back that then King Shark should have just gone for her instead of him since Danny was so adamant about King Shark being such a great son-in-law

Things get awkward quick as the two snark back at each other while everyone else realizes where John gets it from

It almost becomes a screaming match before the League has to break it up before they go to far

John ends up just calling Sam & Tucker so they can just break the binding

It’s a tense few minutes before they get there, and the League just kinda has to sit there as father & son fume not looking at each other

When Tucker & Sam get there they see the two not wanting to talk to each other at all

Leaguers are not reeling at seeing John’s other parents who he also vaguely looks like but also not

As the two work on the binding John & Danny are being passive aggressive

The two decide that John & Danny need to spend some time together to get this shit figured out

---

Sam : Alright that’s it *Sam & Tucker stop working, Sam has her head in her hands and Tucker is leaning far back* Danny : What? John : I’m sorry? Tucker : You two have been fighting for far to long, you’ve probably forgotten why Danny : I know exactly why, it’s because John doesn’t know how to treat his soul right! John : By The Ancients! You’re still on about that Danny : Of course! Sam : Will you both just SHUT UP! *Silence* Sam : We’re not breaking the binding, you two are going to stay stuck together Danny : Sammy! John : Mama, Papa. Please don’t do this! Tucker : Nuh-uh, this happening, you two are getting a some father-son bonding time for the week! John *distressed*: Why! You can’t just– it’s not fair! *Sam & Tucker loosen up a bit, looking to John softly* Sam : Baby it’s alright, we’re not trying to punish you we just want you & your father to actually talk things through Danny : It feels like your punishing me Tucker : You are his father, you will be the civil one in this so don’t you fucking dare get any lip *Danny goes silent* Sam *sigh* : We’ll be leaving now Tucker : Good look you two The two leave, then silence Danny : Do you still have that demon house of yours? John *sigh* : Yeah I’ll show you a room for your stay

---

Most of the story is really just about John & Danny learning to get along again

Danny has to finally trust his kid to know what he’s doing with his own body

And John realising that his dad just wants to keep him safe & stuff

By the end of their basically grounding the two have begun to mend their relationship, Danny promises to come over and visit along with inviting John back home to the zone when he feels like

I've been meaning to post this for awhile now & it's just been sitting in my drafts until I finally remembered it.

Hope you liked is! :]

Main Story Index [It's kinda messy but it's got links to most everything]

[hbosscreations]

John Constantine Hellblazer: Dead in America Solicits

I've had weird feelings about this run for a bit, so I decided to look at the solicits all together and...am I the only one who gets a weird vibe from these?

One and two feel pretty normal and true to what happened in book. Issue 2 is a little overdramatic, but that's how you get people to buy. No problems here, good hype, though I do think it's hilarious that issue one is billed at 28 pages, which means that of the rest of the issues it's the only one not filled with ads.

Issue 3, the numbers have gone up, the description has gotten small, and this was also where I started to question just what was happening. This was where this series started telling 'stories about the American dream' in overlong framing devices that really don't have anything to do with anything.

For me, Issue 4 is Issue 3 done correctly, and the solicit feels fine. It's sparse on the details because we're doing a mystery, but I thought it felt a bit rushed. I think in the previous run, this owuld have been a two parter much like Scrubbing Up or Britannia Rules the Waves, and I think it would have been better served that way, but whatever, this isn't about my feelings.

Issue 5, my second favorite main cover and least favorite issue so far, feels deeply misleading considering what we actually get out of the issue. Issue 6 also doesn't really tell us anything that's the actual main focus of the book.

But then BOOM!

Issue 7 comes along and I was genuinely surprised that we were getting more issues, since I hadn't heard that the books were selling especially well, but I don't have the sales figures to back it up. Once again, the solicit is technically accurate, but I'm noticing a trend of the 'he's a corpse! he's got to deal with that!' in the solicit and the comic...not actually doing that in any meaningful way.

Issue 8 has the smallest solicits of the entire run and nothing meaningful happens. We could have scrapped this entire comic and gone straight to LA, but for John Constantine: Hellblazer, he hasn't really done any blazing of Hell in this book, so I suppose it was necessary?

Issue 9's solicit is a lie and a nothing burger. It tells us nothing, and for good reason, because once again, NOTHING PLOT RELEVANT HAPPENS.

I'm living for the Hanged Man tarot cover of Issue 10, but I don't know about number 11's solicit. It's the final issue, why isn't it beefier? Why doesn't it SELL the finale?

I have suspicions, thoughts and theories, but all of it basically amounts to 'not enough oversight'. Most of my problems with these books amounts to the fact that the story feels like it wasn't finished when they started producing the comic (That's a thing in the industry, I know, but it's also not a good sign for longevity or future sales, so I don't know why it's a thing), and that unlike the previous run, Spurrier doesn't seem to really have anything to say beyond 'look at how bad America is!' and it just feels very out of touch.

It also feels like we've opened the story to get more traditional characters involved without thinking about the ramifications of adding them. This story didn't need Dream, it didn't need Etrigan, it didn't really even need Swamp Thing. I still like the inclusion of Swamp Thing, but at the end of the day, this run feels like it's not interested in John Constantine, which is a problem when it's called John Constantine: Hellblazer and not 'Wizards in America: We Fuck Shit Up'.

[jesncin]

hello! i've been following you for a little while and have recently started trying to get into DC comics. i was wondering if you have any recommendations of good starting points? there's so much out there that it's a little overwhelming lol

Hi there! Thanks for checking out my stuff :) it can definitely be overwhelming getting into cape comics, but the flip side of that is that you can start just about anywhere and there's a weird freedom to that. Some comic runs will be more accessible than others (and I certainly prefer those!) but if you ever find yourself not vibing with a run or not getting it, then you can drop it and hop onto something else (cough me and All Star Superman cough).

Lots of the stand alone graphic novels are self contained and designed to get new readers into the world of DC, so even if they're their own AUs, they can help you bounce into the other comics. Some very accessible to new reader comics off the top of my head (sorry my biases will be obvious):

Superman Smashes the Klan

All New Superman

Martian Manhunter 2019 Identity (polarizing, but very accessible)

Superman American Alien (the writer's a creep but story's pretty good)

The One Bad Day Series Anthology covering Gotham rogues is fun (I recommend the Clayface one, but I also enjoyed Two Face's!)

Haven't read it yet but I'm always recommended Wonder Woman Historia

Alan Scott Green Lantern (I read the first issue, and it's really accessible)

Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story

The Mystery of the Meanest Teacher: A Johnny Constantine Graphic Novel (I KNOW MIDDLE GRADE CONSTANTINE SOUNDS WRONG BUT THIS IS REALLY FUNNY AND ENJOYABLE)

og Vertigo Hellblazer (I'm currently trying to read through it all and I haven't needed much context coming in)

Supersons (any, I found all to be understandable even when wacky things happen)

Batgirl: Future's End #1 (this is a one-shot from the new 52 but it's cute and holds a special place in my heart)

The Killing Joke (controversial but DC's perennial best seller for a reason. I recommend it so that you can read:) and The Batman Chronicles 1995 #5 (for a palate cleanser co-written by Kim Yale who was battling cancer and wrote that personal experience into Babs)

Batgirl / Robin Year One (much like American Alien, the writer sucks but ugh I really like these stories)

So yeah! I think that's plenty, but there's many more comics that I just jumped into and was able to understand and get really invested in. The world's yer oyster

[graveyardgremlins]

I'm writting a DPXDC fanfic, which is Constantine centric and sorta trying to mimic the vibes from Hellblazer. So far it's just him pinning and yearning and feeling more guilt than the average catholic, while reseaching weird things that have been happening (It's Danny).

I'm going to do some small, background Dead on Main because I love them. There is going to be a little of Constantine/Zatanna, but they don't get together.

I'm thinking of calling it What thing worthy of love can be found in me? Thoughts?

[necros-writing-stuff]

I’ve been thinking I need some more Dare lore in my life. Can we get some random facts about Dare like his favorite color, favorite animal, favorite food and whatever you can think up? :3

Yeah of course! I love dropping lil Dare lore tidbits.

His favourite colour is green, especially a blue-ish green. If it looks like a foamy ocean he's obsessed.

Darius is a man who believes he can chill with bears. Fight one? No, he knows he'd loose. But vibe one out so that it sees he's a friend? Fully believes he could. They're his favourite animals. Especially grizzlies.

Food I believe I said was a curry with lamb in it that his neighbour made for him when he'd get into fights with his dad. The neighbour passed away before he could ask for the recipe, but everytime a new Indian restaurant opens up he tries to find something similar.

As a kid his favourite comics were the Hellblazer comics. Now everytime he re-reads he feels a resounding feeling of "lol same."

His favourite games were survival horrors a-la Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Clocktower. Specifically the originals that came out when he was around 20 years old. Do not ask him about PT. He will sink so deep into depression he may never return.

He has two pairs of shoes that don't have steel caps in them. Just buys steel cap shoes on instinct these days. The none-cappes shoes are his trainers and his fancy occasion brogues.

Can and will live in Carhartt and denim.

[constantineshots]

Keanu's Constantine movie is a bad adaptation but it does provide you some "Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme" moments if you have read Hellblazer, like that scene where he traps the cockroach with glass,the chair :( ,the security guy with cards,the part where he spits on the sink (imagine if he did spits a parts of his lungs there).... still confused why they made John American and why is chas..like that...I guess I just don't like shia Labeouf:]....

I guess... it wouldn't be that "bad" if John is atleast British?cause I think they capture the vibes better than the NBC show...i think it's better than the show(I haven't watch the show yet)

You know like ur typical comicbook movie from the early 2000

In other Universe there's probably a decent hellblazer live action movie from the 2000 and it's directed by Guillermo del Toro....(My dream hellblazer director) He did Blade 2 and Hellboy 1&2)

i’d say watch the show, but that wasn’t the best adaptation, either. they have zed, but i’m not really sure where they were going with her to begin with because she was just. around john. for some reason. throughout most of the show and had some romantic? plotline? that i still don’t entirely understand but.

anyways, the show feels like a cw show. the movie is not a great adaptation of hellblazer. but there are references to the comic series in a few medias he’s in- they even reference a little bit in dc’s legends of tomorrow ( WHICH IS NOT THE BEST ADAPTATION OF JOHN, EITHER. AGH! I DONT EVEN KNOW WHY I WATCHED IT ), where he goes back in time and talks to his mother at a bar and essentially has a moment of “if i kick my dad so hard in the balls here, he would never have me” which kinda neglects his sister.

also, yeah, the american vibe did feel very weird to me. which is a shame because i love keanu reeves ( who doesn’t let’s be honest ). but i can agree, there are moments where i’m like “oh that’s neat that they added that!” but they do that with a lot of the media he’s in, you just have to scope it out. hell, they have hellblazer references in supernatural.

i’d have to watch the hellboy movies myself, but i have a friend who was/is in love with them, and she’s a film nerd ( love her tho don’t tell her i said this ) so i’m going to take her word for it honestly and assume he could probably do good. she’s heard me ramble about hellblazer so much that she could give an answer about his ability to direct something like hellblazer- which, i mean, he does a lot of things, so i wouldn’t be surprised if del toro could do a halfway decent job at it.

i’d like a more concrete adaptation of hellblazer, where it’s rooted in the hellblazer comics and not some weird storyline to appeal to mainstream television and media. because hellblazer was never meant to conform and didn’t even conform to the time period it was placed in. that’s all <3