Aging Along With John: 20 Years of Hellblazer, Part 1
By David DelGrosso
Aging Along With John: 20 Years of Hellblazer, Part 1
By David DelGrosso
Another major element of this era is an exploration of English magical symbolism, as well as the mythic figures of British history, from the ancient (King Arthur and Bran the Blessed) to the more recent and controversial (Aleister Crowley and even Sid Vicious). In perhaps the most radical inclusion of all, Jenkins had Constantine meet the one figure who had been absent amongst the many Divine and Infernal beings who had appeared in the title. In "The Nature of the Beast" (H. #97), John goes for a night walk in the woods, and meets a man who says he is a shepherd and who offers to tell John's fortune. While the true identity of this figure is only implied, Jenkins makes it clear. "John meets Jesus Christ in issue #97 and at the end of my run (H. #128). That made a lot of sense to me, and I'm proud of myself for pushing that through because the politics of comics at the time forbade anyone to use Jesus as source material."
In general, the Jenkins era is more light-hearted than any of the prior eras. While there are certainly dark moments, the violence is not as brutal as it was in the Ennis days, nor are there the horror montages, massive civilian casualties and apocalyptic visions of Delano. It seems an adventurous period for John, as he is transported to distant times and comes face-to-face with great and powerful figures. The era ends with a story similar to those that have capped off prior runs.
In "How to Play With Fire" (H. #125-128), the enemies that John has made throughout the years regroup against him, and a sacrifice must be made. However, this time, it is John who pays a terrible price, consigning his soul to The First of the Fallen to protect his friends. There is no trick to save him this time, no bluff or last-minute switch. Unlike the Constantine at the end of the Ennis run, scrambling out of danger, no matter what the cost, it seems this older, more "mellow" Constantine is ready to accept the fate he made for himself.
Another integral part of this era of Hellblazer is the work of British artist Sean Phillips, who had done a number of single Hellblazer stories through the years, including some key Delano issues featuring a young John in the past (H. #35, #84). Phillips became the regular artist, starting with the Eddie Campbell story and continuing through almost every one of Paul Jenkins's issues, penciling, inking and doing the covers. Phillips, who these days is best known for his work on Marvel Zombies, Criminal, and Sleeper, recalls where he was in his career when the Hellblazer opportunity came along. "I'd already spent ten years drawing for British comics including Judge Dredd for 2000 AD. Drawing an actual American comic book was a dream come true. It didn't matter which one but luckily Hellblazer was one of the best."
Phillips is perhaps the artist that has portrayed John across the most different eras of his life: as a young boy and teenager in Delano flashback stories; as a man in his mid-30s; and in his mid-40s in his early and later work on the series. Phillips describes how he went about portraying the character at these different ages: "With John as a young boy, it was just a chance to go more cartoony with him. A lot of the interiors and locations were based on my own childhood and my grandparents' houses. John as an older man was just losing the hair and adding some wrinkles while trying to keep some of the cantankerousness. When I came back for that long run, I had to totally change the way I drew. Between those first few issues and returning a few years later my style had softened up a little, more smooth brushwork, less blacks on the page, more cartoony. That style I thought wouldn't work on Hellblazer, so in came scratchy line work with deep shadows. Also I started using more photo reference, basing John on an older version of me."
And what was the most essential element of his personality, through all those ages, the one character detail that stays consistent? "Being an awkward bugger," says Phillips.
It may be that this era of Hellblazer is the one least known to readers, as these issues are the hardest to collect. None of these stories have been reprinted in trade paperbacks. As Vertigo is currently getting all of Jamie Delano's uncollected issues into trades, I asked Karen Berger if there was any chance that the reprint program would continue on to this era as well, to fill in the rest of the holes in the back catalog. "We haven’t decided yet," says Berger. "Hopefully. I mean, if we’re going to do it, we should just do it. I’d like to think we would."
Our Exploration of 20 Years of Hellblazer continues, including interviews with Brian Azzarello, Mike Carey, Denise Mina, Andy Diggle, Jason Aaron and more.
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