Aging Along With John: 20 Years of Hellblazer, Part 2
By David DelGrosso
Aaron's story, "Newcastle Calling" (H. #245-246), features an American documentary crew traveling to Newcastle to try to find out "Whatever happened to Mucous Membrane?" Which is, of course, John's old punk band, whose history ended with that fateful, failed exorcism. Breaking into the ruins of the old music club at Newcastle, the crew gets more than they bargained for. Or, as Aaron puts it, "It's part VH1 reality show, part Blair Witch Project." The story also features a bit with a dead dog that readers will likely not soon forget.
Diggle returns with his final story, "The Roots of Coincidence" (H. #247-249). Mako, recovered from his last defeat, has come back to London with a vengeance. John, armed with some knowledge he stole from the Vatican's Black Library, seeks out the power of a certain, famous Saint to build his defenses against Mako. It seems a very unusual Christmas story is ahead.
While Diggle's run has been popular with critics and fans, it is a short one relative to the history of the title, and is now coming to a close after less than 20 issues. "Always leave them wanting more, that's my motto," says Diggle.
The Future (H. #250-?)
The milestone 250th issue has been announced, a story featuring the return of Jamie Delano, Brian Azzarello, and David Lloyd, and high-profile newcomers to the title Dave Gibbons, of Watchmen fame, who once created a Constantine story, "Another Bloody Christmas," for Vertigo Winter's Edge, and writer Peter Milligan, who becomes the new regular writer with H. #251 in January 2009. British-born Milligan is best known to Vertigo readers for his Eisner-nominated reinvention of Shade, The Changing Man, a mature-readers DC title that, like Hellblazer, was part of the initial Vertigo line. His run on Shade included several appearances of John as a supporting character. A comics writer with more than 20 years' experience behind him, Milligan is also known for his work on titles such as X-Force and X-Statix, Enigma, The Extremist, and more. Early 2009 should also see publication of the Hellblazer graphic novel Pandemonium by Delano and Jock, as well as Dark Entries, a story starring John Constantine that is the first of the new Vertigo Crime line of original graphic novels. Dark Entries is written by acclaimed Scottish crime novelist (and comics newcomer) Ian Rankin, who is best known for his novels starring Inspector Rebus.
As John heads into his 56th year of fictional life, and Hellblazer enters its 21st year of publication, both seem as vibrant as ever. However, to allow John to age in real time is to suggest an inevitable endpoint, despite his many wiles and magical rejuvenations to the contrary. I ask Vertigo Executive Editor Karen Berger if she can imagine someday approving the story that brings an end to John Constantine. "Creatively I could imagine practically anything so long as it’s a good story, so, to answer your question, I wouldn’t end the series now because it is healthy and successful, but if there ever comes a point in time where we really feel like it’s time to end it, and someone comes up with something great--well, again, this is comics and stranger things have happened, but I really don’t foresee that happening because of the strength and the longevity of the character, I expect him to be around for a very long time."
I also ask some of those who create John's life if they could imagine writing the story that would end it. Andy Diggle replies, "I think someone should definitely write the last Constantine story one day, I just don't think it should be me! Where's Alan Moore when you need him?"
Jamie Delano, who began the series and is now returning to the character 20 years later, muses, "Whenever I stare into the scrying glass of my computer screen attempting to acquire contact with the world of Constantine, it is with a sense of excitement, but also a kind of resigned trepidation. A bit like a recovering addict, lapsing, seduced once more by the promised pleasure of his particular poison. Once, again, in touch with that familiar thrill, though, it feels entirely natural to enjoy riding the resultant wave of creative energy to whatever destination. But the older one gets, the stiffer the price to be paid for indulgence, the longer the required period of recovery. I suspect Constantine feels similarly. It is as hard for me to visualize the end of Constantine’s life as it is that of my own… but I don’t anticipate a great deal of milk and honey will be involved."
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