JOHN CONSTANTINE: HELLBLAZER

Issues 84-128 plus Winter's Edge 1: PAUL JENKINS, incorporating JAMIE DELANO and EDDIE CAMPBELL

After a brief one-shot by returning author Jamie Delano, Hellblazer's next "permanent" writer arrived in the form of the Scottish-born Eddie Campbell, whose work with Alan Moore on the Jack-the-Ripper epic From Hell, as well as his creator-owned series Bacchus and Deadface, had earned him widespread respect. This time, however, he would be writing rather than drawing; along with long-time Hellblazer artist Sean Philips, Campbell began "Warped Notions", his first and last Constantine tale. In this four-part story, Constantine finds himself dragged around the world by a cat demon and the ghost of Sir Francis Dashwood in an effort to stop reality from coming apart at the seams. It's a Hellblazer story quite unlike any other in its strangeness - the result, presumably, of Campbell's distaste for the horror genre. As he told Tabula Rasa magazine in 1994, "I can't really be myself on Hellblazer. I was asking Neil Gaiman before I got on to it and I said I don't think I can do it... there has to be exactly five and a half ounces of nastiness per issue... They get my script and they weigh the nastiness and if it comes in an ounce short I've got to rewrite, I've got to add something in." Editorial intervention would perhaps explain the slightly fragmented nature of Campbell's storyline - characters appear and disappear without explanation, the plot is meandering at best - but the end result is still strangely likeable. Nevertheless, despite telling the magazine that he was "happy" with the issues he'd written, Campbell and Constantine went their separate ways and editor Lou Stathis cast about for a new writer.

After reading several pitches, Stathis settled on Yorkshireman Paul Jenkins, who had an impressive history as both writer and editor for Mirage Studios (yes, he did some issues of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Tundra Publishing (publishers of Gaiman's Violent Cases) and Majestic Entertainment. Jenkins' plan was to step away from the heavy Judeo-Christian slant placed on the comic by Garth Ennis and use Constantine's British heritage to explore old English myths. He also displayed a fanboyish knowledge of the work of previous Hellblazer authors, picking up in the Australian outback where Campbell had left John, before moving him hack to The Smoke where he would soon find himself meeting up with various members of the Ennis cast including a very pissed off Ellie and a rejuvenated First of the Fallen.

Of course Jenkins needed to put his stamp on the series, so he introduced his own cast using the tried-and-tested "here's John's heretofore-unmentioned best friend" technique. Both Ennis and Delano had used this same contrivance almost to the point of parody, so Jenkins had to come up with plausible reasons for both the characters' prior absence from the comic and their sudden reappearance in his life. He solved both problems easily; firstly by having almost all of them connected to John's old life as a punk singer - something largely unexplored by the comic - and secondly by having John take up residence in Streatham, the underprivileged borough of London where the characters lived.

The first of these characters - a friendly but half-deaf half-wit named Rich - appears in Jenkins' third issue. Allegedly based on the author's own brother, Rich's childlike energy and laddish sensibilities were a good contrast for Constantine's brooding cynicism. He also brought along "Slart", his intelligent and loving but quietly despairing partner, and Syder, their uncontrollable son. Though far from the conventional family, they represent the kind of close relationship that Constantine has never been able to maintain, and their acceptance of John as part of that family unit (he even becomes their second child's godfather) triggers a kind of mid-life crisis in the protagonist.

The other characters included Straff, a seven-foot epileptic mummy's boy; Dani, a journalist for a trashy downmarket tabloid and love interest for Constantine; Slobodan, a troubled immigrant from Eastern Europe, and Muppet, a filthy biker. Many readers expressed dissatisfaction with Jenkins' supporting cast, with a common complaint being that they were "boring" when compared with Ennis' cast. Ironically, the reason for this seems to be that Jenkins wrote them too well - for the most part they are realistic, nuanced characters and as such are not really suitable for occasional appearances in a limited run. If they had been the main characters or had longer to develop then perhaps they would have been looked upon more fondly, but their limited screen time meant that they never really made the impact that a good supporting cast should. Ennis had got it right with his cast when he used broad stereotypes (the Glaswegian thug, the Socialist student, the English vicar etc.) that would be easily recognised by his audience and therefore would not require a great deal of page time to make an impression.

This was not the only difference between Jenkins and Ennis; the Irish author had relied heavily on Jewish and Christian mythology as a framework for his Hellblazer world, so Jenkins decided to bring John home by mining England's immense political and mythological history for inspiration. As a result, John found himself caught up in the English Civil War, searching for the true heir to King Arthur's throne, meeting up for a chat with the severed head of Bran the Blessed, finding out what happens when you run widdershins and meeting up with the physical manifestation of football violence. This upset some fans who felt more comfortable within the boundaries of mythologies that they were already familiar with, and slowly the sales began to fall.

Despite this, Jenkins continued to deviate from Ennis' methods; whilst Ennis had relied greatly on explicit (some would say gratuitous) gore and violence, Jenkins' stories had far less bloodshed. There was a high body count, sure, but the deaths themselves lacked the visceral punch that Ennis' had; gone were the shotgun castrations and shredded faces, replaced by bloodless poisonings and relatively clean stabbings. Likewise, the broad and sometimes bawdy jokes displayed by Ennis were replaced by whimsical character-based humour and observational gags, in keeping with John's transformation from acidic jack-the-lad into worn-out middle-aged grump. Needless to say, many of Ennis' fans were nonplussed, and the comic's numbers slowly began to fall off, with many disenfranchised readers turning to Ennis' new comic Preacher for their monthly fix of ultraviolence.

The lack of gore was aided in part by returning artist Sean Philips, whose art had graced Hellblazer as far back as issue 31, and who seemed to shrink from drawing violence in the kind of detail that Steve Dillon had gleefully provided. Whilst Dillon's art proudly displayed its torn skin, twisted sinew and shattered bone, Philips relied on splotchy, shapeless spatters of blood and skin that communicated the story without playing too heavily on the nastiness. Still, what he lacked in Grand Guignol flair, he made up for in raw talent; after getting his newest Hellblazer contract, Philips developed a new style especially for the comic which involved skipping the pencilling stage and going straight onto the inks. As a result, the comic is occasionally scratchy but always vibrant and free of the stiff, posed effect that can sometimes come with overworked pencils. Presumably this process made illustration incredibly fast, because Philips not only illustrated about 90% of Jenkins' run (save the three single issue fill-ins by Warren Pleece, Charlie Adlard and Al Davison), he also provided painted covers for each and every issue. As well as maintaining a uniform style, they also allowed Philips to have spread his wings and display his unique sense of humour, particularly the E.T. parody of issue 91 and the wry cover of 109, which features an unwitting Constantine about to be trampled to death by werewolves on horses!

Philips left the interiors with issue 120, a double-sized celebratory issue that featured guest appearances by Ennis and Delano's casts and Death of the Endless. He was followed by Warren Pleece, but Pleece's run was short-lived, since Jenkins folded his run up just eight issues after Philips' departure. He leaves behind some of the most original and unique stories in the Hellblazer canon.

http://www.tabula-rasa.info/AusComics/EddieCampbell.html - Tabula Rasa interview with Eddie Campbell http://www.insanerantings.com/hell/faq/orderfigures.html - Hellblazer order figures."

AN ISSUE GUIDE

Note: Cameos are appearances of any length by real-life people, mythological creatures, or fictional characters not created for Hellblazer.

84: In Another Part of Hell BY JAMIE DELANO (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: John Eder.) Chas leaves John alone in his house whilst he goes to pick up his newly born grand-daughter. As John explores, he recalls the strange and terrible events that took place there many years before, events that would leave Chas in the conman's debt forever.

  • First Appearances: Queenie Chandler (Chas' monstrous mother), Slag (Queenie's familiar, a monkey), Chas' father.
  • 85: Warped Notions, Part 1: The Delicate Power of Terror BY EDDIE CAMPBELL (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) London: Chickens giving birth to human foetuses; a Japanese man evolving backwards; the new Inquisition getting geared up to torture the world: reality is unravelling and John Constantine is the only one who can stitch it back together. Along with the ghost of a famous hedonist and a cat demon, he must travel the world as part of an enormous healing spell.

  • First Appearance: Murnarr (a cat demon).
  • Cameo: Sir Francis Dashwood (creator of the most famous Hellfire Club)
  • 86: Warped Notions, Part 2: The Everything Virus BY EDDIE CAMPBELL (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) Philadelphia: Sir Francis reanimates the relics of John the Baptist and makes cockroaches burst out of a man's boils as part of a plot to make the world think that the Apocalypse has come to pass, rather than the horrible truth that reality is coming apart at the seams. Constantine meets up with The Church of Virtual Reality, a bunch of Discordian freaks who think that the universe is suffering from psychic ebola.

  • Cameo: Sir Francis Dashwood (creator of the most famous Hellfire Club); Benjamin Franklin (one of the United States' founding fathers).
  • 87: Warped Notions, Part 3: The Shout BY EDDIE CAMPBELL (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) A plane above Australia: after the gruesome events in Philadelphia, John prays for a little peace and quiet. Some hope. One attack of inside-out people later, and the entire plane's bellyflopping along an Australian runway. Stranded in the middle of nowhere with the other survivors, John puts together synchronous clues and realises the horrible truth about the Everything Virus...

  • First Appearances: Jeffo (an Aboriginal), The Rainbow Serpent (an Aboriginal god).
  • Cameo: Sir Francis Dashwood (creator of the most famous Hellfire Club)
  • 88: Warped Notions, Part 4: Mountain of Madness BY EDDIE CAMPBELL (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) Australia: Having realised that Dashwood is the real cause behind the Everything Virus, Constantine heads out to the Australian rainforest in the hope of trapping the insane ghost. Dashwood has plenty of tricks up his sleeve, however...

  • First Appearance: Delvene (female captain of the supply ship).
  • Cameo: Sir Francis Dashwood (creator of the most famous Hellfire Club)

    89: Dreamtime (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) Still Outback, Constantine intervenes with some white landowners who want to kick Jeffo and his mob off their land. When words don't work, Constantine decides to get in touch with Aboriginal god The Rainbow Serpent...

  • First Appearance: Ms. Kate Grimshaw (landowner), Giffy and Trev (hired thugs).
  • 90: Dangerous Ground (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) With the Rainbow Serpent poised to wipe white men off the planet, John comes up with an audacious con that works in both their favours...

  • Cameo: John Fitzgerald Kennedy (former president of the USA)
  • 91: Riding the Green Lanes (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) Time gets well and truly warped as The War of the Roses and a very modern battle collide - with John and some old friends stuck right in the middle!

  • First Appearances: Rich the Punk (old friend of John's from his punk days. Also a descendant of Arthur, King of the Britons), Michelle (AKA the Slart; Rich's wife), Syder (Rich's son), Muppet (old friend of John's; big hairy bag of nastiness).
  • 92: Critical Mass, Part 1: Bait (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) The First of the Fallen is gone, but not dead. After the events of the Rake at the Gates of Hell storyline, he was transformed into a human. Buer, demon and owner of all the children ever sent to Hell, wants to return him to his full glory, but to do so he'll need the willing soul of the most hated man on Earth: John Constantine!

  • First Appearances: Buer (demon; lord of all Hell's children).
  • Cameo: Judith (punk, member of the Newcastle Crew)
  • 93: Critical Mass, Part 2: Troubled Waters (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) Buer has found a loophole that's allowed him to possess Syder, and the only way he'll let go of the young boy is if Constantine sacrifices himself for The First. Running out of options, John goes to the mystical town of Abaton for advice.

  • First Appearances: Robert the Smith AKA Robin Hood (inhabitant of Abaton), Jack of the Green (Earth elemental and symbol of Britain's green and pleasent land. All five acres of it).
  • 94: Critical Mass, Part 3: The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Art: Sean Philips, Pat McEown. Cover: Sean Philips.) Haunted in dreams, doomed to Hell: Constantine's barely keeping ahead of the game, until a Stranger lends a hand...

  • Cameo: The Phantom Stranger (mysterious associate of Constantine's)
  • 95: Critical Mass, Part 4: Coming Up For Air (Art: Sean Philips, Pat McEown. Cover: Sean Philips.) Constantine's mind and body are falling apart as a result of the bad mojo he worked last issue, and he's starting to feel like a pawn in an infernal game of chess - but who is running the game?

  • Cameo: Aleister Crowley (master magician)
  • 96: Critical Mass, Part 5: Hook, Like and Sinker (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) Constantine's never played for stakes this high, nor in a game so dangerous: the souls of every damned child - including Astra, the girl he doomed fifteen years ago - are set to be freed, but only if John will hand over his own soul to The First of the Fallen...

  • Cameo: The Phantom Stranger (mysterious associate of Constantine's), Aleister Crowley (master magician)
  • 97: The Nature of the Beast (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) After a heavy night spent celebrating Syder's rescue, John heads out to the woods where he meets a strange fortune-teller.

  • Cameo: Yahweh (the Judeo-Christian God)
  • 98: Walking the Dog (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) A mistreated and murdered pet dog comes back to haunt the house where it was killed, causing all kinds of mayhem in the process.

  • First Appearances: Lofty (Muppet's best friend), Straff (old friend of John's, an epileptic giant), Betty (Straff's mum).
  • 99: Punkin' Up the Great Outdoors (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) John arranges a day outing at Abaton for his friends, but the fun and games have tragic consequences...

    100: Sins of the Father (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) Constantine thought his troubled past was left far behind when he drained Nergal's demonic blood out of his system (in Critical Mass), but the sudden loss of supernatural power has caused his system to enter severe shock. As his body collapses in hospital, John finds his soul being dragged down to Hell by the First of the Fallen to see his damned father...

    101: Football: It's a Funny Old Game (Art: Al Davison. Cover: Sean Philips.) Chas and Rich drag John out of his convalescent bed to see Crystal Palace take on Brighton, much to his annoyance. Things get even worse when the anthropomorphic personification of football violence makes a personal visit...

    102: Difficult Beginnings, Part 1: The Single-Sided Coin (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) John's drifting away from the world, drowning in emotional numbness; ever since he banished his dark side to Hell, he's been passing aimlessly through life. But good cannot exist without bad, and John must regain his dark side or face destruction.

  • Cameo: Yahweh (the Judeo-Christian God)
  • 103: Difficult Beginnings, Part 2: The Trouble With Worms (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) In a bid to get in touch with his lost evil, Constantine rides the synchronicity highway on the trail of an elderly serial killer with strange similarities to the Yorkshire Ripper.

    104: Difficult Beginnings, Part 3: The Darkening of the Light (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) John faces his Demonic counterpart in a bid to restore himself to his former shabby glory, but discovers that the only way to do that is to screw over an old ally, literally!

  • Cameo: Aleister Crowley (master magician)
  • 105: A Taste of Heaven (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) Back in the 19th century, James Constantine of Porlock uncovers a plot by Heaven to ensnare the minds of men.

  • Cameo: Samuel Taylor Coleridge (poet, author of Xanadu)
  • 106: In the Line of Fire, Part 1 (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) A house that doesn't exist and a body that should never have been discovered; Constantine stumbles across a suicide that never went away, and exposes the hapless ghost to a destructive Council officer.

  • First Appearances: Jack Loudfoot (ex-WWII soldier, a ghost), Ellen, AKA Nellie (Jack's former fiancee), Bill (Nellie's present husband), Mr. McGillicuddy (Council jobsworth given the task of evicting squatters).
  • 107: In the Line of Fire, Part 2 (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) With the house exposed and ready to be demolished, Constantine tries to help Jack pass on to the afterlife, but finds himself trapped in the battle of Dunkirk instead!

  • First Appearance: Weeble (associate of John's; a large medium).
  • Cameos: Oscar Wilde (author and wit, channelled through Weeble), Aleister Crowley (master magician).
  • 108: The Days of Wine and Roses (Art: Charles Adlard. Cover: Sean Philips.) Whilst scouting for blackmail victims at an orgy, John finds himself accidentally summoning up sinister beings known as the Mendw, with terrible consequences for an anorexic girl and her abusive father.

    109: The Wild Hunt (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) Cattle mutiliations in Yorkshire hold no interest for Constantine until a nosy tabloid reporter chases him out of London. Once in the country, John discovers that one of the villagers is transforming into a werewolf, but this strange case of lycanthropy is only a portent of worse things to come...

  • First Appearance: Danita Wright (a tabloid reporter; soon to be Constantine's latest flame).
  • 110: Last Man Standing, Part 1: A Different Kind of Tension (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) Sir Francis Drake's drum is beating out across the land, and the ravens have flown from the Tower of London. England is dying, and it's all connected to the sinister Mr. Meardon's plot to tarmac over the last sacred sites in the country. Sensing the terrible damage, King Arthur's men rise once more to find their champion.

  • First Appearances: Mr. Meardon (AKA Myrddin, the last of the elves on Earth and one of the Merlins), Owain, Sgilti, Afagddu, Sandda (champions of Arthur).
  • 111: Last Man Standing, Part 2: No More Heroes (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) As England continues its death-throes, Constantine is asked by Arthur's men to find Arthur's descendent and true heir to the throne, and that man is... Rich the punk?!

  • First Appearance: Dez (an associate of John's; a computer hacker; no relation to the Ennis character).
  • 112: Last Man Standing, Part 3: Human Punk (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) Tripping on acid, Rich makes a cross-country journey to find the casket that Myrddin needs so badly, unaware that he's being followed by a crack team of Government agents. Luckily for him, the inhabitants of Abaton are around to lend him a hand.

  • Cameos: King Arthur, Geoffrey Chaucer (a medieval playwright), Bran the Blessed (a giant from Celtic mythology)
  • 113: Last Man Standing, Part 4: You're Just a... (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) Things fall apart for Constantine when he lets everybody in on Rich's strange heritage, causing the whole crew to explode in anger and resentment. Everyone goes their seperate ways, but that's just what Myrddin wants...

  • Cameos: King Arthur, Bran the Blessed (a giant from Celtic mythology)
  • 114: Last Man Standing, Part 5: No One is Innocent (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) With his friends held captive and waiting to die, John picks the perfect moment to let Myrddin in on his masterplan.

  • Cameos: King Arthur, Bran the Blessed (a giant from Celtic mythology), Frank North (biker, member of the Newcastle Crew, dead)
  • 115: In the Red Corner (Art: Warren Pleece. Cover: Sean Philips.) When Dani's abusive ex-boyfriend returns from nowhere and begins terrorising her, John puts into motion a very nasty revenge indeed.

    116: Widdershins, Part 1 (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) Restless spirits in a local graveyard erupt in a volcano of psychic activity, threatening to claim the lives of everyone around - but what is upsetting them?

  • First Appearances: Slobodan (a Serbian ex-pat and former soldier), Slobodan's daughter, Ken Riley (jogger), Irene (child pornography reader), Mrs. Walker (elderly woman), Karen and Jesse (heroin addicts), Jane (sufferer of night terrors), Roy (Jane's husband).
  • Cameo: Sid Vicious (dead Sex Pistols star, channelled through Weeble)
  • 117: Widdershins, Part 2 (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) Slobodan, possessed, threatens the life of his own daughter. Can Constantine strike a deal with the ghosts before anyone dies?

  • Cameo: Sir Francis Bacon (17th century philosopher and scientist)
  • 118: Life and Death and Taxis (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) Chas finds himself making life and death dashes across London when Straff's mother finally reaches the end of the line and Michelle goes into labour. But will Staff's mum give up her grip on life so easily?

  • First Appearance: Ivy Mae (Rich and Michelle's baby daughter)
  • 119: Undertow (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) Across time and space, every human disaster that ever occurred converges on a single, doomed aeroplane. This is of special importance to Constantine, since his astral body trapped aboard. And what of Dani's goldfish?

    120: Desperately Seeking Something (Art: Sean Philips. Cover: Sean Philips.) Join John Constantine on a special 10th anniversary pub crawl, featuring cameos by Header, Brendan, Gary Lester, Ray Monde, Nigel Archer, Thomas Constantine, Astra, Rick the Vic, Frank North, Ms. Grimshaw, Giffy and Death of the Endless.

  • Cameos: Death of the Endless; Alan Moore (creator of Swamp Thing and John Constantine), Garth Ennis (former author of Hellblazer and Preacher), William Simpson (former Hellblazer artist), Lou Stathis (former Hellblazer editor), Stuart Moore (former Hellblazer editor), Jamie Delano (former Hellblazer author), Sean Philips (issue artist), Paul Jenkins (issue author), Axel Alonso (Hellblazer editor), King Arthur)

    121: Up the Down Staircase, Part 1 (Art: Warren Pleece. Cover: Sean Philips.) John heads out to America with Dani to meet her family, but there's a familiar figure stalking them. Meanwhile, a man named Gavin mourns his long-dead girlfriend Pam - but how was her death connected to Constantine?

  • First Appearances: Gavin (associate of Constantine's), Pam (Gavin's dead girlfriend), Mary Wright (Dani's mum), Fred Wright (Dani's uncle), Terrel (Dani's cousin), The Zombie (Terrel's wife), Gramps (Dani's grandfather), Ethan and Eldrick (Dani's brothers; twins), Kyle (Dani's brother).
  • 122: Up the Down Staircase, Part 2 (Art: Warren Pleece. Cover: Sean Philips.) Strange tensions threaten the fragile Wright family, whilst John contacts an old associate to figure out the answer to the First of The Fallen's question: What is a Quiz? Gavin is visited by Pam, even though she's ten years dead.

  • First Appearances: Lenny (hypnotist, medium and bum), George (Vietnam veteran).
  • 123: Up the Down Staircase, Part 3 (Art: Warren Pleece. Cover: Sean Philips.) Gavin's memory seems to be failing him when Pam points out that Constantine was more involved in her death than he seems to recall; a gunfight in the Wright home thankfully claims no lives but fragments the family even more; John comes one step closer to answering The First's question.

    124: Up the Down Staircase, Part 4 (Art: Warren Pleece. Cover: Sean Philips.) John enlists Weeble's help to free the Wright family from the malign forces that are affecting them and simultaneously solves The First's question. Things look bad, however, when Gavin realises that Constantine was directly responsible for Pam's death and vows to murder him.

    Winter's Edge 1 Hellblazer Story (Art: Paul Pope. Cover: Brian Bolland.) Taking a break from Dani's family, John stows himself away in a bar, where he meets a very unusual ghost. (Dedicated to former Hellblazer editor and much-loved Vertigo boss Lou Stathis)

    125: How to Play With Fire, Part 1: Blowing on the Embers (Art: Warren Pleece. Cover: Sean Philips.) Gavin and Pam's plot to destroy Constantine begins in earnest when Gavin hospitalises Muppet in a car crash and summons Buer from Hell to goad Lofty into anger. Meanwhile, Pam forces Slobodan to relive his terrible war experiences and Jack of the Green, ill after the events of Last Man Standing, closes Abaton from human contact. Only then does Pam reveal her true identity: the succubus Ellie!

  • Cameo: Yahweh (the Judeo-Christian God)
  • 126: How to Play With Fire, Part 2: Fanning the Flames (Art: Warren Pleece. Cover: Sean Philips.) John's life continues to crumble: Buer convinces Crowley to take up permanent residence in Weeble's body; John's family are taunted by visions of Thomas Constantine trapped in Hell; the Demon Constantine is tortured in the inferno, and Ellie turns Dani against John by framing him for infidelity.

  • Cameos: Yahweh (the Judeo-Christian God), Aleister Crowley (master magician)
  • 127: How to Play With Fire, Part 3: Burning Down the House (Art: Warren Pleece. Cover: Sean Philips.) With John crushed, Ellie has no more need for Gavin, so she tells him the truth: that he was the one who killed Pam all those years ago. Constantine realises he has no choice but to sign his soul across to The First of the Fallen in exchange for the survival of his family and friends, selling out Ellie in the process. Finally, John goes on a very literal search for God.

  • Cameos: Yahweh (the Judeo-Christian God), Aleister Crowley (master magician)
  • 128: How to Play With Fire, Part 4: Sifting Through the Ashes (Art: Warren Pleece. Cover: Sean Philips.) John communes with God, and asks the question on everyone's lips: "Why?".

  • Cameos: Yahweh (the Judeo-Christian God), Aleister Crowley (master magician)
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