Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
215,122
edits
(Import from TV Tropes TVT:ComicBook.Hellblazer 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:ComicBook.Hellblazer, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
No edit summary |
||
(16 intermediate revisions by 5 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{work}}
[[File:hellblazer2.jpg|frame|John Constantine, from the cover of HB #214]]
{{quote
{{quote|
''Really, though, he's just a man.''
''Perhaps one day, if we let him, he can be a hero.'' }}
A long-running [[Vertigo Comics]] horror title that spun off from ''[[Swamp Thing]]'', ''
Constantine is a creation of [[Alan Moore]] and Steve Bissette, first appearing in ''Saga of the Swamp Thing'' #37 (June, 1985). He gained his own series in 1988, said series is still ongoing. He has been written by Jamie Delano, [[Garth Ennis]], [[Warren Ellis]], Brian Azzarello, Denise Mina, Paul Jenkins and Andy Diggle, among others.
Constantine himself is generally portrayed as an adrenaline junkie who's constantly getting involved with the supernatural because everything else bores him to tears. Although he is a [[Badass Longcoat]] [[Anti
One of his most persistent traits is his habit of manipulating his friends into fighting for him or getting them involved in his schemes. However, this usually winds up in them getting killed. Indeed, the series became notorious at one point for introducing a new "old friend" of Constantine's, then killing them off, every few issues. Despite this, the comic is very good about killing men and women equally, and so far, only one of Constantine's lovers has been [[Stuffed Into the Fridge]] (plus another in its parent comic ''[[Swamp Thing]]'').
Despite this, Constantine is generally a sympathetic character who refuses to absolve himself of his guilt- [[Crowning Moment of Funny|except for the time that he turned it into a demon baby and threw it off a cliff]]- and generally does the right thing, even if he does it in a particularly nasty way. He is a strident humanist and sort-of anarchist who fights for humanity's right to make its own decisions free of the control of Heaven, Hell, politicians or other forces of control. The fact that he does this by manipulating people is an irony that has not been lost on several writers.
It is a major theme in the comic that Constantine ''never'' has any unequivocal permanent
The character of John Constantine started out firmly entrenched in [[The DCU]]
The comic was turned into a [[In Name Only]] movie, ''[[
A cute (!) version of John appears with other Vert-goMites in the [[Alien Scrappy|Batmite]] story ''Mitefall''.
Line 27:
[[Alan Moore]] also claims to have met him. Twice. In [[Real Life]].
''Hellblazer'' is now the longest-running monthly DC Comics comic never to be rebooted or cancelled.
----▼
▲----
{{tropelist}}
* [[All Myths Are True]]
* [[Alternate Continuity]]
* [[Ancient Conspiracy]]
* [[Anonymous Ringer]]
* [[Annoying Younger Sibling]]
* [[Another Dimension]]
* [[Anti Christ]]
* [[Anti
* [[Arch Enemy]]
* [[Author Tract]]
* [[Auto Cannibalism]]
* [[Back From the Dead]]
* [[Backstory]]
* [[Badass Longcoat]]
* [[Balance Between Good and Evil]]
* [[Bawdy Song]]
* [[Becoming the Costume]]
* [[Bedlam House]]
* [[Beleaguered Childhood Friend]]
* [[Bi the Way]]
** It doesn't help that, of the two storylines that make anything of his bisexuality, one is written by Brian Azzarello, and therefore the subject of [[Fanon Discontinuity]] by most fans.
* [[Black Magic]]
* [[Bury Your Gays]]
* [[But Not Too Bi]]
* [[Butt Monkey]]
* [[Character Overlap]]
* [[Combat Pragmatist]]
* [[Comic Book Time]]
** More subverted and played straight. An early incident in the series is heavily implied to have produced side-effects like prolonging his life and youth, but everyone else in the comic ages in real time. Gemma, when first introduced, is about eight years old, and has gone through grade school and her early 20s at appropriate times.
* [[Continuity Overlap]]
** In a funny continuation thereof, Kathryn O'Brien from ''Hitman'' is explicitly the same character who later shows up in several arcs of Garth Ennis's run on ''The Punisher'' under Marvel's MAX imprint. That connects ''Hellblazer'' to ''The Punisher'', one step removed. There's a conversation I'd like to see.
* [[Corrupt Church]]
* [[Crapsack World]]
* [[Crossover Cosmology]]
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]
* [[Deal
** The worst one, though, goes to {{spoiler|John's just-murdered sister. The Devil tells her she's free to go to heaven or back to the world of the living, but her husband -- her murderer -- killed himself, too. The Devil tells her that if she stays in Hell with her now twice-damned husband, he'll fairly divide the infinite torment for eternity between them. She still loves her husband, and accepts the deal.}}
* [[Demon Slaying]]
* [[The Devil Is a Loser]]: The First of the Fallen.
* [[Discontinuity]]
* [[Distaff Counterpart]]
* [[Downer Ending]]
* [[Dreadful Musician]]: In his youth, Constantine was in a punk band called "Mucous Membrane" that he freely admits was terrible.
* [[Drunken Song]]
* [[Early
* [[Easy Amnesia]]
* [[Everybody Lives]] -- "How to Play With Fire".
* [[Evil Twin]]
* [[Exiled From Continuity]]
** Averted by the end of ''[[Brightest Day]]'', where it seems he'll now be a big player in the DCU again.
** Kinda sorta. The John Constantine now appearing in ''Justice League Dark'' is an alternate version to the one in the still-running ''Hellblazer'' series.
Line 85:
** Perhaps the closest to an unequivocal victory John ever has is in the issue End of the Line, where he kills an ancient ancestor and dissuades his Gemma from a magical initiation, apparently ending the Constantines' Weird Shit heritage. He maintains that "I beat fate. It's no failure to be the last Constantine, cause now no one else has to be." You know your life sucks when your ultimate success is removing yourself from the gene pool.
*** {{spoiler|And it doesn't stick. Not only does John have an estranged biological daughter in Tefé Holland, Gemma still goes back to magic.}}
* [[Fatal Flaw]]
** Not to mention the cigarettes.
* [[Forgotten Birthday]]
* [[Fuku Fic]]
* [[God and Satan Are Both Jerks]]
* [[Gorn]]
* [[Hate Plague]]
* [[Have a Gay Old Time]] -- "Fags" being British slang for cigarettes, and Constantine being a chain-smoker, lines like "...you'd better go and get yourself three days worth of food and fags" can sound rather odd to American readers.
** Though in the case of John it could also be [[Bi the Way|male homosexuals.]]
** Naturally, during American Brian Azzarello's first storyline, the double meaning is exploited as Constantine emerges from a shower in prison and claims, "We're all out of fags."
* [[Hide Your Children]]
* [[Hustler]]
* [[I Did What I Had to Do]]
* [[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming]]
* [[I Drank What]]
* [[Infant Immortality]]
* [[Inner Monologue]]
* [[In the Blood]]
* [[It Gets Easier]]
* [[Killed Off for Real]]
* [[Kill
** This is becoming something of a tradition in the comics, with outgoing writers butchering most surviving cast members they introduced. By the end of Mike Carey's run, he killed off not only a surviving member of Ennis' cast {{spoiler|Mange}}, but also {{spoiler|almost every surviving character of any significance in the series' run before even then. Only Chas and Gemma survive from Delano's days, but Constantine's thoroughly alienated the both of them.}}
* [[Knight Templar]]
* [[Long Runner]]
* [[Magical Arsehole]]
* [[Memetic Badass]]
* [[Magnetic Hero]]
* [[Missing Episode]] -- "Shoot," by [[Warren Ellis]], was also known as issue #141. But, due to the fact that it was written when school shootings were all too common and the comic implied that some kids ''wanted'' to be shot, it was shelved pretty quickly. Thankfully, it was released in late 2010. It only took eleven years!
** It should be noted that the cover art and a uncolored version of the comic was [https://web.archive.org/web/20121203053714/http://www.swampthingroots.com/shoot.html available] well before vertigo resurrected printed the comic.
* [[Monster Progenitor]]: The King of the Vampires is this to the Vampires.
* [[Mundanger]]
* [[Mushroom Samba]]
* [[My Greatest Failure]]
* [[Narrator]]
* [[Near
* [[Near
* [[New Powers
* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]
* [[No Bisexuals]]
** Until a storyline during the Azzarello run in which he pulls off a con based around seducing another man.
* [[Noodle Incident]]
** This may also count as a [[Double Subversion]]: you do see the exact incident in issue #11 (Newcastle: A Taste of Things To Come), but until recently, issue #11 had never been re-released in a trade paperback.
* [[Not So Invincible After All]]
** Done to the First of the Fallen twice in Ennis' run. {{spoiler|Constantine tricks him into drinking stout transmuted from holy water, then transmutes it back. At the end of Ennis' run, Ellie kills the First outright, making him wonder where the Devil goes when he dies.}}
* [[Occult Detective]]
* [[Old Friend]]
* [[Out
* [[Photographic Background]]
* [[
* [[The Plan]]
** These frequently spin off into [[Gambit Pileup]] played straight, as John's enemies are both numerous and rarely fools themselves. If John's inadvertently pissed off the wrong bastard, odds are good he's relying on plans that his enemies have already countered, if not co-opted themselves.
* [[Poor
** Reverse version: [[Supernatural (TV series)|Castiel]] was supposed to be Constantine according to both the actor and the writers.
* [[Prison Rape]]
* [[Rage Against the Heavens]]
* [[Really Gets Around]]: The title character. From his appearance in ''[[The Books of Magic]]'' alone, it's clear he's been involved with [[Madame Xanadu]] and [[Zatanna]].
* [[Retcon]]
* [[Revenge]]
* [[Satan]]
** A bit more complicated than usual: the actual Lucifer/Satan, the former Devil, quit his job in Sandman... a plot point which was eventually carried over to Hellblazer, but then it had to be explained who the current Devil was. Turns out the First was God's first creation, and predates even angels. Less powerful than Lucifer, but not subject to angelic (or demonic) limitations.
* [[Self
* [[Serial Killer]]
* [[Shell
{{quote|
* [[Shout
* [[Shrouded in Myth]]
* [[Significant Monogram]]
* [[Sliding Scale of Anti
* [[Smoking Is Cool]] John is rarely without a cigarette and the the most iconic images is Constantine lighting his cigarette like the page image. Also [[Averted]] that he actually has to face the consequences of lung cancer at least till a [[Deal
* [[Stuffed Into the Fridge]]
* [[The End of the World
* [[The Vicar]]
* [[The Vietnam War]]
* [[The War
* [[To Hell and Back]]
* [[Too Soon]]
* [[Trademark Favorite Food|Trademark Favorite Cigarette]] Constantine prefers Silk Cut Cigarettes
* [[Tragic Hero]]
* [[Trenchcoat Brigade]]
* [[Trickster Archetype]]
* [[Unwitting Pawn]]
* [[Villain Team
* [[Violent Glaswegian]]
* [[Weak but Skilled]]
* [[Weirdness Magnet]] {{spoiler|Turns out John's unborn twin is using synchronicity (the ability to warp reality, making things work out for him that comes with being the "Laughing Magican") to screw with Johns life. The twin uses the power to attract all the bad stuff that happens to John whilst using the power to stop him dying from it (neatly explaining all the bad stuff that happens to everyone around him but John manages to escape). Why may you ask? so John will give up, commit mental suicide and allow the twin can take over}}
* [[We Want Our Jerk Back]]
* [[Whatevermancy]]
* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]
* [[Where Everybody Knows Your Flame]]
* [[Woman Scorned]]
* [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair]]
{{reflist}}
{{IGN Top 100 Heroes}}
[[Category:Horror Comic Books]]▼
[[Category:Comic Books of the 1990s]]
[[Category:Comic Books of the 2000s]]
[[Category:Comic Books of the 2010s]]
[[Category:DC Comics Characters]]
[[Category:The Eighties]]
[[Category:Fantasy Comic Books]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Vertigo Comics]]
▲[[Category:The DCU]]
▲[[Category:Hellblazer]]
▲[[Category:Comic Book]]
|