Fans of John Constantine, the bastard hellblazer that everyone loves, have been hoping for a new comic book series ever since his last one ended a couple of (seemingly long) years ago.
Once the vaunted pillar of Vertigo Comics, the mature imprint of DC Comics in its longest running monthly title, Constantine‘s popularity with readers allowed him to make the successful leap from the printed page and into film, television, cartoons, toys, books and even video games.
When Vertigo folded, middling titles featured him over the years with the original, true essence of the character seemingly lost, those important aspects of modern politics and culture, horror and inhumanity parlayed by wicked humans.
From this columnist’s perspective, a reader and fan who has been with the character since the very beginning, the best long form story runs featuring John Constantine were by writers Jamie Delano, Garth Ennis and Andy Diggle. They absolutely understood what made John and his world tick and still had the ability to shape him and his stories into their own, memorable and relevant takes.
Writer Si Spurrier and artist Aaron Campbell, the most recent, albeit short, caretakers of John, were able to successfully do that as well during their twelve-issue John Constantine: Hellblazer run on DC’s Black Label imprint during 2019-2020. Their series was lauded by fans and critics alike, a return to dark glory for the character! In that title, Constantine cemented himself in his English roots. They embroiled the middle-aged slight-of-hand conjurer in a horror story rife with inner-city gangs, the stigmas associated with immigration and societal integration, economic depravity, petty black magic, human greed and hungry demons.
Perfect, character-driven, fodder for readers with a social conscious who also happened to enjoy the horror genre.
Thankfully for fans, Spurrier and Campbell always had more Constantine stories to tell. And today, that promise comes to fruition with the new eight-part, monthly miniseries: John Constatine Hellblazer: Dead In America.
Compellingly written by Si Spurrier (The Flash, Coda, Damn Them All, The Dreaming, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra) and atmospherically illustrated again by Aaron Campbell (West of Sundown, Infidel, The Shadow, James Bond: Felix Leiter), John Constantine Hellblazer: Dead In America, sees the titular dark arts magician back where it all started when he first appeared in print, nearly forty years ago within the pages of Saga of the Swamp Thing: the gold ‘ole U.S. of A.
Picking up where the previous series left off (no worries, there’s a “The Story So Far” page that starts things up), John has cheated death yet again. Sort of. With a heart that won’t beat and a flesh that is decaying, he’s wanted for murder and on the run in America. But the Lord of Dreams needs John’s help and John, being John, looks to parlay that service to aid his own ends. With an American horror in frightful ascendancy, Constantine must look to both denizen of Hell and other “friends” in order to save both himself and those he cares for.
Each issue of John Constantine Hellblazer: Dead In America is extra length, making each chapter a juicy exploration into the horrors that make America – and John – tick.
Run like hell to your local comic book shop and pick up the tantalizing first issue of John Constantine Hellblazer: Dead In America today and the promise of a horror story for the ages!
