John Constantine

[fajrdrako]

I just read an item on Comics Alliance that the comic Hellblazer is being rebooted, moved from Vertigo into the DC Universe continuity, and moved to a PG rating.



This can only be a good thing.

I fell in love with John Constantine back when Alan Moore invented him in Swamp Thing - and what a wonderful comic that was. I loved him when used by Neil Gaiman in Books of Magic.

Then he got his own comic at Vertigo, and I pretty much hated it all the way. I have problems with Vertigo: maybe it was the adult rating - which in theory I'd like, right? - but it seemed to lead to comics that were dark, depressing, violent and male-directed.

The result being, as so often happens, a character I loved in the setting of other comics, failed to entertain me in his own title. Jamie Delano's Constantine was such a loser I lost interest. I still read the comic from time to time, if writers I liked - emphatically not Delano - did a run. Warren Ellis, for example. I still loved John Contantine (tough, rough, chainsmoking bisexual smart-ass that he was) but the comic has been consistently high on the two things I like least about comics - gross and violent - and low on the things I do like, like heroism and interpersonal dynamics.

So... that's comics for you. It's a wide field with something for everyone, and if I longed for the John Constantine of my dreams - a guy who looks like Sting, acts like Felix Castor, and appears in stories with plots I like - it wasn't with much hope. Constantine was what the writers and editors wanted him to be. Just another DC/Vertigo comic I didn't need to buy....

And now? Written by Jeff Lemire. Part of the regular DC run. I might just like this one.

Or is that too optimistic?