....and just who is John Constantine?
John Constantine is one of the most enduring character's ever written for comics. Created by Alan Moore, he is
a mage, a conman, a man of mystery and at times, a complete bastard. He is all these things
and more. His first appearance was in Swamp Thing #37 where he showed Swamp
Thing how to travel through the green. He also introduced the 'Bog God' to the
Parliament of Trees where Swamp Thing learned more about himself and his destiny
as Guardian of the Green.
John Constantine went on to appear in many other stories, finally getting his own series Hellblazer:John Constantine where many wonderful writers and artists wove tales around this chain smoking, heavy drinking foul mouth trenchcoat wearing mage.
.....and why is he so popular?
John Constantine's popularity has never waned. Ever since his first appearance in Swamp Thing, he has ended up with a huge following. There is even a CD dedicated to John Constantine by an Italian alternative band Urbanatribu. Perhaps part of his appeal is that his character is so intriguing, perhaps it due to his sharp wit and sardonic sense of humour. Or perhaps it is the fact that for such an anti hero, he can at times be a pretty nice guy.
....so what has this guy done that's so special?
John Constantine's achievements are many. Here are just a few of the things
that he is famous, (or infamous) for.
1 He
has outwitted the First Of The Fallen on numerous occasions.
2 He tricked the archangel Gabriel into giving up his heart, then cut his wings off with a chainsaw.
3 He has taken on both the Damnation Army and The
Resurrection Crusade and has won.
4 He once faced down a roomful of the world's most powerful witches, warlocks and magicians in order to save Tim Hunter and Zatanna.
5 He gathered the world's most powerful sorcerers,
mages and entities to fight the Brujeria.
5 His demon tainted blood brought about the death of the King Of The Vampires.
6 Cut a soul sigil into a succubus (Ellie) to hide her from the First Of The Fallen.
7 And most recently, he has raised the rotting corpse of Alec Holland in order to house Swamp Thing's soul in order to restore it to the elemental once more after it had been ripped out of him during an encounter with a demon.
This little list of achievements barely scratch the surface but if I were to list them all, I would still be sitting here this time next week. The one thing about John Constantine is this:
1 He knows the rules.
2 He can exploit situations to his advantage.
3 He does not take shit from anybody.
With a wink and a cocky grin, he will appear, let out some piece of cryptic information or advice then disappear in cloud of cigarette smoke. He does not need weighty declamations to get his message across, instead his dialogue is filled with snappy remarks, nasty barbs and a world weary wisdom. In other words, John Constantine knows what's what and can spot bullshit half a mile away.
Anti-hero, drunk, womanizer, adrenaline junkie conman, thief, bastard, worldsaver, mage, whatever he is, he is still the most complex and fascinating comic book characters around today. Only John Constantine could get away with calling Batman 'squire'. With his wry humour and reputation that Aleister Crowley would envy, John Constantine continues his adventures, usually getting in the way of some pretty heavy supernatural forces, but with his working class common sense and wisdom he will emerge victorious then be off to his favourite pub for a gin and tonic and a Silk Cut.