Character Profile: John Constantine

With the premier of the new TV series on NBC of Constantine (Oct 24 2014) we thought it would be a good idea to shed some light on the story line and comic series that has lead to it. John Constantine was born in Liverpool, England, but spent most of his life growing up in London. He was born a twin, which he happened to strangle in the womb. His mother died in childbirth, and his father blamed John, causing  the root of the friction between them. When he wasn’t running away from home, John Constantine was raised by his older sister Cheryl Masters.

Known as “The Constant One,” John is a descendant from a long line of magic users. Fascinated by the occult from a young age, John threw himself into learning magic to escape his unhappy family life. He eventually moved in with roommate Chas Chandler, and the two became best friends. Around this time, John began following occult circles around London (as well as the Punk music scene), and eventually became the magic-using, demon-tricking con artist he is today.

From the very start of his character’s introduction, Constantine has been a chain-smoker. His brand of choice is Silk Cut, though he has been seen smoking Marlboro or Camel’s from time. Despite being a chain smoker, Constantine does not take any other drugs, and once called his friend a “dirty lowlife bastard” when he found a needle with a nondescript drug in it. Within the current DC Universe, Constantine’s back story heavily involves the sorcerer Nick Necro, under whom he studied. His signature trenchcoat was stolen from Necro.

John Constantine is the star of the comic book Hellblazer. The character was originally created by Alan Moore, John Totleben, and Steve Bissette as a supporting character to Swamp Thing inThe Saga of Swamp Thing #37 – Growth Patterns (first cameo appearance was in The Saga of the Swamp Thing #25). Moore wanted to create a mystical character with a working class background, as well as being based visually on the rock star Sting.

Constantine’s back story, however, can be mostly attributed to writer Jamie Delano, who was the first to write about Constantine in a real world environment, with the groundbreaking Hellblazer title. The comic has been running under the name Hellblazer since 1987. The series ran for more then twenty years and is still in print. The character John Constantine has also made a variety of appearances in other comics as a regular character or cameo. He has been seen at various events in the DC universe, as well as others, such as Green Lantern #81 where he was spotted at the Funeral of Hal Jordan.

Check out the run of the Hellblazer Comic series (starting Jan 1988) here, on our site, including a number of excellent key and first appearance issues, among other titles.

Titles available

Hellblazer series 1 1988-2013

Annual #1 1989

Bad Blood (4 part mini series) 2000

The Books of Magic (2 part mini series) 1997

NOTE: (Derek) This series is seriously heating up, get it while you can.