From: tara@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Lady Johanna Constantine)
Subject: Re: new HELLBLAZER reader...needs background...
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 03:46:10 GMT

jordan@castor (USENET's Chuck) writes:

>Brilliant choice.  I have to put myself forward as THE biggest Hellblazer
>fan on the net, and so of course most qualified for the task at hand...
>(insert multiple smileys here for the irony impaired)

:) :) :) :)

>	John himself is pretty much the only constant character in the book,
>since most of his friends have died.  (They usually die indirectly as a
>result of one of John's ideas/spells/mistakes/etc, and John is carrying a
>lot of emotional baggage because of that one.)  The only character that has
>remained alive since the beginning is Chas, Constantine's cab driver friend,
>I believe. 

(Chas is an asset because John can't drive.)

I seem to remember John driving in Book II of Books of Magic.

>	Ellie - a demon.  (She's actually a succubus or incubus or something
>	like that.) 
                                            ^^^^^^^^^ that's just what she is.


>	The First of the Fallen - the Devil, in at least some way, shape, or
>	form.  He has it in for John Constantine because JC tricked him into
>	drinking holy water a few issues back, and then further tricked him
>	by selling his soul to each member of Hell's Triumvirate, setting
>	up a situation where none of them could claim it, and they must keep
>	John Constantine alive for fear of bringing about the Apocalypse.

Not the First of the Fallen.  That's Lucifer Morningstar, as a recent issue
made clear.  It is the Adversary himself, who was already in Hell when 
the Morningstar got there, that John pissed off.  It has recently been
mentioned in alt.mythology that Lucifer was never Satan, but was thought os
due to a misreading for a bible passage.


>	The books I know of that JC has appeared in are: Hellblazer, Swamp
>Thing, The Books of Magic, the Sandman, and Doom Patrol (a single issue
>parody-type story.)

He was in a panel (wearing very little I might add) of the SECRET ORIGINS
issue with Zatanna and Zatara's origins, and I don not know the numbers for
these, but there is mention of a cameo appearence in the framing sequence
of a Batman villians SECRET ORIGINS issue written by Neil Gaiman.


>Hellblazer is a great comic and it'd be worth your trouble to get all of the
>issues (they're still pretty cheap), because they all contribute to making
>John Constantine one of the most three-dimensional characters in comics.  If
>not that, you can start with issue 41, which is when new writer Garth Ennis
>took over.  The quality of the stories has been a little inconsistent, but
>I much prefer Ennis' work to the first 40 issues, especially his interpretation
>of John Constantine's character.  (Plus, he's a Pogues fan, so he's got to
>have good taste!)


I too like Mr. Ennis's John, though I fear I may be in the minority on this
issue.  I also love Neil Gaiman's take on him in BoM II.

>USENET's Chuck

>-- 
>                  Chuck Jordan | jordan@castor.cs.uga.edu
>         "Is that gravy?  I thought the dog had gotten sick ..."
>	           -- Mystery Science Theater 3000



bye

LJC
-- 
Lady Johanna Constantine | "When you remove the pin, Mr Hand
tara@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu    |  Grenade is no longer your friend"
Founder of the Church of Our Lady of the Perpetually Clueless
Disclaimer: The U of I doesn't give a damn or blast WHAT I do
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