Jordan T. Maxwell
Jun 21, 2005, 03:32 am
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/logo.jpg" align=left border=0 hspace=10 alt="Top 10 John Constantine Stories logo">By: Raul Grau, Seth Kim, Matt Lazorwitz, Jordan T. Maxwell, Dylan McKay
Editor: Jordan T. Maxwell
"I'm the one who steps from the shadows, all trenchcoat and cigarette and arrogance, ready to deal with the madness. Oh, I've got it all sewn up. I can save you. If it takes the last drop of your blood, I'll drive your demons away. I'll kick them in the bollocks and spit on them when they're down, and then I'll be gone back into the darkness, leaving only a nod and a wink and a wisecrack. I walk my path alone...who would want to walk with me?"
Con man. Trickster. Magician. Bastard. Anti-hero. John Constantine has killed his friends, lied to his family, damned the innocent, gone insane more than once...all in the name of saving the world. His glib exterior masks a spirit burdened with the sacrifices and compromises he's made over the years. He is a fractured soul, a man riddled with uncountable flaws and sins behind a mask of cocky charm. And that's why we love him so.
Whether as Swamp Thing's guide or Zatanna's lover, as Tim Hunter's mentor or a pain in the King of Dreams' backside...or as the star of his own solo title, Hellblazer, the longest running Vertigo title, Constantine has walked the shadows of the DC Universe for 20 years. He has influenced a generation of writers and characters and even proved popular enough to warrant his own feature film (boy, was that hard to say with a straight face). In celebration, we here at Comixfan have decided to honor two decades of Constantine with this look at what we consider to be his ten greatest stories. Enjoy!
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/10t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Guys and Dolls"></a>#10 Guys and Dolls
As chronicled in: Hellblazer #59-61
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: William Simpson
John Constantine is good at making friends. He may have a hard time keeping them, but he always makes more. And when the demoness Ellie comes to John, asking for help protecting her from the First of the Fallen, John does his best to make sure another of his friends doesn’t die. As John goes about preparing what he needs to protect Ellie, we hear the tale of how they met, the star crossed love between her and an angel, and the tragedy that came with the birth of their child. John succeeds in saving Ellie, and once more defeats the First of the Fallen, adding to their burning rivalry. John spends much of this story (one of the few uncollected story arcs by Garth Ennis) playing on both sides of his nature, the mystic and the con man, to try to protect someone he cares about. In this story, though, it’s truly the mystic John that wins, proving his knowledge and skill as a mage are not to be underestimated. But he never helps for nothing. In helping Ellie, John collects a favor and an ally, as well as a friend...which puts her in the deadliest position of all because the life expectancy of those indebted to John Constantine is never a long one.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/9t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Revelations"></a>#9 Revelations
As chronicled in: Saga of the Swamp Thing #46
Writer: Alan Moore
Artists: Stephen Bissette and John Totleben
Collected in: Swamp Thing: A Murder of Crows
John Constantine often finds himself in Crisis, just not this literally. With the Crisis on Infinite Earths brewing, Constantine and his mucky student, Swamp Thing, interrupt their tour of America's darklands to associate with the spandexed side of the DC Universe. It is not until you see John standing next to Elongated Man and Aquaman that you can properly comprehend that these characters all inhabit the same universe... Batman was probably foiling a bank robbery when John reduced his last doomsday cult to cinders. Though the multiverse is dying around them, Constantine manages to find an even greater threat to deal with. John spends most of this issue playing master of exposition, explaining in gruesome detail the extent of the true danger (I did not need to know that human fat is phosphorescent), but the chief revelations are about himself. When asked about the exorcism at Newcastle, his sarcastic charm and dark past merge, yielding "The kid died and I was in a loony bin for a few weeks, but other than that it went really well." That is the real John Constantine, a cold heartless bastard saving the world despite itself.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/shootsmallt.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Shoot"></a>#8 Shoot
Intended to have been chronicled in: Hellblazer #141
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Phil Jimenez
It can't be denied, the most significant element of Shoot is that it never saw the light of day. The reason for this decision was unique: Shoot was too prescient. While comics have dealt with social issues since Stan Lee's prime, peaking with Dennis O'Neil, due to production lags from writing, drawing, colouring, lettering and printing, a comic book can only be so timely. But Shoot, a comic book dealing with school shootings, began production prior to the infamous Columbine tragedy and the wounds were deemed too raw for such a biting story. And as much as the controversy around its non-publication created interest, the story's teeth are why it is still discussed to this day. Shoot taps into one of the most fundamental conflicts of the human condition, the search for something, anything to hold onto. It is a great example of how the horrors of humanity are John's greatest adversary. Most striking of all though, is that when the calm cool and collected Constantine is faced with a problem he can't con and manipulate away, he responds exactly the same as everyone else, with pure rage.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/bbt.JPG" align=left hspace=10 alt="Bad Blood"></a>#7 Bad Blood
As chronicled in: Hellblazer Special: Bad Blood #1-4
Writer: Jaime Delano
Artist: Phillip Bond
Even as an old man, you can’t keep John Constantine down. In Bad Blood, a story set in the not too distant future, John winds up caught between two factions of British politics: the swiftly dying royal family and it’s new republican replacement. The now sixty something John must use his skills as both a con man and mage to help protect a friend who just might be the heiress to the throne. In the end, John succeeds, for once not having to lose his friends in the process and it turns out that a little Constantine has now made itself into royalty. Bad Blood is important partially because it is a clever and quick witted tale spotlighting everything that makes a good John Constantine story: a touch of magic and a bit of a caper. It also features the return of original series writer Jaime Delano to John’s world, and the first work by artist Phillip Bond on a John Constantine story. But above all it proves that the older John Constantine gets, the craftier he gets.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/htt.JPG" align=left hspace=10 alt="Hard Time"></a>#6 Hard Time
As chronicled in: Hellblazer #146-150
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Richard Corben
Collected in: Hellblazer: Hard Time
In his long and storied history, we’ve seen John Constantine take on gods, demons, angels, vampires, ghosts, witches and monsters of every stripe and color. So when 100 Bullets mastermind Azzarello dropped him without explanation into the stark and brutal reality of the American prison system…it raised a few eyebrows. The magical side of John was implied, but not apparent and in its place we saw much more clearly the side of John’s personality that makes him so dangerous and so charming. He’s a con man, a grifter. And watching as he stands aloof and alone, we are reminded that for all his wisecracks and glib banter, John Constantine is not to be trifled with. He doesn’t bother with prison politics, freely pissing off anyone and everyone he encounters, manipulating the various factions and threats against him, and even engineering a prison riot from solitary confinement so that he can alleviate his craving for nicotine. It brings to mind another of Moore’s creations, Watchmen’s Rorschach when he is imprisoned…Constantine is not locked up with these killers and madmen. They’re locked up with him.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/5t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="The Shadow World"></a>#5 The Shadow World
As chronicled in: The Books of Magic #2
Writer: Neil Gaiman
Artists: Scott Hampton
Collected in: The Books of Magic
Welcome to America- the land of opportunity, liberty, and magic. Destined to be the most powerful mage of the modern world, young Tim Hunter journies through the mystical side of the continental United States, with John Constantine playing tour guide. John reveals the Shadow World... the streets and avenues are ones we know, but everything is more exciting and more dangerous. Tim is introduced to the dark denizens of DC, from reanimated heroes to indentured godlings... most of whom have very strong feelings about Constantine. While interweaving the mystical side of DC, Gaiman links everyone through John... they all know him, and most wish they didn't. Constantine briefly leaves Tim in the care of Zatanna, while he goes off to combat ninja death squads and cult assassins seeking to harm the boy, but danger still finds its way to Tim. Surrounded by over a hundred dark magicians and demons, Tim and Zatanna seem clearly outmatched, but then John enters the room, slightly battered from his recent exploits, and... everybody... stops. John Constantine is fundamentally an ordinary man, with no grand power to speak of, but everyone fears him, and with good reason. He may not be the most powerful, but he always triumphs, because he is willing to do anything to win. Sometimes a bad reputation is all the magic you need.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/4t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Growth Patterns"></a>#4 Growth Patterns
As chronicled in: Saga of the Swamp Thing #37
Writer: Alan Moore
Artists: Rick Veitch and John Totleben
Collected in: Swamp Thing: The Curse
Many times in the world of comics, first appearances can be embarrassing little incidents that are better off swept under the rug. But John Constantine's first appearance was like a glass of cold water in the face...with the glass included. After his first body is poisoned with toxic chemicals, Swamp Thing discovers that he is beyond death and can create a new body from the vegetation around him. And that's when the bastard comes knocking. In what is considered one of the best arcs of the Swamp Thing saga, Earth Elemental and comic fan alike are introduced to John Constantine and his world of magic and deception. Right here at the beginning, Alan Moore sets the standard for one of the most intriguing characters in comic literature, a template that has hardly been tampered with during the character's colorful 20 year history. Growth Patterns is the beginning, a start as promising as it is strong. "I'm a nasty piece of work, chief. Ask anybody," a smiling Constantine says to an irate and confused Swamp Thing. We had no idea.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/3t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Newcastle: A Taste of Things to Come"></a>#3 Newcastle: A Taste of Things to Come
As chronicled in: Hellblazer #11
Writer: Jamie Delano
Artists: Richard Piers Rayner and Mark Buckingham
Collected in: John Constantine: Hellblazer - Rare Cuts
It's hard to think of Newcastle as anything other than the definitive John Constantine story. Both in that it was arguably the most important incident in John's life and that it contains all the elements that readers have come to love and expect from a Constantine story. The horrors of monsters from hell in the form of the Norfulthing and Nergal. The horrors of humanity with themes of incest and rape. Trickery and manipulation, although in this case, John is on the receiving end. And most importantly, someone is hurt because of John: an innocent girl, condemned to hell because of John's arrogance. The end result is John learning a lesson he will never forget, providing the motivation for his mastery of the arcane arts as well as the con and inspiring many of his quests. Nergal is set up as a truly formidable foe, who to this day remains one of John's fiercest and most feared enemies. And most importantly, Newcastle is an unforgetable and haunting horror story.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/2t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="A Murder of Crows/The Summoning/The End"></a>#2 A Murder of Crows/The Summoning/The End
As chronicled in: Saga of the Swamp Thing #48-50
Writer: Alan Moore
Artists: John Totleben, Stan Woch, Alfredo Alcala, Stephen Bissette, Rick Veitch
Collected in: Swamp Thing: A Murder of Crows
It was the end of the world as we knew it…and not everyone left feeling fine. For a year, John Constantine had hinted to the Swamp Thing that some great evil was on the horizon. And everything that he encountered…the resurgence of monsters, the rising fear and paranoia, even the collapsing of a multiverse was only prelude to the real threat at hand (leave it to Alan Moore to turn a sweeping cosmic event like Crisis on Infinite Earths into an opening act). These three issues brought that threat to its final culmination as the architects behind this apocalypse set their plot into motion…even if they were buried under tons of soil and foliage in the process. As the great swirling chaos beyond Hell was awakened, Swamp Thing and John Constantine separately gathered their allies from the farthest reaches of the world and the deepest trenches of DC continuity. We see here for the first real time Constantine’s willingness to sacrifice anyone as members of his party die and go mad. We’re also introduced to the history and relationship between John and Zatanna. The story’s morally ambiguous resolution…as good and evil encounter one another not in hostility and conflict but in understanding and reconciliation…is a perfect reflection on John’s personality. He is a man who does not live in absolutes, but walks the worlds between, not an agent of good or evil, but a defender of the variety in between.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/dht.JPG" align=left hspace=10 alt="Dangerous Habits"></a>#1 Dangerous Habits
As chronicled in: Hellblazer #41-46
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: William Simpson
Collected in: Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits
The creative mind most closely associated with John Constantine, after his creator Alan Moore, is longtime Hellblazer writer Garth Ennis. And this is the story that ignited that legendary and definitive run. Definitive is a funny word…not only to say (I’ll give you a few seconds while you do), but also to pin down. It’s used a lot in these kinds of lists. But in all of Constantine’s tales, the word is never more apt than when applied to this story. One of John’s longest standing character traits is his love for cigarettes. So of course the first thing Ennis does is give him a brand new shiny case of lung cancer. We follow John through his journey for a cure as he moves through panic, despair, self loathing…and ultimately brilliance. Because John Constantine is never more dangerous or cunning than when backed into a corner with no apparent way out: that’s when he gets his most inspired. In the greatest con ever pulled, John promises his soul to two of the three lords of Hell after finding out the third had already laid claim to his soul (something to do with Guinness and holy water, you see)…and then promptly slits his wrists, at which point all three show up to claim their “prize” only to realize they’ve been duped. They can’t all three have him; if any of them were to back down, it would upset the balance of power in Hell; and if they were to go to war over it, the only winner would be their mutual adversaries in Heaven. They are left with no choice but to heal Constantine, grow him a new body with fresh lungs and see that no harm befalls him. And in true John Constantine style, his first act returned to health and mortality…is to light up a silk cut and give them all the finger. Definitive.
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Before we go, we'd like to bestow an honorable mention to Warren Ellis and John Cassady's To Be in England, in the Summertime from Planetary #7 as the greatest John Constantine story to not have John Constantine in it (focusing instead on Constantine analogue, Jack Carter). A great commentary on the character and the era that spawned him. And yes, we agree that it's a bit odd how Ellis' best Constantine stories either never saw the light of day or don't actually feature John Constantine himself. But we don't like to think about it too much...
And thus brings to a close the Top Ten John Constantine Stories. We hope you've enjoyed this walk through the haunted mansions of memory with us. But this is where we part ways, I'm afraid. Oh, finding your way back isn't that hard...unless you're scared of the dark. Don't worry though. Smell that nicotine? Hear the rustling of a trench coat? There's your guide now. Take his hand and he'll get you out...and if you're very lucky, he'll get you out alive.
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Dangerous Habits, Hard Time, A Murder of Crows/The Summoning/The End: Jordan T. Maxwell
Revelations, The Shadow World: Raul Grau
Bad Blood, Guys and Dolls: Matt Lazorwitz
Newcastle: A Taste of Things to Come, Shoot: Dylan McKay
Growth Patterns: Seth Kim
Contributors: Juan de Joya, James Groves, Steve Pirrie
Image Assistance: Nick Costanzo, John Q.T. Nguyen
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writers involved, and are not reflective of Comixfan or its other staff in general.
Editor: Jordan T. Maxwell
"I'm the one who steps from the shadows, all trenchcoat and cigarette and arrogance, ready to deal with the madness. Oh, I've got it all sewn up. I can save you. If it takes the last drop of your blood, I'll drive your demons away. I'll kick them in the bollocks and spit on them when they're down, and then I'll be gone back into the darkness, leaving only a nod and a wink and a wisecrack. I walk my path alone...who would want to walk with me?"
Con man. Trickster. Magician. Bastard. Anti-hero. John Constantine has killed his friends, lied to his family, damned the innocent, gone insane more than once...all in the name of saving the world. His glib exterior masks a spirit burdened with the sacrifices and compromises he's made over the years. He is a fractured soul, a man riddled with uncountable flaws and sins behind a mask of cocky charm. And that's why we love him so.
Whether as Swamp Thing's guide or Zatanna's lover, as Tim Hunter's mentor or a pain in the King of Dreams' backside...or as the star of his own solo title, Hellblazer, the longest running Vertigo title, Constantine has walked the shadows of the DC Universe for 20 years. He has influenced a generation of writers and characters and even proved popular enough to warrant his own feature film (boy, was that hard to say with a straight face). In celebration, we here at Comixfan have decided to honor two decades of Constantine with this look at what we consider to be his ten greatest stories. Enjoy!
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/10t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Guys and Dolls"></a>#10 Guys and Dolls
As chronicled in: Hellblazer #59-61
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: William Simpson
John Constantine is good at making friends. He may have a hard time keeping them, but he always makes more. And when the demoness Ellie comes to John, asking for help protecting her from the First of the Fallen, John does his best to make sure another of his friends doesn’t die. As John goes about preparing what he needs to protect Ellie, we hear the tale of how they met, the star crossed love between her and an angel, and the tragedy that came with the birth of their child. John succeeds in saving Ellie, and once more defeats the First of the Fallen, adding to their burning rivalry. John spends much of this story (one of the few uncollected story arcs by Garth Ennis) playing on both sides of his nature, the mystic and the con man, to try to protect someone he cares about. In this story, though, it’s truly the mystic John that wins, proving his knowledge and skill as a mage are not to be underestimated. But he never helps for nothing. In helping Ellie, John collects a favor and an ally, as well as a friend...which puts her in the deadliest position of all because the life expectancy of those indebted to John Constantine is never a long one.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/9t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Revelations"></a>#9 Revelations
As chronicled in: Saga of the Swamp Thing #46
Writer: Alan Moore
Artists: Stephen Bissette and John Totleben
Collected in: Swamp Thing: A Murder of Crows
John Constantine often finds himself in Crisis, just not this literally. With the Crisis on Infinite Earths brewing, Constantine and his mucky student, Swamp Thing, interrupt their tour of America's darklands to associate with the spandexed side of the DC Universe. It is not until you see John standing next to Elongated Man and Aquaman that you can properly comprehend that these characters all inhabit the same universe... Batman was probably foiling a bank robbery when John reduced his last doomsday cult to cinders. Though the multiverse is dying around them, Constantine manages to find an even greater threat to deal with. John spends most of this issue playing master of exposition, explaining in gruesome detail the extent of the true danger (I did not need to know that human fat is phosphorescent), but the chief revelations are about himself. When asked about the exorcism at Newcastle, his sarcastic charm and dark past merge, yielding "The kid died and I was in a loony bin for a few weeks, but other than that it went really well." That is the real John Constantine, a cold heartless bastard saving the world despite itself.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/shootsmallt.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Shoot"></a>#8 Shoot
Intended to have been chronicled in: Hellblazer #141
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Phil Jimenez
It can't be denied, the most significant element of Shoot is that it never saw the light of day. The reason for this decision was unique: Shoot was too prescient. While comics have dealt with social issues since Stan Lee's prime, peaking with Dennis O'Neil, due to production lags from writing, drawing, colouring, lettering and printing, a comic book can only be so timely. But Shoot, a comic book dealing with school shootings, began production prior to the infamous Columbine tragedy and the wounds were deemed too raw for such a biting story. And as much as the controversy around its non-publication created interest, the story's teeth are why it is still discussed to this day. Shoot taps into one of the most fundamental conflicts of the human condition, the search for something, anything to hold onto. It is a great example of how the horrors of humanity are John's greatest adversary. Most striking of all though, is that when the calm cool and collected Constantine is faced with a problem he can't con and manipulate away, he responds exactly the same as everyone else, with pure rage.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/bbt.JPG" align=left hspace=10 alt="Bad Blood"></a>#7 Bad Blood
As chronicled in: Hellblazer Special: Bad Blood #1-4
Writer: Jaime Delano
Artist: Phillip Bond
Even as an old man, you can’t keep John Constantine down. In Bad Blood, a story set in the not too distant future, John winds up caught between two factions of British politics: the swiftly dying royal family and it’s new republican replacement. The now sixty something John must use his skills as both a con man and mage to help protect a friend who just might be the heiress to the throne. In the end, John succeeds, for once not having to lose his friends in the process and it turns out that a little Constantine has now made itself into royalty. Bad Blood is important partially because it is a clever and quick witted tale spotlighting everything that makes a good John Constantine story: a touch of magic and a bit of a caper. It also features the return of original series writer Jaime Delano to John’s world, and the first work by artist Phillip Bond on a John Constantine story. But above all it proves that the older John Constantine gets, the craftier he gets.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/htt.JPG" align=left hspace=10 alt="Hard Time"></a>#6 Hard Time
As chronicled in: Hellblazer #146-150
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Richard Corben
Collected in: Hellblazer: Hard Time
In his long and storied history, we’ve seen John Constantine take on gods, demons, angels, vampires, ghosts, witches and monsters of every stripe and color. So when 100 Bullets mastermind Azzarello dropped him without explanation into the stark and brutal reality of the American prison system…it raised a few eyebrows. The magical side of John was implied, but not apparent and in its place we saw much more clearly the side of John’s personality that makes him so dangerous and so charming. He’s a con man, a grifter. And watching as he stands aloof and alone, we are reminded that for all his wisecracks and glib banter, John Constantine is not to be trifled with. He doesn’t bother with prison politics, freely pissing off anyone and everyone he encounters, manipulating the various factions and threats against him, and even engineering a prison riot from solitary confinement so that he can alleviate his craving for nicotine. It brings to mind another of Moore’s creations, Watchmen’s Rorschach when he is imprisoned…Constantine is not locked up with these killers and madmen. They’re locked up with him.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/5t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="The Shadow World"></a>#5 The Shadow World
As chronicled in: The Books of Magic #2
Writer: Neil Gaiman
Artists: Scott Hampton
Collected in: The Books of Magic
Welcome to America- the land of opportunity, liberty, and magic. Destined to be the most powerful mage of the modern world, young Tim Hunter journies through the mystical side of the continental United States, with John Constantine playing tour guide. John reveals the Shadow World... the streets and avenues are ones we know, but everything is more exciting and more dangerous. Tim is introduced to the dark denizens of DC, from reanimated heroes to indentured godlings... most of whom have very strong feelings about Constantine. While interweaving the mystical side of DC, Gaiman links everyone through John... they all know him, and most wish they didn't. Constantine briefly leaves Tim in the care of Zatanna, while he goes off to combat ninja death squads and cult assassins seeking to harm the boy, but danger still finds its way to Tim. Surrounded by over a hundred dark magicians and demons, Tim and Zatanna seem clearly outmatched, but then John enters the room, slightly battered from his recent exploits, and... everybody... stops. John Constantine is fundamentally an ordinary man, with no grand power to speak of, but everyone fears him, and with good reason. He may not be the most powerful, but he always triumphs, because he is willing to do anything to win. Sometimes a bad reputation is all the magic you need.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/4t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Growth Patterns"></a>#4 Growth Patterns
As chronicled in: Saga of the Swamp Thing #37
Writer: Alan Moore
Artists: Rick Veitch and John Totleben
Collected in: Swamp Thing: The Curse
Many times in the world of comics, first appearances can be embarrassing little incidents that are better off swept under the rug. But John Constantine's first appearance was like a glass of cold water in the face...with the glass included. After his first body is poisoned with toxic chemicals, Swamp Thing discovers that he is beyond death and can create a new body from the vegetation around him. And that's when the bastard comes knocking. In what is considered one of the best arcs of the Swamp Thing saga, Earth Elemental and comic fan alike are introduced to John Constantine and his world of magic and deception. Right here at the beginning, Alan Moore sets the standard for one of the most intriguing characters in comic literature, a template that has hardly been tampered with during the character's colorful 20 year history. Growth Patterns is the beginning, a start as promising as it is strong. "I'm a nasty piece of work, chief. Ask anybody," a smiling Constantine says to an irate and confused Swamp Thing. We had no idea.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/3t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Newcastle: A Taste of Things to Come"></a>#3 Newcastle: A Taste of Things to Come
As chronicled in: Hellblazer #11
Writer: Jamie Delano
Artists: Richard Piers Rayner and Mark Buckingham
Collected in: John Constantine: Hellblazer - Rare Cuts
It's hard to think of Newcastle as anything other than the definitive John Constantine story. Both in that it was arguably the most important incident in John's life and that it contains all the elements that readers have come to love and expect from a Constantine story. The horrors of monsters from hell in the form of the Norfulthing and Nergal. The horrors of humanity with themes of incest and rape. Trickery and manipulation, although in this case, John is on the receiving end. And most importantly, someone is hurt because of John: an innocent girl, condemned to hell because of John's arrogance. The end result is John learning a lesson he will never forget, providing the motivation for his mastery of the arcane arts as well as the con and inspiring many of his quests. Nergal is set up as a truly formidable foe, who to this day remains one of John's fiercest and most feared enemies. And most importantly, Newcastle is an unforgetable and haunting horror story.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/2t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="A Murder of Crows/The Summoning/The End"></a>#2 A Murder of Crows/The Summoning/The End
As chronicled in: Saga of the Swamp Thing #48-50
Writer: Alan Moore
Artists: John Totleben, Stan Woch, Alfredo Alcala, Stephen Bissette, Rick Veitch
Collected in: Swamp Thing: A Murder of Crows
It was the end of the world as we knew it…and not everyone left feeling fine. For a year, John Constantine had hinted to the Swamp Thing that some great evil was on the horizon. And everything that he encountered…the resurgence of monsters, the rising fear and paranoia, even the collapsing of a multiverse was only prelude to the real threat at hand (leave it to Alan Moore to turn a sweeping cosmic event like Crisis on Infinite Earths into an opening act). These three issues brought that threat to its final culmination as the architects behind this apocalypse set their plot into motion…even if they were buried under tons of soil and foliage in the process. As the great swirling chaos beyond Hell was awakened, Swamp Thing and John Constantine separately gathered their allies from the farthest reaches of the world and the deepest trenches of DC continuity. We see here for the first real time Constantine’s willingness to sacrifice anyone as members of his party die and go mad. We’re also introduced to the history and relationship between John and Zatanna. The story’s morally ambiguous resolution…as good and evil encounter one another not in hostility and conflict but in understanding and reconciliation…is a perfect reflection on John’s personality. He is a man who does not live in absolutes, but walks the worlds between, not an agent of good or evil, but a defender of the variety in between.
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<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top10constantine/dht.JPG" align=left hspace=10 alt="Dangerous Habits"></a>#1 Dangerous Habits
As chronicled in: Hellblazer #41-46
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: William Simpson
Collected in: Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits
The creative mind most closely associated with John Constantine, after his creator Alan Moore, is longtime Hellblazer writer Garth Ennis. And this is the story that ignited that legendary and definitive run. Definitive is a funny word…not only to say (I’ll give you a few seconds while you do), but also to pin down. It’s used a lot in these kinds of lists. But in all of Constantine’s tales, the word is never more apt than when applied to this story. One of John’s longest standing character traits is his love for cigarettes. So of course the first thing Ennis does is give him a brand new shiny case of lung cancer. We follow John through his journey for a cure as he moves through panic, despair, self loathing…and ultimately brilliance. Because John Constantine is never more dangerous or cunning than when backed into a corner with no apparent way out: that’s when he gets his most inspired. In the greatest con ever pulled, John promises his soul to two of the three lords of Hell after finding out the third had already laid claim to his soul (something to do with Guinness and holy water, you see)…and then promptly slits his wrists, at which point all three show up to claim their “prize” only to realize they’ve been duped. They can’t all three have him; if any of them were to back down, it would upset the balance of power in Hell; and if they were to go to war over it, the only winner would be their mutual adversaries in Heaven. They are left with no choice but to heal Constantine, grow him a new body with fresh lungs and see that no harm befalls him. And in true John Constantine style, his first act returned to health and mortality…is to light up a silk cut and give them all the finger. Definitive.
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Before we go, we'd like to bestow an honorable mention to Warren Ellis and John Cassady's To Be in England, in the Summertime from Planetary #7 as the greatest John Constantine story to not have John Constantine in it (focusing instead on Constantine analogue, Jack Carter). A great commentary on the character and the era that spawned him. And yes, we agree that it's a bit odd how Ellis' best Constantine stories either never saw the light of day or don't actually feature John Constantine himself. But we don't like to think about it too much...
And thus brings to a close the Top Ten John Constantine Stories. We hope you've enjoyed this walk through the haunted mansions of memory with us. But this is where we part ways, I'm afraid. Oh, finding your way back isn't that hard...unless you're scared of the dark. Don't worry though. Smell that nicotine? Hear the rustling of a trench coat? There's your guide now. Take his hand and he'll get you out...and if you're very lucky, he'll get you out alive.
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Dangerous Habits, Hard Time, A Murder of Crows/The Summoning/The End: Jordan T. Maxwell
Revelations, The Shadow World: Raul Grau
Bad Blood, Guys and Dolls: Matt Lazorwitz
Newcastle: A Taste of Things to Come, Shoot: Dylan McKay
Growth Patterns: Seth Kim
Contributors: Juan de Joya, James Groves, Steve Pirrie
Image Assistance: Nick Costanzo, John Q.T. Nguyen
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writers involved, and are not reflective of Comixfan or its other staff in general.