Hellblazer

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Creation of character

The character John Constantine was originally created by Alan Moore, debuting in the horror series Swamp Thing. When he first appears, John Constantine is a trenchcoated sorcerer of ambivalent morality, who physically closely resembles the musician Sting, (specifically as he appeared in the movie Quadrophenia). In fact, he was created because artists Stephen R. Bissette and John Totleben, who were fans of The Police, wanted to draw a character who looked like Sting, and had already drawn at least one background character in his likeness. In one Swamp Thing story this resemblence is acknowledged when Constantine is observed to be rowing a boat named The Honorable Gordon Sumner, a reference to Sting's real name.

Related Topics:
Alan Moore - Horror - Swamp Thing - Trenchcoat - Sorcerer - Sting - Quadrophenia - Stephen R. Bissette - John Totleben - The Police

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The character was given his own comic book, Hellblazer, in 1988, featuring writer Jamie Delano and artist John Ridgway, with distinctive painted and collage covers by Dave McKean. The original title, Hellraiser, was dropped due to the simultaneous release of Clive Barker's unrelated film of the same name. Others who have worked on the series include writers Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis, Brian Azzarello, John Smith and Mike Carey and artists Mark Buckingham, Tim Bradstreet (notably on covers) and Steve Dillon.

Related Topics:
1988 - Jamie Delano - John Ridgway - Dave McKean - Hellraiser - Clive Barker - Garth Ennis - Warren Ellis - Brian Azzarello - John Smith - Mike Carey - Mark Buckingham - Tim Bradstreet - Steve Dillon

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Hellblazer is a decidedly dark comic book, its main character often seen doing morally questionable things while tricking his way through a modern world with a lot of magic and supernatural conflict going on behind the scenes. While sometimes clearly heroic, Constantine is more often than not merely fighting for his survival and usually making more enemies in the process. He is also highly manipulative, and has frequently sacrificed the lives and souls of others around him in order to achieve his ends. Many of these individuals haunt him, and he frequently finds himself being followed around by an ever increasing entourage of ghostly figures.

Related Topics:
Magic - Ghost

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Constantine has been featured in several other comic book titles, such as The Sandman and The Books of Magic.

Related Topics:
The Sandman - The Books of Magic

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An Americanized Hellblazer movie, titled Constantine, was released in 2005.

Related Topics:
Constantine - 2005

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