Issue Description

While watching a series of midnight movies, John Constantine becomes preoccupied with finding the mysteries that Zed hides about her past. This preoccupation manifests itself in the form of sexual exploration, and he peels off her clothes and makes love to her there in the theatre. He digs deeper and deeper for secrets, peeling away her flesh to her very skeleton. Moments later, he is awakened from this vivid dream by the engineer on the train he fell asleep on.

Having slept til the train hit the end of the line, John has a cab take him to the Weetiebrix factory where his friend Ritchie Simpson has worked for ten years. Ritchie works nights running the computer systems, and secretly abusing his position to do hacking with the computers' superior hardware. Ritchie has managed to dig up some info on the Resurrection Crusaders, a typical fundamentalist missionary group who does high-profile fundraising. He has uncovered a splinter group called the Tongues of Fire, who have managed as yet to block his attempts to find out more about them. At John's urging, Ritchie tokes some hallucinogenics and uses some special technology to project himself into cyberspace.

Meanwhile, Zed is being looked after by John's old friend Ray Monde. Unbeknownst to them, a gang of thugs has assembled outside. In the course of their getting to know one another, Ray admits that his heart was given long ago to a certain man. He had lost his lover in the Falklands War. Meanwhile, he is now dying of AIDS. Suddenly, they are interrupted by members of the Tongues of Fire who have come for Zed. Among them is her own father, an elder of the Resurrection Crusade. He wrenches Zed away, while his young companions begin to violently beat Ray, justifying it by condemning his homosexuality.

In cyberspace, Ritchie traces a Pyramid of Prayer donation from Liberty, Ohio to Glastonbury, England. While he may have found his way to the Resurrection Crusaders' systems, the Tongues of Fire offshoot is booby-trapped. He knows that one false move could be fatal, and it isn't long before he makes one. In the real world, John Constantine realizes that something's wrong when Ritchie's beard starts to smoulder. In less than one minute, all that is left of Ritchie are charred remains. John thinks his friend dead, until he hears Ritchie's voice over the computer's speakers. Unfortunately, Ritchie is unaware of his physical body's fate, and John is left worrying about how to tell his friend that he can't come back. Awkwardly John listens as his friend tries to return, before muttering a goodbye, and unplugging the computer.

On his way home, John feels guilt over the fact that every last member of his old Newcastle Crew has been killed, and in each case he shared some of the responsibility in causing it. Ritchie was the last of the crew, and though it was the Tongues of Fire who killed him, it was John who sent him to them. He wonders when he will ever stop paying for the Newcastle debacle. Again, he is plagued by the ghosts of his dead friends, and he challenges them to show him, once again, that it is all his fault. Instead, the ghosts explain that they are actually there to help him resolve things. Emma accuses that part of his problem is that his interest in satisfying his sexual appetites is going to lead him to screw something up, soon. Uncomfortably, John gets up, and throws himself from the train.

In medical operating room, somewhere, Zed senses that John is falling, and sends him some strength. She knows that if she loses him, she may as well give up. She needs a friend like him to help her cheat her destiny. Regretfully, she worries that she should have told him about the danger of getting involved with her, but now it's too late.

Nearby, Zed's father consults with the doctors about whether his plans for her will still be possible, given that she has given her virginity to John Constantine. The doctors explain that while virginity would be preferable, there is no better psychological profile, and she will need to be brainwashed into aiding them, beginning tomorrow.

-Source

Hellblazer (1988)

Publisher

Vertigo

Volume Description

House Ad (art by Dave McKean)

Spinning out of the pages of Swamp Thing, popular supporting character John Constantine (created by Alan Moore) was given his own ongoing series first written by British writer Jamie Delano, who was handpicked by Moore and impressed editors with his long term plans for the character. The title was originally to be named "Hellraiser" but was changed to Hellblazer to avoid conflicting with Clive Barker's Hellraiser film released the previous year.

Delano set the tone for the series, which featured heavy social commentary of 80's England and grounded the magical and occult themes within the gritty streets of London. He also fleshed out John's origins first hinted at by Moore in Swamp Thing, which would be continued by later writers.

Many popular writers, most of them British, have had tenures on the title such as Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis, Peter Milligan and Paul Jenkins to name a few. Famous writers Neil Gaiman and Grant Morrison were also guest writers early on. The series' cover art was also acclaimed, many popular artists such as Dave McKean, Glenn Fabry, Tim Bradstreet, Lee Bermejo and Simon Bisley all provided memorable cover art work.

Despite its DC Universe origins, the series largely ignored the wider DC and Vertigo Universes but for a few occasions and guest-appearances. The series itself aged in real time, as did John, who would age to his sixties by the time the series had ended.

Perhaps best known as being Vertigo's longest-running comic book series because of the fact that it began before Vertigo was a publisher, five years before in fact and that it was also the Vertigo launch title which stayed in print the longest.

Unlike most Vertigo volumes, due to its extreme length, this one has had various writers (many of whom are better known for other Vertigo contributions), and oftentimes the series is judged within these writer's runs rather then as a whole since the series has changed through the decades.

On November 8th 2012 it was announced that Hellblazer will end at issue #300. John Constantine however will star in a new New 52 ongoing of his own called Constantine in March 2013. Before the cancellation, Hellblazer was the longest ongoing continuing monthly series without renumbering or cancellations/rebirths from either of "the Big Two" due to DC's New 52 and Marvel's reboot of Uncanny X-Men.

Hellblazer Annuals, Specials and Spin-Offs

Hellblazer Annual #1 (1989)The Horrorist #1-2Hellblazer Special #1Hellblazer Annual #1 (2012)Hellblazer: All His EnginesHellblazer: PandemoniumDark EntriesVertigo Secret Files: HellblazerHellblazer: Bad Blood #1-4Hellblazer/The Books of Magic #1-2Hellblazer: City of Demons #1-5Hellblazer Special: Lady Constantine #1-4.Hellblazer Special: Papa Midnite #1-5Hellblazer Special: Chas (The Knowledge) #1-5Collected Editions

New Editions

In 2011 DC/Vertigo began releasing new edition trades. These new volumes were larger, numbered numerically and contained every issue in chronological order which the previous editions skipped or had collected separately. Many of the new editions contain different issues from the originals.

Vol. 1: Original Sins (#1-9, Swamp Thing #76-77)Vol. 2: The Devil You Know (#10-13, Hellblazer: Annual and Horrorist #1-2)Vol. 3: The Fear Machine (#14-22)Vol. 4: The Family Man (#23-33)Vol. 5: Dangerous Habits (#34-46)Vol. 6: Bloodlines (#47-61)Vol. 7: Tainted Love (#62–71, Hellblazer: Special and a story from Vertigo Jam)Vol. 8: Rake at the Gates of Hell (#72-83, Heartland and pin-ups from Hellblazer Special)Vol. 9: Critical Mass (#84-96)Vol. 10: In the Line of Fire (#97-107)Vol. 11: Last Man Standing (#108-120)Vol. 12: How To Play With Fire (#121-133)

Original Editions

Hellblazer: Original Sins (#1-9)Hellblazer: The Devil You Know (#10-13, Hellblazer: Annual, Horrorist #1-2)Hellblazer: The Fear Machine (#14-22)Hellblazer: The Family Man (##23-24, #28-33)Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits (#41-46)Hellblazer: Bloodlines (#47-50, #52-55 and #59-61)Hellblazer: Fear and Loathing (#62-67)Hellblazer: Tainted Love (#68–71, Hellblazer: Special and a story from Vertigo Jam)Hellblazer: Damnation's Flame (#72-77)Hellblazer: Rake at the Gates of Hell (#78-83, Heartland)Hellblazer: Son of Man (#129-133)Hellblazer: Haunted (#134-139)Hellblazer: Setting Sun (#140-143)Hellblazer: Shoot (#144, 145, 245, 246 & 250)Hellblazer: Hard Time (#146-150)Hellblazer: Good Intentions (#151-156)Hellblazer: Freezes Over... (#157-163)Hellblazer: Highwater (#164-174)Hellblazer: Red Sepulchre (#175-180)Hellblazer: Black Flowers (#181-186)Hellblazer: Staring at the Wall (#187-193)Hellblazer: Stations of the Cross (#194-200)Hellblazer: Reasons to be Cheerful (#201-206)Hellblazer: The Gift (#207-215)Hellblazer: Empathy is the Enemy (#216-222)Hellblazer: The Red Right Hand (#223-228)Hellblazer: Joyride (#230-237)Hellblazer: The Laughing Magician (#238-242)Hellblazer: Roots of Coincidence (#243-244, #247-249)Hellblazer: Scab (#251-255 and a short story from 250)Hellblazer: Hooked (#256-260)Hellblazer: India (#261-266)Hellblazer: Bloody Carnations (#267-275)Hellblazer: Phantom Pains (#276-282)Hellblazer: The Devil's Trench Coat (#283-291)Hellblazer: Death and Cigarettes (#292-300 and Hellblazer Annual #1)

Other Collected Editions

Hellblazer: Rare Cuts (#11, #25–26, #35, #56, #84)Constantine: The Hellblazer Collection (Constantine: The Official Movie Adaptation, Hellblazer #1, #27 and #410.Vertigo Resurrected: Shoot (Contains the original #141, the censored story: "Shoot")Vertigo Resurrected: Hellblazer (#57-58, #245-246)Other Related MaterialHouse of Mystery Halloween Annual short stories set in the DCU/Vertigo universe.The Trenchcoat BrigadeThe Books of MagicVertigo EncyclopaediaVertigo Secret Files: Swamp ThingWinter's Edge #1-3. The Three Winter's Edge stories would be collected in Vertigo Resurrected: Winter's Edge.9-11 Vol.2

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