Over the course of its 300 issues, Hellblazer attracted a number of high-profile writers, including Brian Azzarello. Taking over with issue #146, Azzarello put John Constantine through his paces, sending him to America and forcing him to deal with the ugliness hiding under the country’s surface. Azzarello’s run was peppered with a number of epic moments, and here are the top 10.
10 John Spooks Some Animal-Torturing Children
From: Hellblazer #153, part of the “Good Intentions” storyline.
One of John’s more righteous moments under Brian Azzarello saw him avenge a cat. Shortly after leaving prison, John Constantine began hitchhiking through the Appalachian mountains. There, he encounters a group of children trying to knock a kitten out of a tree with rocks. Sensing the malice in their intentions, John decides to turn the tables and torment them instead. After knocking the kitten out of the tree and killing it, another cat approaches the corpse. John casts a spell that lets the cat talk, and while readers cannot hear the cat’s voice, the terrified reactions on the children’s face, and John’s evil smile, say it all.
9 The Shower Scene
From Hellblazer #146, part of the “Hard Time” storyline.
John gets the best of his fellow prisoners in a truly epic moment from Brian Azzarello’s Hellblazer. After being framed for murder and sent to a federal penitentiary, John initially earns the ire of his fellow inmates. Thinking him an easy target, a group of prisoners attempts to attack John while he is showering. He is seemingly oblivious to their intentions. The scene cuts away, but readers know John has something up his sleeve. When the action returns to the shower, the other prisoners are virtually catatonic, frightened out of their wits by…something John conjured up. It showed the rest of the inmates he was not to be trifled with, and set the tone for the rest of Azzarello’s run.
8 John Goes Hitchhiking
From Hellblazer #151, part of the “Good Intentions” storyline.
John Constantine is not a hero per se, but he occasionally does the right thing, as he did in this epic moment from Brian Azzarello’s Hellblazer. John is picked up by two shady-looking men while hitchhiking. As John smooth talks the two men, they become more agitated, eventually running off the road. The two men are killed, and in a twist, it is revealed they had kidnapped a young woman and were holding her in the trunk. John saved the woman’s life, one of the few truly noble acts he did during Azzarello’s run on Hellblazer, but he did it in his own way.
7 Rasputin’s Clock
From Hellblazer #163, part of the “Lapdogs and Englishman” storyline
Brian Azzarello played the long game during his tenure on Hellblazer, creating one large, overarching story, and he gave readers a great degree of backstory in this two-parter. A young American named Stanley wants the cursed Clock of Rasputin, and John agrees to get it for him. What follows is a typical John Constantine con game: he gives Stanley a regular clock and through guile and trickery, convinces him it has magical properties. The whole thing is a scam, but Stanley does not know that. This story would have huge ramifications for the rest of Azzarello’s Hellblazer run.
6 The “Iceman”
From Hellblazer #158, part of the “Good Intentions” storyline.
The Iceman was one of Brian Azzarello’s most epic moments in Hellblazer, a testament to John’s con man way with words. While hitchhiking, John stumbles across a small town living with the threat of the “Iceman,” a supposedly demonic entity that kills people when it snows. John arrives at a restaurant, and lo and behold, the Iceman has killed someone in the parking lot. What follows is a tense and uncompromising story, set in a snowstorm and brimming with paranoia. It also features one of the best twist endings in Brian Azzarello’s Hellblazer run.
5 John Creates a Golem, and Sends it After Nazis.
From Hellblazer #167, part of the “Highwater” storyline.
John Constantine encountered the ugliest parts of America during Brian Azzarello’s Hellblazer run, including a gang of white supremacists. They attempt to buy guns, and when they learn the dealer also sells to Black people, they kill him. John gains their trust, again using his skills as a con man. Unbeknownst to them, John has taken the body of the arms dealer and resurrected it as a golem, sending it after the Nazis. John played the Nazis like a fiddle, and dispatched violent justice on them. Azzarello’s Hellblazer was marked with truly brutal moments, and this ranks among the best.
4 Stanley Returns
From Hellblazer #172, from the “Ashes and Dust in the City of Angels” storyline.
Stanley, the American who John swindled with Rasputin’s clock, was revealed to be the main villain of the entirety of Brian Azzarello’s run on Hellblazer. Readers learn that Stanley will encounter John Constantine again, and the two had an affair. John ended it, and it broke Stanley’s heart. Stanley becomes a wealthy business person, and when he learns John Constantine is still alive, has him framed for murder. Brian Azzarello allegedly intended Stanley to be a Bruce Wayne pastiche. The revelation that Stanley was the architect of John’s woes was one of the biggest twists in Brian Azzarello’s Hellblazer run.
3 A Young John Constantine Meets Nergal
From Vertigo Secret Files: Hellblazer #1
Not every epic moment in Brian Azzarello’s Hellblazer was part of a sprawling story arc and, indeed, one of the wildest was a one-off story appearing in a one-shot. Fans know John has a history with the demon Nergal, but this story reveals it goes way back, all the way to John’s childhood in England. Still young and uncorrupted, young John meets a mysterious boy while out playing. Fans learn it is actually Nergal in disguise, but young John does not know this. On the surface, it was a simple meeting, but one that would have huge ramifications for John’s life.
2 John Constantine: FBI Agent?
From Hellblazer #150, part of the “Hard Time” storyline.
John Constantine despises authority in all forms, so being drafted to work with the FBI ranks as one of Brian Azzarello’s wildest Hellblazer moments. After being released from prison, an FBI agent named Turro comes to John, saying that in exchange for his release, he will be doing work for him. Turro leaves it up in the air as to what will happen, but a few issues later, all becomes clear. While John Constantine never formally joined the Bureau, he still helped Turro take down Stanley. John would never work with law enforcement again after that.
1 John Takes Over a Prison
From Hellblazer #149, part of the “Hard Time” storyline.
Brian Azzarello kicked off his Hellblazer run in style by sending John Constantine to where he had never been before: prison. Framed for murder, John was sentenced to 35 years in jail. His fellow inmates, perhaps sensing what they thought was an easy target, began harassing John, but he quickly turned the tables on them. Before long, John had eliminated the heads of nearly every major gang–and took over the prison for himself. Doing so showcased nearly every quality that makes John Constanine great, and provided the most epic moment of Brian Azzarello’s Hellblazer run.
Brian Azzarello was on Hellblazer for a little over three years, and established himself as one of the book’s premiere writers, even earning the praise of Constantine co-creator Alan Moore himself. While controversial in its day, time has been kind to Brian Azzarello’s run on Hellblazer.
