There is only one member of the Justice League who the Green Lantern is afraid of: John Constantine. There are few things Green Lanterns ever need to fear (other than fear itself), but one of those things has to be their biggest weakness: magic. It may not make sense to some, but past stories have shown that Green Lantern ring constructs are less effective against magic.

With John Constantine being one of the most effective magic users in all of DC, Green Lantern is understandably afraid of him, as seen in Justice League #51 by Dan Abnett and Paul Pelletier.

In this issue, the Justice League are investigating what Batman refers to as a Fortean Phenomena. The Flash thinks this is more “spooky” than a crisis worth their time. He suggests that this case belongs to Zatanna or “the nutjob Brit.” A visibly petrified Hal Jordan shudders at the thought of invoking Constantine’s wrath.

Green Lantern Hal Jordan Is Afraid of John Constantine

Justice League #51 by Dan Abnett, Paul Pelletier, Sandra Hope, Adriano Lucas, and Carlos M. Mangual

It’s hard to remember the last time Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern and John Constantine ever shared a panel, if ever. What isn’t hard to imagine is a hypothetical fight where Constantine completely demolishes the Green Lantern by using his magic. Even excluding the idea that Green Lantern is weaker in the presence of magic (which, admittedly, has been inconsistent as a plot device over the years, since Green Lanterns have done magic and even received magic upgrades), John is one of DC’s most powerful magic users.

Since debuting in Swamp Thing #37 in 1985, Constantine has committed unbelievable feats of magic. In the distant future of the DC Universe, his grasp of magic is destined to turn him into a god. Even if magic isn’t written into the story as a weakness of Green Lantern, a creative team could apply a plausible means as to how Green Lantern could lose to John Constantine, especially considering how this moment from Justice League #51 is a reminder that Green Lantern is defenseless against his worst and most overlooked weakness.

As said earlier, it’s rare to see Hal Jordan and Constantine team up together — if it’s ever happened before — which calls for even more of a reason as to why they need to share a panel sooner than later. The prospect of sci-fi meeting magic is already a polarizing collaboration, but one with plenty of potential to bring together men of different belief systems into the same room. The possibilities are endless as readers would be on the edge of their seat wondering if a magic user and a Green Lantern could co-exist in a team-up.

Why Constantine and Green Lantern Need to Share a Comic Story

Panel from Green Lanterns #47 by Tim Seeley, V. Ken Marion, Sandu Florea, Dinei Ribeiro, and Dave Sharpe

Traditionally, unexpected team-ups with polarizing DC heroes are always fun to witness. They’re something to make audiences say: “what would happen if a jovial Man of Steel shared a space with a brooding Bat?” Green Lantern and Constantine are one such unexpected combination: strange bedfellows who could make an interesting pair. As much as a fight might be promising, there are some fascinating conflicts that could arise here. For example, in Green Lanterns #47, John Constantine tries on Jessica Cruz’s ring, and nothing happens.

This panel hints that there could be some weaknesses of Constantine’s related to the Green Lantern ring that have yet to be fully explroed. The marriage between science and magic is a strange one to meld together, but that’s what would make a dynamic like this so exciting, even and especially as it stems from Hal’s initial fear of Constantine. It’s easy to fear what one doesn’t understand, and a space cop surely doesn’t understand a magician and vice versa. Seeing Constantine and Green Lantern learn to understand each other and slowly bond could make for entertaining reading for any Justice League fan.

Justice League #51 and Green Lanterns #47 are available now from DC Comics.