Warning! Contains Spoilers For John Constantine: Hellblazer: Dead in America #1!
Few comic characters have been involved in as many absurd plots as John Constantine. England’s greatest con man has been through many different adventures filled with twists and turns, but one exchange between John Constantine and Dream of the Endless never really made sense. Now over 35 years later, DC has finally addressed this plot hole.
John Constantine: Hellblazer: Dead in America #1 – by Simon Spurrier, Aaron Campbell, Jordie Bellaire, and Aditya Bidikar – has already been a notable entry into the Constantine canon for fixing a decades-old discrepancy in the character’s lore. In this story, John Constantine is confronted by Dream of the Endless. Years ago, Constantine came into possession of Dream’s pouch of sand.
When Dream asked Constantine to return it, Constantine told a major lie, claiming he couldn’t open it. Dream believed him, and together the two searched for John’s ex-girlfriend, Rachel, who had opened the bag. The story never explained how Rachel, someone with no knowledge of magic, could do what John couldn’t – something Dead in America is careful to clarify early.
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John Constantine Admits One Major Lie From His Past Never Really Made Sense
John Constantine is one of the most knowledgeable, skilled magic users in the entire DC Universe. John can recognize almost any magical artifact he’s come across and nearly instantly knows how to use it. John’s mastery of magic is so great that even Batman has sought him out in mysteries that involve magic. Yet despite John’s long and storied history with magic, Dream of the Endless believed John instantly when he claimed to be unable to open Dream’s bag of sand. This led to a plot hole that was never resolved until just now, with a single line from John Constantine revealing his major deception.
The main plot of Sandman #3 was Dream needing his pouch of sand back. The pouch found its way into John’s hands once, and Dream went to get it from him. John no longer had it, as the pouch had been stolen by his ex-girlfriend Rachel, who was using it to experience dreams over and over again. John claimed he was never able to get the bag open, but Rachel was. More recently, John stated that Rachel had used his notes to do it, the original comic did not mention this, leaving the discrepancy unexplained – until Dead in America #1, which addresses this plot hole directly.
John Has Finally Admitted That He Did Actually Manage To Open Dream’s Sand Bag
Constantine’s new journey in America has made an entirely new plot from this prior incongruity. In Hellblazer: Dead in America #1, Dream has tasked John with saving America from evil forces that were unleashed from the pouch. Dream states that while John lied about opening it, he wasn’t the first person to have opened it. People playing around with the contents of the pouch have unleashed something that has now taken root in America, and it’s up to John to fix it. This brilliant plot point allowed DC to fix a plot hole from over 35 years ago and continue to build on top of it to give John Constantine a brand-new threat to face.
John Constantine: Hellblazer: Dead in America #1 is on sale now from DC Comics!
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