Warning! Spoilers for DC vs. Vampires #8.
DC Comics continues its bloodthirsty tale in DC vs. Vampires #8, which reveals how John Constantine and his two teams are vital to defeating the vampire war. This new issue shows Constantine also has a magical team trying to find a cure to vampirism, adding yet another possible solution to end the vampire war.
DC vs. Vampires shows most of DC’s heroes (including the Justice League) turn into vampires as the vampire king wages war on Earth. Although their assault seems never ending and impossible to stop, a small group of survivors forms a resistance to put an end to the vampires’ tyranny. In the spinoff DC vs. Vampires: All-Out War comic, which takes place a year after the events of DC vs. Vampires, Constantine is orchestrating a team that consists of Deathstroke, Booster Gold, Mary Marvel, Damage, and others. Initially, their goal was to find a Lazarus Pit to resurrect Batman and have the world’s greatest detective back in the fight. Before they can do so, Azrael falls into the pit and turns back into a human, revealing that the Lazarus Pit can cure vampires and Azrael can now replace Batman.
DC vs. Vampires #8 by James Tynion IV, Matthew Rosenberg, and Otto Schmidt, reinforces All-Out War’s idea that Constantine is vital due to his critical thinking that pushes ideas out of the box. In trying to find multiple solutions to the vampire war, Constantine pushes the survivors’ morality to the extreme and highlights their desperation. The latest issue reveals that the House of Mysteries is filled with magic users. Constantine, Doctor Fate, Phantom Stranger, and others use magic on vampires to find a cure. When Mister Zsasz, now a vampire, finds their experiment abhorrent when he says, “your kind rush to call us monsters, but here you are, torturing one of ours,” reminding readers that they are taking a different approach from the Lazarus Pit. Constantine corrects Zsasz when he mentions, “we’re not torturing him. We’re trying to cure him.”
The issue indicates that the survivors are so desperate to find an answer that they resort to the vampires’ torture methods to get information. Constantine explores all options for curing vampirism despite questionable morals, including torturing vampires back to life and resurrecting dead bodies in green water. While Constantine isn’t exactly an anti-hero, he is far from the typical DC hero and is more than willing to bend his beliefs if it means accomplishing a greater goal. It’s exactly this kind of thinking DC’s heroes will need if they want to beat the hordes of undead.
War breeds immorality and controversial decisions, and as shown in DC vs. Vampires #8 and DC vs. Vampires: All-Out War, it is necessary to stop evil forces from conquering the world. An overpowered vampire hunter like John Constantine understands this lesson as DC Comics allows the over-powered hero to shine in his attempt to aid the remaining human superheroes to make a final stand against the vampire army.
