DC Comics has officially announced Hellblazer: The Rise and Fall, the latest series to be released under their mature DC Black Label imprint. The three issue mini-series is to be written by bestselling author Tom Taylor and illustrated by Darrick Robertson and will feature the blond hair, chain-smoking magician, investigator and occasional anti-hero John Constantine.
When the body of a billionaire is discovered skewered on top a church spire, the gruesome discovery is only expanded upon by the appearance of feathered wings attached to his back. Eventually more bodies begin to turn up this way, an unexplained rain of death and panic that has Detective Aisha Bukhari puzzled and searching for answers. Her confusion is heightened when her old childhood friend John Constantine appears from out of the blue and agrees to assist her in her investigation. In his search for answers, John will discover a connection between the 1% falling from the sky and an unspoken moment in both John and Aisha’s childhood. Whether he is or isn’t partially to blame for the current events, John Constantine is there to save the day, even if he doesn’t want to.
According to DC Comics, current DCeased scribe Tom Taylor promises a twisted book that will give people the John Constantine that they want, complete with the smirk, smoldering cigarette and the answers about whatever situation or foe they’re facing. “I love writing characters who speak truth to power,” Taylor said in the press release. “John doesn’t just speak truth to power, he tears power a new one any chance he gets… there’s something very cathartic about class warfare where the upper class doesn’t win every damn battle.” Along with the announcement comes a batch of preview pages, which can be read below:
Created by Alan Moore, Rick Veitch, Steve Bisette, John Totleben, Jamie Delano, and John Ridgway, John Constantine first appeared in The Saga of Swamp Thing #37 and since 1985, he has been the lead character of at least four successful comic book series detailing his adventures in the realms of the occult and supernatural. He has also appeared in a wide variety of additional formats including the big screen, animated films, his own individual series on NBC and his current role on the CW’s Legends of Tomorrow. Tom Taylor is a successful writer, playwright, and screenwriter who is known for his work at DC and Marvel which include Injustice: Gods Among Us, DCeased, and Suicide Squad. Darrick Robertson is a successful artist who has also done extensive work at DC and Marvel, which include Transmetropolitan, Justice League, and his co-creator/artist role on The Boys. This would be the second time John Constantine would appear in a Black Label series, having played a significant role in the Batman: Damned.
The Black Label imprint was created to give creators the ability to tell their own take on DC comics characters for a mature audience outside of the constraints of current day continuity. John Constantine is an appropriate fit for that kind of atmosphere and both Taylor and Robertson have extensive experience with DC characters in the past. The story’s summary feels like it would fit in among the old Vertigo stomping ground which produced some of the best John Constantine stories ever published. With his presence in DC’s platforms expanding more and more, this kind of project wants to tell a story that will both appease John’s Mucus Membrane crowd and entice those who’ve never read a John Constantine comic before and they just might have the talent and momentum behind it to pull it off. Sometimes all it takes is just a little magic.
Hellblazer: Rise and Fall, a three-part 48-page Prestige Plus format debuts September 2020, with all three issues carrying the DC Black Label content descriptor (Ages 17+) and will retail for $6.99.
