John Constantine’s Latest Mission Changes Decades of HELLBLAZER Tradition

Warning! Contains Spoilers For John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America #3!

It’s unusual for superheroes to lose their friends or allies throughout their adventures — but John Constantine isn’t exactly a superhero. John has always been willing to make hard choices for the greater good, and these choices have resulted in many of his friends dying. But now he’s breaking the Hellblazer tradition and working to save everyone.

As of John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America #3 by Simon Spurrier and Aaron Campbell, Constantine has been tasked by Dream of the Endless to hunt down the missing grains of sand from Dream’s pouch. Constantine agrees to do this because his body is decaying: his heart has stopped beating, and he’s slowly dying. Meanwhile, his companions Noah and Natalie are both wanted by British police for the murders Constantine orchestrated.

Usually, John is only out to save himself, but after years of watching his friends die, he’s finally trying to change things and save them, too. As John says to Clarice in the panels above, he’s not just out to save his own skin; this time he’s going to save everyone — “just this once.“

Constantine Has Always Sacrificed His Friends by Circumstance (or by Choice)

Art from John Constatine: Hellblazer #12 by Spurrier, Campbell, Jordie Bellaire, and Aditya Bidikar

Usually, heroes try to save everyone they can, no matter the cost. But over his many years fighting demons and angels, John has come to understand that it’s not always possible to save everyone. This results in John sacrificing his friends when necessary. When his old friend Gary Lester accidentally unleashes a hunger demon on New York, John is forced to choose between Gary and every life in New York. John ends up choosing New York, tricking and trapping Gary. John sealed the hunger demon inside of him, and Gary was eaten from the inside out: just one of dozens of examples of John’s history with cruel deaths.

After decades, John is now trying to break that pattern. Constantine’s life has always been a tragedy, and creators have often played on this idea by establishing a new cast of friends for John — then killing them all off by the time the creative team leaves the book. This allows each new team to come in with a new cast and a new story for John. Very few characters manage to escape this deadly pattern, with only one writer subverting the tradition by having all of John’s friends survive — only to hate John after the events and cut ties with him.

Constantine Will Always Be Haunted by the Friends He’s Lost

Art from Hellblazer #2 by Jamie Delano, John Ridgway, Lovern Kindzierski, and Annie Parkhouse

Losing loved ones is never easy, and John Constantine has lost more than most. He always accepted this and moved on in the name of the greater good. Gary Lester was someone John had known since childhood, but faced with the choice between keeping his childhood friend and the deaths of millions, he chose to save the millions: a brutal but understandable decision. John also has a nasty habit of letting others pay the price for his sins, but now, John Constantine has promised that he’s not just out to save himself. He’s finally going to save everyone else, too.

John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America #3 is available now from DC Comics!