John Constantine

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Fan dressed as John Constantine while cosplaying at Comic-Con 2012

The character John Constantine was developed by comic writer Alan Moore for the American horror series Swamp Thing and had its first appearance in US The Saga of Swamp Thing # 25 (June 1984). Constantine is always trenchcoat wearing magician . He is very similar to the musician Sting and his character Ace in the movie Quadrophenia .

history

Since 1988 Constantine appeared in his own comic series Hellblazer (also John Constantine, Hellblazer ), which was developed by the author Jamie Delano and the illustrator John Ridgway . The series, originally an offshoot of the Swamp Thing comic series , has long been edited by Vertigo , a more adult-oriented division of DC Comics . It covered the adventures of the supernaturally gifted detective and antihero between heaven and hell.

Since the publisher-wide Flashpoint event, many of the titles originally stemming from the main DC continuity have been reintegrated into it. The title Hellblazer was the exception as the workhorse of Vertigo, because the series was continued. At the same time, the figure of John Constantine also appeared in the Justice League Dark (2011 to 2015; 44 issues), a justice league made up of occultists and magicians, in the main continuity, whereby the respective adventures were not interwoven.

The Hellblazer series was discontinued in 2013 with US issue # 300 and replaced by the Constantine series (2013 to 2015; 23 issues), which was part of the new DC universe ( The New 52 , 2011 to 2016). After the series was discontinued, the series Constantine: The Hellblazer (2015/16; 13 issues) was released as part of DC You (2015 ). When all series in the DC universe were restarted as part of DC Rebirth (2016/17), The Hellblazer started (2016 to 2018; 24 issues).

Film adaptations

movie theater

In 2005, a Hellblazer film adaptation under the title Constantine came into the cinemas. The title character was played by Keanu Reeves , a fact that displeased many fans as the actor hardly resembles the cartoon character. A computer game was also developed for the film .

watch TV

In 2014, the US broadcaster NBC broadcast the television series Constantine as part of the Arrowverse , in which British actor Matt Ryan played the leading role of John Constantine. Responsible signed u. a. David S. Goyer , who has already adapted several comics from the DC universe for cinema and TV. The series was discontinued after 13 episodes due to low viewership by the end of the first season. However, Matt Ryan later made several other appearances as John Constantine, as a guest star in the fourth season of the Arrow (2015) series, which is based on DC's Green Arrow comics , and in seasons 3 and 4 of Legends of Tomorrow ( 2018/19).

Web series

On March 24, 2018, Constantine: City of Demons was launched on CW Seed after Vixen and Freedom Fighters: The Ray, the third animated web series in service. The main character in this series is also John Constantine. So far there is a season with five episodes, each 6 to 7 minutes in length. Unlike the previous CW seed series, Constantine: City of Demons is not part of the Arrowverse , but is set in the universe of Justice League Dark .

Others

Constantine was voted third greatest comic book character by Empire online after Superman and Batman .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Sting Connection. www.qusoor.com, May 5, 2000, accessed September 5, 2012 .
  2. Flashpoint # 5, Panini Comics , Stuttgart 2012.
  3. Interview with Keanu Reeves, Djimon Hounsou and Francis Lawrence About "Constantine". movies.about.com, accessed September 5, 2012 .
  4. ^ Constantine Review: Demons and rats beware. www.ign.com, February 15, 2005, accessed September 5, 2012 .
  5. James Hibberd, Natalie Abrams: Constantine officially canceled at NBC. In: ew.com . May 8, 2015, accessed November 9, 2015 .
  6. Natalie Abrams: Arrow enlists Constantine to restore Sara's soul. In: ew.com . November 3, 2015, accessed November 9, 2015 .
  7. ^ 'Constantine: City of Demons' is Now Available on CW Seed. March 24, 2018, accessed on July 6, 2018 .
  8. JM DeMatteis on Twitter. Retrieved September 28, 2018 .
  9. Empireonline.com: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters (English) Template: dead link /! ... nourl ( page no longer available )