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Posted in: Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: bisexual., hellblazer, john constantine, LGBTQ, swamp thing
Could John Constantine Have Been Seen As Bisexual Three Years Earlier?
Could John Constantine have been seen as bisexual at DC Comics three years earlier, courtesy of his co-creator Rick Veitch?
Article Summary
- John Constantine was framed as bisexual in Hellblazer #51 in 1992, years before DC revisited it.
- That early Hellblazer reveal was largely ignored for decades, until later stories embraced John Constantine’s queer identity.
- Recent DC comics pushed John Constantine further, with Dead in America #7 identifying him as pansexual.
- Swamp Thing 1989 #2 raises the question of whether Rick Veitch explicitly planned to show John Constantine’s bisexuality in 1989.
In 1992, Hellblazer #51 by John Smith and Sean Phillips, was a fill-in issue of the series, published by DC Comics, and featured the following panels as John Constantine was reminiscing about an old journalist friend of his, Jerry Monaghan, who he had just exorcised a particularly nasty demon out from – and now needed to clean the sheets at the local laundrette.
But the caption in that second panel in 1992 established John Constantine as bisexual. And that was it for years. John Smith wrote just one issue of Hellblazer. Garth Ennis was the regular writer at the time, and he had some evolution to go through himself regarding this particular issue.
Yeah. It would be many decades before John being anything other than straight would be referred to again in the pages of DC Comics, though it became more common in the last ten years or so, such as his bartender boyfriend OIiver. And in John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America #7, he further established himself as pansexual, written by Simon Spurrier, with art by Aaron Campbell.
But if today's Swamp Thing 1989 #2 by Rick Veitch and Tom Mandrake is anything to go by, originally to be published in 1989, but dropped as a result of the internally-at-DC controversial previous issue, might a more notable scene have been seen three years previously? Rick was, of course, John Constantine's co-creator on Swamp Thing with Steve Bissette and Alan Moore…
No, not that one, that's Swamp Thing, blastest millenia into the past, talking about having met Jesus Christ in the previous issue…
Especially notable because, in the present day, his partner, Abby, is about to give birth to their child.
And Swamp Thing is back in former DC Comics continuity… trying to send a message back. Which is where John Constantine is dragged into the whole thing.
Though he has been a little busy. Up to his eyes, as it were.
That's Trixie on the left. Jim Corrigan, also known as The Spectre, on the right. Certain paraphernalia, occult symbols and a rather large snake. And John is as naked as the other two. Now we don't exactly know what went down here… but it's three years before the launderette fill-in issue…
Swamp Thing 1989 #2 by Rick Veitch, Tom Mandrake
As Swamp Thing is flung backwards through time, his true destination is revealed! While John Constantine works a world of connections to locate the lost elemental, Abby prepares to give birth to their child of three worlds. Witness the epic odyssey that could not see print until now! Over three decades in the making, welcome to the grand finale of Swamp Thing.
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