Posted in: Boom, Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: bloody el, boom studios, charlie adlard, damn them all, Johanna Constantine, john constantine, si spurrier

"Johanna Constantine Meets Negan" – Bloody El in Damn Them All

Published Tue, 23 Aug 2022 12:57:13 -0500

by Rich Johnston

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Johanna Constantine meets Negan? With Neil Gaiman's Sandman currently the most-watched show on Netflix with 128 million hours watched and nearly 25 times the demand of the average series, and interest in the characters and genre at an all-time high, DC currently doesn't have a new comic omic series being published outside of Sandman: Nightmare Country featuring The Corinthian (thanks largely to James Tynion IV's love of the character). Now, you wouldn't expect a series starring Morpheus, his story has been told, but nothing for the Houses of Secrets and Mystery and not even John – of Johanna – Constantine. DC PR guy Clark Bull was recommending the recent Sandman Presents: Hellvlazer: Constantine series by Si Spurrier and Aaron Campbell – the one that DC Comics cancelled.

So with fans buzzing about the gender-swapped Johanna Constantine in the streaming megahit, we thought it wise to point out that they might be able to get their fix of occultist-for-hire heroines from another publisher entirely, and also written by Si Spurrier, Boom Studios. Launching in October, the star of Damn Them All , Ellie "Bloody El" Hawthorne, even resembles Johanna more than a little bit. After his Constantine was unceremoniously cut short by the powers that be at DC. Spurrier has since delivered commercial hits like Suicide Squad: Blaze with Aaron Campbell, and Step By Bloody Step with Coda collaborator Matias Bergara. But, could this Spurrier getting ready to show those same suits how successful Sandman Presents: John Constantine, Hellblazer could have been with the proper support?

But Bloody El also evokes another (in)famous TV character – The Walking Dead's Negan – thanks to a what appears to be a signature weapon in the form of a ball pein hammer. Again, not terribly surprising given that Damn Them All's co-creator is none other than The Walking Dead's series artist Charlie Adlard, coming back with his first comic series since the zombie apocalypse concluded. And given that Negan continues to be one of the most popular characters most associated with Adlard and remains a driving force in AMC's The Walking Dead TV empire, it seems like a pretty solid recipe for Boom's next hit, must-read series following Stephanie Phillips and Flaviano's Grim.

Spurrier and Adlard talked up their new series at Comic-Con last month at the Boom Studios: Discover Yours panel via a pre-recorded video message and told fans Damn Them All was "Faust by way of Get Carter." Or "Good Omens if it were directed by Guy Ritchie." Or better yet, "The Exorcist, but instead of a bible the priest shows up with a blood-soaked claw hammer." And while those are quite good, we think our "Johanna Constantine meets Negan" take is the winner. Feel free to use that, free of charge, Charlie and Si… or maybe just buy us a pint the next time we're at the pub, yeah?

With initial orders due from retailers to Diamond before the end of the month, you'd be wise to pre-order your copy of Damn Them All #1 before then, especially if you want to secure the higher ratio incentive covers by Adlard, Sean Phillips, and Becky Cloonan.