Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics, NYCC | Tagged: hellblazer, john constantine, new york comic con

Si Spurrier & Aaron Campbell Return To John Constantine: Hellblazer

During NYCC, Si Spurrier and Aaron Campbell announced their new Sandman Universe series John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America.

During DC's New York Comic-Con panel Coming Up in the DC Multiverse, creators Si Spurrier and Aaron Campbell announced their new DC Black Label Sandman Universe series John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America. The eight-issue comic book series debuts in January 2024 and spins out of the events of writer Si Spurrier and artist Aaron Campbell's previous John Constantine, Hellblazer comic. Cancelled in 2020, at the time, Si Spurrier wrote:

Without a trace of arrogance (nor, screw it, false modesty), I'm going to flat-out state that the stories we've told possess genuine value and importance, especially in these strangest of times. They're good, and I'm not just saying that. By any metric, up to and including the fanciest online review aggregate, which at time of writing considers our Hellblazer work to be the best-reviewed series presently on shelves, this book has been the proudest project of my career. It has felt at every stage like the one pre-existing I.P. that I was naturally best calibrated to write. It ends in November. I'm not ready.

I suppose the bottom line is this: you can't write a story like Hellblazer without taking it personally. That's a problem when it's basically work-for-hire. oh, god, we had some plans. We were greenlit for 6 issues then we were greenlit for 6 more. In my naivety I assumed the head of steam we were building would see us through to 18 or 20. Less a cancellation than a failure-to-be-renewed, if you want to split hairs, but it hurts all the same. The places we were due to go… the dark waters we were due to explore…

So whereas #12 closes the tomb on all the major plots, it also springs open a few big twists we've been diligently breadcrumbing since the start. Those were, and are, intended to lead into the next chapter, with a genuinely killer hook. A hook which will not, it would now seem, be catching any fish.

I wish I could say the publisher has whisked my extraordinary collaborators and I onto bigger, bolder, less hazardous titles. Sadly, even before the personnel cataclysm at D.C. last week, and the radical downsizing that followed, opportunities were scant. It's not through lack of trying, believe me.

Well, it looks like they are both going to able to continue their original plane, and reunited with colourist Jordie Bellaire for the second act in their Hellblazer saga, which;

sees the infamous occult detective headed across the pond to the United States for more supernatural misadventures with gods and monsters from the DC and Sandman Universes, including Dream of the Endless and Alec Holland, the Swamp Thing. Each issue will feature extra content, with 28 story pages and no ads, to pack in as much Hellblazer horror and humor as possible.

"Hellblazer is back. Between 2019 and 2021, Aaron Campbell and I chronicled John Constantine's sly progress through London," said writer Si Spurrier. "For 13 issues, the book dripped with heart and hate and rage—rage at the state of the world, rage at the state of our minds and lives. Those 13 issues were our poisonous love letter to the Constantines of the past—[Alan] Moore's, [Jamie] Delano's, [Garth] Ennis's. It was the best work we've ever done. And then it stopped. On a note of death and despair, with—like all magic—a heavy price levied. And now it's back. Because the cost doesn't count if we don't get to see it being paid. Because even dead things can make a difference."

In John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America, John has cheated death once again—but his heart's not beating, his body is decaying, and he, his friend Nat, and his son Noah are on the run in America, wanted for murder. Naturally, it's all John's fault—it always is. But as it turns out, Dream himself needs John's help. Something terrible has taken root in America, and it's using the sand from Dream's pouch to impose its will. If John can put a stop to it, he might be able to parlay that favor into a chance to save all their lives—but he's going to need help from someone he hasn't spoken to in years. Someone he wasn't always…all that kind to. Someone…or some…Thing?

"When the email came through informing Si and I that we had the greenlight to finish the John Constantine, Hellblazer story we began several years ago, I could hear something, just over my shoulder—a scraping metallic flick. Once, twice, three times a charm. Then a long, deep inhalation. I could almost smell the smoke and hear the words, 'You really thought I was gone for good, mate?'" said artist Aaron Campbell.

Continued writer Si Spurrier: "There are two types of people, aren't there? First, there are those who understand that the world doesn't neatly divide into good and evil. That sometimes a bastard with a rotten heart is the best hope we've got. That we swim in an ocean of living, seething stories. That the tales whose labored breathing hints at mysteries and mythologies are the ones capable of delivering the highest highs and most tremulous takeaways. The ones which slither through nuance and awkward truths. The ones which present a recognizable reality, which can't be improved through the expedient of punching. The good ones. The second group of people won't be reading these words, so we needn't worry about them. And we're bringing back Hellblazer because maybe—there are more of the first type of people out there than we ever dared to believe."

John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America #1 will be available at local comic shops on January 16, 2024, with variant covers by Jock and Sean Phillips, and a 1:25 variant by Matías Bergara, who also contributed to the series art for John Constantine, Hellblazer back in 2020.

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