Aging Along With John: 20 Years of Hellblazer, Part 1
By David DelGrosso
Paul Jenkins: Magic and Myth (H. #89-128, 1995-1998)
Ennis's departure was followed by the single Delano issue previously mentioned, and then a surreal four-part journey with old ghosts, "Warped Notions" (H. #85-88), written by Scottish writer/artist Eddie Campbell, best known at the time for Deadface, Eyeball Kid and for illustrating From Hell with Alan Moore. Campbell's story was followed by the beginning of the third major era for Hellblazer, and another relative newcomer to comics writing being given their break.
British writer Paul Jenkins had been in comics for a few years as an editor, working on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Mirage Studios, and later Tundra Publishing. Jenkins recalls the challenge that was ahead of him. "Obviously, I came from nowhere as far as the audience was concerned and I followed on a very successful run by Garth Ennis. The good news was that I decided early on that I was going to try and write the character a little differently so that I wouldn't always be compared directly to Garth. Others assumed I was scared of following such a great run. But to me, Constantine as an aging punk mellowing out a little seemed quite natural."
Jenkins had clear ideas of what elements of John to focus on so as to not draw those direct comparisons to the prior era. "I felt the 'cool bastard' scenario had kind of run its course, at least it had to me," says Jenkins. "I wanted to do a lot of single issue stories, which I felt I was best at. John had gone through a lot as a character so the solution I came to, John casting aside his addictions to cigarettes and drink, and getting rid of his demons, seemed to work for him."
During one of Jenkins's first stories, "Critical Mass" (H. #92-96), he metaphorically and physically rid John of his inner demons, his demon blood, and much of the emotional baggage from nearly ten years of prior stories. John magically creates a homunculus, a sort of duplicate, and puts into that double all the parts of himself that he wants to be free of: the guilt over Newcastle, the alcoholism, and even the love he still carries for Kit. This allowed Jenkins to exorcise the parts of John's history that he did not want to address, and clear his head a bit to focus on new stories.
Having put aside certain parts of the past, Jenkins set about moving John toward a part of his history that had been largely ignored during the Ennis years: John's punk roots. To do this, Jenkins introduced friends of John from those old days: Richard "The Punk" Eldridge, his lady Michelle and their son Syder.
Throughout Hellblazer, the various writers often use supporting characters as a way of drawing out the parts of John's personality or history that they want to highlight, and adding to the supporting cast can also be a way for a writer to contribute something of himself to the mix. Delano added fellow cab driver Chas, Ennis added Kit from his native Belfast, and Jenkins was also making a very personal contribution. "Rich the Punk was my brother," says Jenkins. "No word of a lie. If I was ever getting short of ideas I would simply call him and listen. My brother is a very unusual person, very much a product of the punk generation. One time I called him, and he asked, 'Guess what I'm doing right now?' There was a commotion in the background, a lot of banging and shouting. 'You're on top of Stonehenge,' I guessed--it was the summer solstice--and the funny thing was, I was right!"
I asked Jenkins about how the politics of the mid-1990s connected to his run. "I was living in the USA when I got onto Hellblazer. But Britain was undergoing a transition from the hated government of Thatcher and the somewhat clueless government of John Major. What happens to a guy like John who has been railing against that system when he gets what he wants? I think I wrote a lot about him calming down, reassessing, seeing that the world was still broken but not quite as badly," says Jenkins. "I suppose you could also say that my run gave John a chance to work out what to do with his life now that he'd made it past thirty and wasn't dead."
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