Finally, as foretold in the prophecies of Glycon, the circle is completed between Sting and John Constantine.

Back in 1984, John “Hellblazer” Constantine made his debut in a panel of The Saga of Swamp Thing #25, written by Alan Moore with art by Steve Bissette and John Totleben, and his appearance was quite clearly based on then world-dominating rocker Sting, as revealed many times.

While some might think that Matt Ryan has become the human embodiment of the DCU’s best known dark magicker, Sting himself as stepped forward to announce that he’ll pen an introduction to JOHN CONSTANTINE, HELLBLAZER: 30TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, a massive compendium of some of Constantine’s best known adventures.

Why 30th? Hellblazer got his own title in 1988, running for 300 issues and becoming the proving ground for generations of English (and a few Ameircan) comics scribes. And the collection will pay tribute to all that.

The commemorative collection will explore the complete history of the series with four one-page essays written by HELLBLAZER author Rich Handley. It will also include a comprehensive timeline of Constantine’s life and three one-page stories featured in JOHN CONSTANTINE: HELLBLAZER issues #1, 2 and 4. Memorable stories from Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Garth Ennis, Brian Azzarello, Paul Jenkins, Jamie Delano and others reflect the best of the long-lasting series, including HELLBLAZER issues #11, 27, 41, 63, 120, 146, 229 and 240 and SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING #37, where the character was officially introduced.

Cover price is $39.99 . With Sting on board, this is a well rounded package. It goes on sale  October 30th, so perfect for some very adult trick or treaters.

8 COMMENTS

  1. I am SO glad they’re leaving Milligan out of this. His run and Denise Mina’s were the absolute worst of the series.

  2. Those essays and Sting’s foreword sound damn cool. And a timeline, too, which will hopefully be more accurate than the various Hellblazer timelines published throughout the years. The one in the Secret Origins issue was riddled with continuity errors, as though its author hadn’t done any research. So I’m psyched to see a new one.

  3. This is hilarious.

    Back when we were preparing the publicity for Garth Ennis taking over the title, I was talking to someone who knew Sting about getting a blurb from him. Word came down from on high that we absolutely could not do this. Apparently, The Powers That Be were afraid Sting would sue us.

    Obviously, things have changed.

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