Another announcement from DC has New York Comic Con today. This one feels perfectly timed for being announced during Spooky Season. The veteran publisher has announced the return of John Constantine, Hellblazer for a brand new series which will start in early 2024.
John Constantine, Hellbalzer: Dead in America will reunite Si Spurrier and Aaron Campbell, picking up where their first chapter in his story left off in 2021. The pair will team with superstar artist Jordie Bellaire for the eight-issue series which will release through DC’s mature, Black Label imprint.
The book 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, and is intended for readers 17+. The debut issue features a main cover by series artist Aaron Campbell, 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. In addition, two collected editions of Spurrier and Campbell’s previous series are in stock and available to order at participating comic book shops and booksellers for readers who wish to catch up: John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 1: Marks of Woe and John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 2: The Best Version of You.
