Take a Cursed Road Trip in “Hellblazer: Dead in America”
Each Friday, we’ll be letting a different DC.com writer share what they’ll be reading over the weekend and why you might want to check it out. Here’s this week’s suggestion for a perfect Weekend Escape!
I think every DC Comics fan should read at least one John Constantine story. I’ll admit I’m a bit biased, because Constantine is one of my favorite characters, but I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that he’s one of the most innovative protagonists in comics and beyond. He’s a character who seemingly exists beyond the page, befuddling writers for decades now.
Constantine (and that’s pronounced “Constantyne,” like it rhymes with “pine”) can be best defined as the anti-Merlin or anti-Gandalf from traditional British storytelling. In contrast to these storied, bearded and benevolent wizards, Constantine is a cigarette-smoking, incredibly flawed man who never seems to do the right thing. And when he does do the right thing, he does it for the wrong reasons. Depending on the story, Constantine can be a powerful magic-user, but he was first introduced to us in comics as an occult detective with a knack for stumbling upon the most horrifying corners of human behavior.
John Constantine has been around since 1985, but like all great characters, he’s evergreen and urgent, no matter the time period he’s in. And this is on full display in Si Spurrier and Aaron Campbell’s limited series,<a href="https://www.dcuniverseinfinite.com/comics/series/john-constantine-hellblazer-dead-in-america-2024/d0ae08e6-dbdf-4a20-ba2d-101127a0322f” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>Hellblazer: Dead in America.
The Premise:
The basic premise of Hellblazer: Dead in America (which is technically titled John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America,but c’mon, who has time for all that?) is that Constantine is having the worst road trip across the United States, because he’s wanted for murder and his body is literally rotting away. To make matters worse, because everything can always get worse in a Constantine story, something rotten has taken root in America. Dream of the Endless tasks our John Boy with the responsibility of finding out what exactly has taken hold over the minds of Americans.
Let’s Talk Talent:
Si Spurrier and Aaron Campbell are one of my favorite creative teams working today. The two have worked on books likeJohn Constantine: Hellblazer(which is a predecessor to Dead in Americaand is also well worth a look),Suicide Squad: Blazeand the upcoming Vertigo series, A Walking Shadow. You may know Si Spurrier from his work onThe Flash,too.
Together, Spurrier and Campbell create an unforgettable reading experience thanks to the contrast between Spurrier’s otherworldly dialogue and Campbell’s grounded and gritty artwork. This, at its core, encapsulates what makes Constantine such an engaging character on the page. He’s a regular human who falls into a series of circumstances that probe big picture ideas like national identity and human nature. Every great Constantine story takes place in the shadows of our world, and Campbell’s artwork captures this perfectly, with the high contrast inks that drench the characters in a noir-like treatment.
A Few Reasons to Read:
- As dark as Constantine stories typically are, he’s often quite funny. The story opens with a decrepit-looking Constantine crawling his way across the ground before he falls down a hill, which is then revealed to be next to the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles. Honestly, as much as I try not to be like Constantine in my daily life, he feels incredibly relatable in Dead in America.
- Constantine is English, and seeing a guy like him try to navigate his way across America is peak “fish out of water” storytelling.
- Hellblazer: Dead in Americaoffers an unflinching look at the problems that have plagued America and our particular cabinet of national myths. Tackling this subject matter within a comic book, itself a vessel of modern mythmaking, is an incredibly punk rock move.
- Because Si Spurrier is British, he offers a unique perspective on American history and culture that I appreciated reading. Of course, there are plenty of stories written by American authors that examine American national identity, but for me, I find it fascinating to see how writers outside of the U.S. grapple with this subject matter.
- The art in Dead in America is absolutely killer and you have to see it to believe it. Colorist Jordie Bellaire does a wonderful job adding in a sense of the surreal in the story’s supernatural sequences.
Why It’s Worth Your Time:
Part of what makes John Constantine stand apart from other comic book characters is that he’s a work in progress, like all of us are. He’s not magically going to become a better version of himself after five issues. And by wearing his imperfections on his sleeve all these years, Constantine has given us all a way to engage with contemporary problems and questions about human morality and nature. I would never want to know him in real life, but he makes for great reading in a comic book.
Hellblazer: Dead in Americais a labor of love from two outstanding creators working in comics today, and I think there’s a special creative alchemy that arises in passion projects such as this. Characters like John Constantine live on in the minds of creators, too, just like the rest of us, and there’s a catharsis in Dead in America that suggests its story had been one that Spurrier and Campbell were dying to work on. Spooky season may be officially over, but Constantine reminds us here that every day is Halloween these days.
Hellblazer: Dead in Americaby Si Spurrier, Aaron Campbell, Lisandro Estherren and Jordie Bellaire is available in bookstores, comic shops, libraries and digital retailers as a softcover graphic novel. It can also be read in fullon DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.
Jules Chin Greene writes about comics, movies and superheroes for DC.com. Follow him on Instagram at@infinitevibesand Bluesky at@JulesChinGreene.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Jules Chin Greene and do not necessarily reflect those of DC, Warner Bros. or Skydance, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
