Changes: John Constantine (New Earth)

John Constantine is an occult detective from Liverpool, England. His violent and anti-social attitude makes him a formidable anti-hero, and he's known for doing whatever it takes to get the job done.

History

The Search for Swamp Thing

Main article: Brightest Day

John Constantine had a long history with the Swamp Thing, who had long since disappeared. But on the Brightest Day, the Entity resurrected Alec Holland from death, which in turn lead to the return of the Swamp Thing.

Constantine began to investigate when corrupt polluting executives were found dead - apparently the returned Swamp Thing's victims.^[1] Determined to track down his old friend, John discovered that the Swamp Thing had gone mad, and intended to kill him as well.

In his effort to find Swamp Thing, John unsuccessfully attempted to enlist his favourite super-hero, Batman; the world's greatest detective.^[2] Superman took him to the Star City forest, where he was attacked once again. They realized there, that without Alec Holland's consciousness, the Swamp Thing had become a brutally savage manifestation of The Green, attempting to eradicate humanity. He wasn't merely trying to kill Constantine, he was trying to absorb him as a host.^[3]

Constantine teamed up with Batman and Superman again to calm the Green at its nerve center, while they stopped an attempt by LexCorp to control it. Alec Holland, meanwhile, learned that to bond with Swamp Thing again he would have to die, and instead chose to live.^[4]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Magic: Constantine is a magician but unlike most magicians, Constantine rarely uses magical spells, unless he really has to, especially in combat.
- Divination
- Demon Summoning
- Curses
- Spirit Ward Creation
- Golemancy
- Necromancy
- Illusion Casting
- Synchronicity Wave Traveling: An instinctual supernatural ability to be in the right place at exactly the right time. This has led John to uncanny luck, like winning incredible amounts of money from arcade machines and casinos, avoiding harm, and more times than not, meeting the right kind of ally to help prevent or stop an apocalyptic event from happening. This also lets him reshape the battlefield to his advantage.
- Mind Control

Abilities

Deception: John Constantine is an excellent con artist and negotiator. These skills are often more useful than his magical ones. Constantine faces most of his challenges relying primarily on his cunning. He is widely considered as the world's greatest con-man.
Occultism
Prestidigitation
Hypnosis
Escapology

Paraphernalia

Transportation

Taxi.

Weapons

His trench-coat has some demonic powers.

Notes

The character of John Constantine was created by Alan Moore, on something of a whim originally. Alan Moore is quoted to have said "Hey, let's make a character that looks like Sting." and, well, the rest is history. However, this decision has led to the first appearance of Constantine becoming a contentious issue. An unnamed, non-speaking character, drawn by Steve Bissette and John Totleben to resemble Sting appeared in Swamp Thing (Volume 2) #25. Despite the resemblance to the singer, the character appears to have no other connection to Constantine. Similarly, another unnamed and non-speaking character resembling Sting appeared in DC Sampler #3, in a series of panels indicating Swamp Thing's future - making it an arguable option for first-appearance. For the sake of certitude, the DC Database stands by the "official" Swamp Thing (Volume 2) #37 appearance as first. The character would be developed further in his own series by Jamie Delano and later still by Garth Ennis.
Following the creation of the Vertigo imprint, John Constantine appeared almost exclusively within his own title Hellblazer, requiring several stand-in and knockoff creations to take his place in the mainstream DC Universe. The Vertigo Universe version of the character, who aged in real time, is located at John Constantine (Vertigo Universe), and remained in publication until Hellblazer #300. Meanwhile, the New Earth version of the character appeared infrequently until a prominent return to the mainstream DCU in the Brightest Day storyline.
Due to the complicated nature of his publication history, there is naturally some biographical overlap between the New Earth and Vertigo Universe versions of this character.

Trivia

John's favorite brand of cigarettes are Silk Cut.
Pop artist Sting was the visual inspiration for John Constantine. Sting lived in the district of Newcastle, which the character is associated with.^[5]

External Links

Footnotes

Swamp Thing Character

This character specifically relates to the Swamp Thing and is predominantly seen in the Swamp Thing family of titles. This character may be part of the Swamp Thing's supporting cast, a minor acquaintance, or one of his adversaries. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the Swamp Thing Characters category.

[1] Brightest Day #24

[2] Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing #1

[3] Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing #2

[4] Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing #3

[5] Hellblazer #11

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