I just got into Constantine because of JLD, what are his must

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You're definitely reading into it, since it's a comic book.

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Garth Ennis being the definitive Constantine writer, start with his Heckblazer.

>>89401217
Constantine and Necro were definitely fucking, yes.
JLD is a pretty shit showing for Constantine, though. It doesn't really have much to do with how he traditionally is.

>>89401217
To be fair, I'm fairly 'not-muh' about what's been done with John 'Bleedin Saint' Constantine. But I do have some recommendations.

His initial appearance back in Moore's Swamp Thing was good, but ultimately not necessary reading. Although Moore's Swamp Thing is amazing in and of itself.

My honest advice to you is to pick up issue one of the original Hellblazer and enjoy the ride. The whole run isn't perfect but you're gonna go for a while before finding a storyline that isn't just completely engrossing, and even then I don't feel like it ever actually jumps the shark (that's everything that came afterward.)

Honestly, I'm jealous of you. I wish I could read Hellblazer again for the first time.

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>>89401236
No, seriously, what is it?
Nick seems to be implying in what i'm reading right now.

>>89401287
Should I buy all 10 volumes then?

>>89401541
just fucking pirate it desu

>>89401287
>not necessary reading
if you don't know his past interactions with swampy nearly everything in the hellblazer story where they meet up again is confusing and has no impact

>>89401739
It definitely adds more context to it and makes it a richer story, but I first read it without having read Swamp Thing and I wasn't confused.

>>89401541
I'd start with one and see if you like it, then keep buying more as you want. Constantine is kinda different from Constanteen.

>>89401777
>Constantine is kinda different from Constanteen
What do you mean?

How does Constantine fight really?
People seem to not like the fact that he lobs fireballs in JLD, I mean, he's a mage what do you expect.

>>89401824
I'm being 'not-muh'. In recent years Constantine has seen a trend of trying to make him both A) more easily digestible to a wider audience and B) a traditional superhero.

Hellblazer does occasionally reference Superheros, and he does occasionally interact with other characters from the wider universe, such as Swamp Thing, but you can easily read Hellblazer as its own, self-contained story, as the vast majority of the time its not portraying a world with capes and heroes, or at least not one where they're in any way acknowledged or relevant.

Hellblazer is occult horror, pure and simple. It's a different genre from capes, it has entirely different themes from capes. It's distinct from run of the mill modern fantasy as well. With point B) listed above, they have a really hard time not throwing everything that makes Hellblazer what it is out the window. Oftentimes it turns into baby with the bathwater deal.

Hellblazer is also, for lack of a better word, pretty edgy in ways. It's not just edge for its own sake, which is what makes it good imo, but Constantine is a product of his stories, and his stories are full of horrible things that happen to him and, especially, the people around him, that make it hard to tell a Constantine story that is palatable to a larger, especially a family, audience. If you start sanitizing the character, you quickly can't tell the characters most defining stories.

I represent this as Constantine versus Constanteen because in Hellblazer Constantine rhymes with fine, smile in most of the other, 'not-muh' representations of the character they change the pronunciation to the more common and digestible Constanteen.

Now, I'm not actually bothered by the change in pronunciation (not too badly anyway), but it's emblematic of the efforts they've made to tame the character.
(1/2)

>>89402060
(2/2)

Granted, I do think you could do a PG-13 Constantine and still get the character right. I think he can be sanitized SOME without losing what makes him great, but it requires knowing and having a love for the genre and the stories and being able to tell them in a new way, but most of the time they just say fuck it and have him hobnobbing with straight up sorcerers and superheroes and casting magic missile and stuff.

Still, the short lived Constantine TV show gave me hope that we may get a good adaptation one day. It had a lot of problems but also got a lot right, and was creative about how it adapted the character to a new medium and a more sanitized rating. And I say this as someone who was a huge naysayer before the show came out (in my defense, the original pilot was complete shit.)

So, if you just got into John Constantine, and want to read more about him, I'd suggest you start from the beginning because I think you'll love the stories and have a better appreciation for the character, but I think you should probably just buy the first volume first so you can get your feet wet, because it might be different from what you're expecting, and I wouldn't want you to buy it all at once and then not like it.

If you want John to be shooting magic force beams from his hands at monsters, you may be dissapointed.
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>>89401217
He's a faggot

Drop him already

>>89401987
He's more of a trickster than a fighter in Hellblazer. He most often uses cunning, guile, and some occult know-how in supernatural-horror type situations, instead of just blasting down demonic bad guy #225 with stereotypical vidya spells. The magic is more occult and less fantasy. Lots of rituals and demons and exorcisms and damnation and that sort of thing. In some ways, Hellblazer has more in common with the Twilight Zone than it does with Harry Potter or Dungeons and Dragons. Not trying to be shirty because I love more stereotypical fantasy magic, but I would never consider Constantine a mage, even though he does technically use magic now and again.

>>89402196
This desu. He's basically a con-man with a lot of knowledge about the occult and uses it in his advantage.

I dislike Constanteen because he's such a good guy, while Constantine was more of an anti-hero at his best and villain protagonist at his worst.

>>89401987
We expect Constantine

I don't understand the whole Constantine/Constanteen going on but from what I can grasp are they two different versions of Constantine? Much like a retcon only distinguished by the pronunciation?

>>89402072
>(in my defense, the original pilot was complete shit.)
it was but by episode 4 they knew what they were doing. God I loved that episode.

>>89402399
It's not a retcon really, just the character being more sanitized and put into cape adventures which is completely not where the character came from at all. It'd be like if you took the Bat family, replaced the crime with legal drama, and also made it a romcom, and you decided to call Dick 'Richard' because you thought the audience would take more kindly to it.

That's basically what's been done to our boy in a few of his more recent representations.

>>89402920

Yeah, they cleaned up Constantine a lot but definitely knew how to keep him feeling like himself, and how to get across the core of what makes him a good character. Episode four is a good example. One of the most defining early stories in the comics, which was adapted in a way that is toned down and ultimately both gives John closure and makes him seem like not quite such a lowlife, but still goes through with the core plot and also shows John's decision as horrific and deceptive. I also like that they owned their version of him in that episode, and used their version of him to actually reinforce the characters traditional emotional center. That last shot of him by the bedside is slightly different from traditional Constantine, due to the context of what he's doing, but manages perfectly to capture the haunted core of the character. Great shot and a great episode.

Matt Ryan also greatly exceeded my expectations. Not perfect, but perfectly acceptable. I'll watch him as John any time.

>>89403553
yeah, John with tears in his eyes really struck me. Cause he's so distant most of the time, so when he did show his feelings it was a great scene

>>89401541
torrent it all then buy the volumes of the arcs you liked, some writers will mesh with what you like better than others

avoid New 52 John at all costs

>>89401315
yeah, constantine,nick and zantana used to have threesomes together. It was in one of the new 52 stories.

>>89402399
Constanteen - post-crisis/New 52/Rebirth, still smokes, but can't swear and is generally more of a good guy, team leader for Justice League Dark, a lot more altruistic in regards to saving the planet, lots of physical magic and shooty spells. Rebirth John is sorta a middle ground between Constantine and Constanteen since they're trying to bring the character back to its roots, but it's still hampered by having to conform to mainsteam DC comics line standard, sleeps with every man he comes into contact and is shoved in your face

Constantine - Swamp Thing/Vertigo Hellblazer 1-300# & Associated spin-offs, doesn't get involved in superheroics outside of the Swamp Thing arcs he's involved in, is a complete bastard, swears a lot and very morally ambiguous, possibly bisexual due to an off-hand reference and a short story arc by Azzarello

They aren't distinguished by the pronunciation per say, often people use the term 'Constanteen' or 'Heckblazer' to refer to the mainstream DC universe John since they have to water him down

>>89404235
So Constanteen is literally a gay Jubilee and Constantine is a bisexual cultist? I must say, both seem interesting.

>>89401287
RIGHT?

>>89406274
Think of Vertigo John as being more of a con-man that walks in otherworldly circles. He's not beyond driving someone insane or letting an old friend die if it serves his ends or justifies a greater good. Almost everyone who gets too close to him gets killed or worse, and they will haunt him for the rest of his days.

>>89401541
There's a lot more then 10 volumes.

>>89406274
Constantine is not a cultist and I think he slept with a dude in one issue to get something from him, but generally goes for women.

Constanteen is pretty gay, but not as cool as Jubilee.

>>89401217
>Nick Necro

YoU're doing it wrong. Never read anything Constantine that's not published by Vertigo.

>>89407265
You mean to say he'd sacrifice a best friend or lover in the blink of an eye even if it meant saving the world?
Wow that's just, wow.

>>89401541
>10
HAH.

>>89407617
He slept with him to later fuck him over. But its implied much earlier on in the series he had a relationship with Ray.

>>89408542
it's more like he's willing to sacrifice a best friend for a slightly better chance of saving the world. And a lot of the time it's him who gets them into the situation in the first place. Ultimately, it's the best choice at the time but John's a fuck up and shouldn't have gotten them to that point in the first place. There is a god damned good reason why most people hate him, or at least distrust him.

>>89401541
>>89407354
>>89408625

There were 36 original volumes, but they have been collecting them in double-sized books for a while now, but you are still looking at at more than 16 books. The reprints have been put out at like 2 a year, but they have only just gotten to issue 175 out of 300