History ComicBook / Hellblazer

For the tropes specific to John himself, regardless of his incarnation, see the Characters/HellblazerJohnConstantine page.

* AdventuresInComaland: in Hellblazer #100. It might have been AllJustADream, but this is left ambiguous; [[spoiler: while John is comatose in the hospital, did the First of the Fallen ''really'' spirit him away to have some fun watching John confront his damned father, or did John just dream the whole thing?]]

* AlternateContinuity: The John Constantine who appears in the DCU's ''Justice League Dark'' is apparently the young thirty-something who first helped Swamp Thing come to terms with his identity, rather than the one in Vertigo's ''Hellblazer'' who's possibly pushing 60. The ComicBook/New52 book continuity also has a number of differences with the classic. In the traditonal Hellblazer, John cast roughly less than one spell per book, and those were typically low-level scrying or hypnotism. He used wits and deals instead of wands. New 52 Constantine has some of the same characteristics, but while he still doesn't blast toe to toe in wizard duels, there are a lot more glowing lines and magic tricks spurting around.

* AuthorTract: This is a major theme in ''Hellblazer''. Since the beginning of its publication, writers have been putting their own political and philosophical British ideals in it, and since it follows real time than ComicBookTime, a lot of those ideals are come from what was happening in contemporary UK. Examples of this include Jamie Delano's negative views of Thatcher's regime and by 2005, includes the War on Terror. When Garth Ennis took writing, he included racism, drugs, and religious fanaticism which was popular at that time. The most controversial writer, Brian Azzarello, tackled issues such as Neo-Nazism, prison rape, and homosexuality. During Warren Ellis' run, he included American school shootings in a one-shot issue which led to a major controversy. As such, much of Hellblazer's horror often comes in the crisis and controversies of its time.

* DemonSlaying: John Constantine isn't called the "Hellblazer" for nothing. He's so good at this profession, that he can kill a demon with just a one sharp glance in ''Hellblazer #50''.

* ImperfectRitual: ''Hellblazer'' 108 - "Day of Wine and Roses": John is hired to do some fertility magic to spice up an orgy. He fully intends to con his employer by doing a bogus ritual with the added bonus of gaining {{blackmail}} material on the rich participants. His secret "[[MagicalIncantation magical chant]]" is the list of ingredients off a packet of muesli. The ritual still manages to summon spirits called the Mendw that possess the participants and wreak havoc.

* RememberTheNewGuy: In the first story arc of Hellblazer, Chas Chandler is shown to have no knowledge of who Gary Lester is, but by the time of Brian Azarello's run, it was retconned that Chas and Gary have been bandmates together with John Constantine back the.

** A bit more complicated than usual: the actual Lucifer, the former Devil, quit his job in Sandman... a plot point which was eventually carried over to Hellblazer, but then it had to be explained who the current Devil was. Turns out the First was God's first creation, and predates even angels. In the Hellblazer mythos, Lucifer and Satan are different.

* ShoutOut: Issue 214 had the screen names of various Hellblazer fans as graffiti on a wall; issue 229 featured one of the fans as a character; issue 230 featured two fans as ghostly apparitions.

%% * OldFriend: Loads, usually doomed.