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As a result of the 2011 initiative, the New 52, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation's. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambig.

Contents 1 HistoryEdit 1.1 The Search for Swamp Thing 1.2 Flahspoint 1.3 Beginnings 1.4 Justice League Dark 2 Powers and AbilitiesEdit 2.1 Powers 2.2 Abilities 3 NotesEdit 4 TriviaEdit 5 Recommended ReadingEdit 6 Related 7 LinksEdit 7.1 Discover and Discuss 7.2 Footnotes

HistoryEdit

John Constantine is an occult detective from London, 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.

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]

Flahspoint

The DC Universe heavily changed its continuity into the DCnU following the events of Flashpoint in 2011. This was part of an effort to make storylines more accessible to newer readers, beginning with the New 52. This new timeline combines elements from the DCU, Vertigo Universe and Wildstorm Universe while drastically changing the origins and histories of characters.

Following the alteration of the Timestream by Reverse Flash, the timeline of the universe was reconfigured by The Flash, into one which differed slightly from what came before.

Beginnings

As a younger man, John had been learning all he could of the occult and magical in Europe when he decided to travel to New York City, and learn under one of the greatest mages in the world: Nick Necro, who had himself studied under the great Zatara and Baron Winters. Nick's girlfriend at the time was Zatara's daughter, Zatara, who was herself a powerful magician. When John first laid eyes on her, he fell in love, too.

The three of them studied together, battling occult threats like the Cult of the Cold Flame. Nick, however, soon became obsessed with the search for the fabled Books of Magic. His obsession drove Zatanna into John's arms, and by the time Nick realized it, he cared more about the Books. He was not, however, above revenge. He allied with the Cold Flame in order to send John to Hell, in exchange for help finding the Books of Magic. Thanks to John's wiles, though, it was Nick who was sent to Hell.^[5]

John and Zatanna were together for a time after that, until they were driven apart by the fact that John's occult activities resulted in her own father's burning to death before their eyes. It would be some time before they would see each other again.^[6]

Justice League Dark

Main article: Justice League Dark: In the Dark

Alerted by a magical shift in reality that had him falling from the sky in London, John began scrying in search of Zatanna, once again, as he believed she might be in trouble.^[7] He managed to track her down in the United States, but she was in a trance state, and he was forced to wake her up with backwards magic. Afterwards, she explained that the danger he sensed was the return of the Enchantress, who was causing havoc in search of her host, June Moone.^[8]

John's first instinct, then, was to seek out Deadman, but hecould not find him - and so, he went directly to Madame Xanadu, whom he had already come to understand was responsible for splitting June from the Enchantress, which would inevitably result in a magically tinged doom.^[9]

Knowing that June was about to be consumed by the Enchantress, John appeared next to her and drew a protective circle around them both. He realized, then, that a rhyme that she had stuck in her head was part of the spell that Xanadu had used to separate her from the witch, and so he began reciting it himself in order to put them back together. Deadman attempted to stop him, having grown attached to June, but to no avail. Thanks to the efforts of both John and Mindwarp, the Enchantress' threat was nullified, and June was lost forever.

Afterwards, John revealed that the entire ordeal had been Xanadu's fault, and the magicians all parted ways bitterly. However, Madame Xanadu's visions of a future of doom had not ceased, and would not cease unless the team she had alienated remained together.^[10]

Powers and AbilitiesEdit

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 - to meet the right kind of ally to help prevent or stop an apocalyptic event from happening.
• 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.
• Occultism
• Prestidigitation
• Hypnosis
• Escapology
  

NotesEdit

• This character was introduced in Post-Crisis/New Earth continuity. This era of publication took place between the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986, and the beginning of Flashpoint in 2011. They are now part of Prime Earth continuity, beginning publication in The New 52. Their history is largely intact, although some details may have been altered or removed, and should be considered apocryphal.
• John Constantine's first appearance was in Swamp Thing (Volume 2) #37, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by John Totleben and Steve Bissett. However, in the New 52 continuity, his first appearance was Justice League Dark #1 by Peter Milligan and Mikel Janin.
• 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. The character was developed further by Jamie Delano and later still by Garth Ennis.
  

TriviaEdit

• 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.^[11]
  

Recommended ReadingEdit

• Hellblazer
• Justice League Dark
• Constantine

Related

• 397 Appearances of John Constantine (New Earth)
• 97 Images featuring John Constantine (New Earth)
• 82 Quotations by or about John Constantine (New Earth)
• Character Gallery: John Constantine (New Earth)

LinksEdit

 

• John Constantine article at Wikipedia
• Hellblazer article at Wikipedia
• Constantine (movie) article at Wikipedia

Discover and Discuss

• Search this site for: John Constantine · John Constantine (New Earth)
• Search the Forums for: John Constantine · John Constantine (New Earth)
• Discuss this and other characters on the forums

Footnotes

1. ↑ Brightest Day #24
2. ↑ Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search #1
3. ↑ Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search #2
4. ↑ Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search #3
5. ↑ Justice League Dark #0
6. ↑ Justice League Dark #12, Swamp Thing (Volume 2) #50
7. ↑ Justice League Dark #1
8. ↑ Justice League Dark #3
9. ↑ Justice League Dark #4
10. ↑ Justice League Dark #5
11. ↑ Hellblazer #11

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