Hellblazer #296, with cover art by Simon Bisley
There is much to-do being made about the fact that the upcoming mainstream DCU series "Constantine" series will be a watered down version of the gruff 59 year old bastard that Vertigo has been publishing since the late 80s - a series that will come to an end in a few months' time with #300.
I have a differing viewpoint. Yes, by necessity it will be less graphic in terms of sex content, less nasty with its profanity, probably less politically charged, too. But have you read any of the mainstream DC books lately? Issue #1 of Catwoman had she and Batman doin' it right on-panel ("and most of the costumes stay on..."). The higher rated books (in terms of "T for Teen" ratings) can say "bitch" now instead of "witch" - a dramatic improvement, I say. Not that I'm a huge fan of the word, but the blatant replacement always seemed tacky to me.
I wasn't exactly expecting this to happen now, but I was surprised it didn't happen when the New 52 was launched. DC's "The Dark" corner - I wanted to put corner in scare quotes too, because I don't know why they're calling it a corner - has been essentially providing the same high-calibre horror material that DC was providing back between 1984 and 1993 with books like Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Black Orchid, Sandman, Shade the Changing Man and - you guessed it - Hellblazer. Why did I use 1993 as a cut-off point? Because, you should know that Vertigo didn't exist until 1993. It was created because those books were considered too dark, too mature for the mainstream DC universe. What with all the sex, violence, language, and political commentary.
So, when DC announced that Swamp Thing and Animal Man would be folded into the new DCU, I was all "Oh. Well, back to where they started, huh?" And then I was all "Wait... they're running two different versions of John Constantine at the same time? That's going to be a problem." Not a problem in terms of any normal comic reader's life. I happen to administrate a DC Comics related wiki, and as such, having two versions of the same character running at once meant that we'd have to make new pages and all kinds of jank. My point is that making a distinction between Vertigo Constantine and DCU Constantine was already a doomsday clock for the Vertigo title.
The other formerly Vertigo titles, Animal Man and Swamp Thing, are being written by two of DC's most talented writers, both of whom have read and loved the DC AND Vertigo runs of the characters. Honestly, there is practically no difference, apart from the fact that they revert some of the more ridiculous changes to the characters once the Vertigo writers got moving... like turning Buddy Baker into a weird chimera, and making an entire volume of Swamp Thing about his daughter instead, after artificially aging her. Animal Man and Swamp Thing never needed cussin' and sexin' to be intense, mature, horror books. (Though, I have never found either to have been all that scary). They still don't, and they're two of the consistently best reviewed books released by ANY company.
Some will say that it is integral to John Constantine's character that he have a potty mouth. I agree, to an extent. It is not, however, integral to my enjoyment of the book that he do it in a way that would get DC in trouble with feminists and moms associations. Basically, a lot of the sex, violence, and language that Vertigo's back-shelf nature afforded Hellblazer was exploitative - "cunts" and "niggers" for the sake of making uptight people's sphincters tighten with discomfort. The key to a good comic book in EVERY CASE is good plotting, and good dialogue. Clever and saucy dialogue alone does not make it good. Seeing a nipple or seven doesn't make a comic book good, it makes a reader think "I should continue reading this, so that I see some more of those nipples, maybe."
Of course, even that factor doesn't... factor. Despite the fact that Peter Milligan's writing and Simon Bisley's covers have breathed some life and excitement back into the book after years of "meh" - everyone remembers Garth Ennis' run fondly, but that ended, remember? He went and wrote Preacher, and that's where all the magic went - sales were floundering just under 10,000 copies for it. That's less than Voodoo. I have read every issue of Voodoo. It was not good.
So, a low-selling, non-creator-owned book on a largely creator-owned imprint is getting cancelled and replaced by a mainstream DC Universe book, taking place in a setting that has essentially grown up to the point that has largely absorbed what was once "mature readers" content into the status quo. I say, while "Constantine" may not be as rough around the edges as Hellblazer, it will be just the same as any other New 52 book. A bit of awkward things to get used to, and then great story-telling to follow (excluding some of the more popular books that are being run into the ground by the likes of Scott Lobdell, whom I single out because my usual scapegoat, Rob Liefeld, has left DC).
Before I conclude, I want to make just one more point that I know has been made elsewhere. John Constantine was getting old. Too old for new adventures. I made this point when they announced the New 52, as well. Characters like Batman and Superman had essentially done all they could, and regardless of "comic book time" were basically in their late 40s by the end of 2011, and nothing could change that but yet another continuity shake-up.
The late Julius Schwartz (hallowed be his name) often said in interviews regarding his creation of the "new" Flash Barry Allen and the "new" Green Lantern Hal Jordan, that continuity always needs a shake-up every ten to fifteen years, just to keep things fresh for the new readers. DC has remained faithful to this, to some extent. In 1985, they had the Crisis on Infinite Earths. In 1994 they had Zero Hour (much less successful at FIXING continuity, but pretty good at shaking it up). In 2006 they had Infinite Crisis. Even through all that, the characters weren't wiped clean, they were just getting older and having their pasts changed a bit.
So, with the New 52, they saw how to fix that. They changed their pasts AND put them back at the beginnings(ish) of their careers, thereby giving us a continuity shakeup AND making the aging heroes younger.
Unlike the mainstream DCU, though, John Constantine aged (ages?) in real time, not comic book time. While the progression is cool to watch, it makes the problem of his being super-old a super-worse one, 'cause he gets even older much faster. So, since 1988, John has aged to nearly 60. He's got married. His hair's gone white. Basically, he needs a refresher too.
Some diehards might argue that that is what the DCU version appearing in Justice League Dark is for, and the Vertigo version should have just continued until John was DEAD. I'd have agreed, were it not for the low sales I mentioned earlier. From a business perspective, the popularity of John Constantine in Justice League Dark (which is basically a Constantine book anyway) is enough to carry a solo title, and that solo title will sell much better in the mainstream DCU than it will in Vertigo. As the DC editorial staff argued more than a year ago, new readers felt they needed to start from the beginning in order to get into Hellblazer. Problem solved, bros! Now you can buy all the trades, and start from the new beginning!
The only lingering question I have is whether the future of Vertigo is in question. Vertigo's Executive Editor (that's the big cheese) Karen Berger is editing a mainstream DCU title (Dial H), and there are now only creator-owned series under the imprint (albeit good ones, like Fables and American Vampire). Maybe not. Maybe so.
If DC is willing to provide the same level of content without F-bombs and (as many) boobs in their new series, then I'm okay with that. Frankly, I think it's more on the new writer's shoulders than anyone else's.