While Vertigo has branched off in a variety of directions in the past decade or so, when you heard the publisher’s name in the 1990’s you thought one thing: cerebral and somewhat surreal comics that stood in the middle of a Venn Diagram of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. “Hellblazer” is without a doubt one of the most influential ongoing series of the late 80s, patenting that trademark Vertigo feel, and it’s all because of the brilliant mind that is Jamie Delano. Like Moore, Delano had previously written “Captain Britain” and “Doctor Who” comics before making his big break with DC Comics - or, in this case, Vertigo. Many writers have had their hands on the laughing mage since the series began, but the very first writer to touch Constantine after Alan Moore left “Swamp Thing” was Jamie Delano. You know: the trenchcoat-wearing, mysterious magician played by Keanu Reeves in a terrible movie? Following his debut in Alan Moore’s “Swamp Thing,” Constantine was given his own Vertigo series, “Hellblazer,” in 1988, a series that is still running to this day.
Even if you haven’t, though, odds are pretty high that you have heard of a certain John Constantine. Surely, by this point all of our readers have acquired and read every volume of this amazing run by now, right? I thought so. It has been over a year since I recommended Alan Moore’s “Swamp Thing” in this very column.
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