Hellblazer #84 (1994)

Title – Hellblazer #84 - In Another Part of Hell
Author – Jamie Delano / Sean Phillips
Publisher - DC Vertigo
Format - Comic Book (single issue story)
Year - 1994
Original Cost – $1.95

This issue begins my favorite run of Hellblazer and not only because its where I first jumped on board but because it constantly riffs off so many of my favorite tropes and interests. Its also as funny as it is dark and as surprising as it is familiar. When I first read it in 94 I not only committed to the ongoing series but also picked up all the back issues.  There was a risk rereading it all these years later that it might not stand up or feel as vital as it once did.  If anything I enjoyed it even more and it remains a fantastic stand alone issue that just nails who the character is and the world he moves in.

John Constantine returns from Haiti after some unseen adventure and is collected from the airport by Chas, London Cabbie and his long suffering friend. Chas drops John off round his home while he goes to collect his daughter and her newborn baby from the hospital.  With time on his hands John recalls the first occasion he came to the house, when he lodged with Chas and his mother Queenie, 20 years prior. Which all sound nice and straight forward except this is Hellblazer so everything is a little more dark and twisted than it should be.

Chas' mother is a monstrous domineering old witch, bed-bound and alcoholic with a lusty chimpanzee familiar called Slag who is equally vile.  The ape parades around in a blond wig and red dress, smoking, drinking and torturing Chas at every opportunity and most probably at his own mother's request. And now the pair think to target John for the same treatment.

At this point in his life Constantine has only really dabble in the occult but he decides to intervene and free Chas from the tyranny by seducing the ape in order to get to Queenie.

I'll say no more about what transpires and how it all concludes but you do come away from the story with the certainty that John Constantine is not your traditional comic book hero and he'll do just about whatever it takes to win.

It feels like the right time to work through the whole of this run of stories and to revisit  what now feels like very formative storytelling.  I was drawn to this particular comic and its main character because it resonated with me some 27 years ago and still does today.  It will be interesting to see what still stands up, what's been lost to the decades and if I discover anything this time around that I missed the first.

Next up; a 4 parter written by Eddie Campbell and then after that the powerhouse of Paul Jenkins and Sean Phillips.

Steve