I liked this. Short and sweet, gives us a good look into Jonny Conny's personality (his dismissal of the devil was particularly fun) while also setting up something interesting to come...
I wrote this in a blur one night, then finished
Hellblazer #1 soon after. Urban horror is my bread and butter, it's what gets my engine going, so it's no surprise it came easily.
I actually have another zero issue in the pipeline for a different title, but I want to get a chunk of this book out first, as I think this is where I'll find motivation. The format, being shorter, more focused, was an interesting experiment for me, and I'm glad it worked for you. I wanted to drop a teaser, something to get people interested, and then lead into a longer first issue. John is a character I've always loved, ever since I first read him in Alan Moore's seminal
Swamp Thing when I used to regularly get the collections from the library, so I think it's always been in me to write him.
Funnily enough, I nearly
did write John way back when.
The Flash #9 featured a possessed Scarlet Speedster, and the person to bring him back from the edge was supposed to be John Constantine… and I can’t remember why the story didn’t materialise like that. Editorial edict I think. Boris even did a cover featuring John, but we had to scrap it. Instead, I used Doctor Occult, and it wasn’t my most well-received issue, because… Occult acted a lot like Constantine.
Plus, I wrote myself into such a palaver to make Occult angsty, that I then had to keep writing the character for years after, in his own title. That was an education though, as I got to write really creepy horror stories with a character I grew to love! Expect to see the long simmering conclusion of the Doctor Occult / Rose Psychic tale at some point in
Hellblazer, as a sort of homage to the roots of my wanting to write the world’s snarkiest magician on the DC2.
...the Gaiman fan in me is intrigued in the idea of "all mythologies are real". I'm looking forward to the next step.
I’m a
massive Neil Gaiman fan, especially when it comes to the likes of
American Gods and
The Sandman, so I have to admit, I think I wear my inspiration on my sleeve when it comes to this concept.
Having the events of the last
Justice League arc have wider implications is something I’ve wanted to have happen for a good long time, but there’s not been an event big enough, or an interesting enough character to write a follow up to that could be impacted, until the revelation that every single god that ever existed is real--!
I originally had a six-issue mini-series intended for the concept, something I teased in
Justice League #70 as
Hellblazer: Divinity For Dummies, but then I lay awake at night, trying desperately to sleep, and I started getting story ideas from the ether. I just kept writing story idea after story idea, and now I think I have enough to deliver at least twelve issues, if not more. We’ll see how it goes. I’ve not even started thinking about Swamp Thing making an appearance, so you know that’s got to happen at some point.
Anyway, I’m just waiting on the cover to
Hellblazer #1, and I’ve found a great collaborator in HawthornBirdy, but we’ll have the next issue out soon. Like I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I’ve written the issue!
I do need to speak to Mark about the lengths one can go with the MA tag though…
