Classic Hellblazer art by Phil Hale depicting the character in his signature trenchcoat and smoking pose (fair use)

(8) HELLBLAZER (1988-2013, 2019-2020, 2024)

“I’m the one who steps from the shadows, all trenchcoat and cigarette and arrogance, ready to deal with the madness. Oh, I’ve got it all sewn up. I can save you. If it takes the last drop of your blood, I’ll drive your demons away. I’ll kick them in the bollocks and spit on them when they’re down and then I’ll be gone back into darkness, leaving only a nod and a wink and a wisecrack. I walk my path alone… who would walk with me?”

THE DC Vertigo series – and certainly longest running series – and virtual anthology of the best writers in comics, all writing the titular character, including my favorite writers from ‘British Invasion’ of American comics (and from 2000 AD).

The titular Hellblazer, John Constantine, originated with one such writer, Alan Moore, in his Swamp Thing – with the intended appearance and British nationality of Sting. TV Tropes sums him up best – a “con man, occult detective, gambler and magician of ill repute” who “tangled with Hell, Heaven, the police and the criminal underworld”. John Constantine may not have been the origin of the occult detective trope, but he codified it, particularly of the trenchcoat variety, and various other figures of contemporary fantasy have followed in his occult detective footsteps – Harry Dresden, John Taylor and Sandman Slim amongst others.

What more do you need to know? Read the damned thing, already!