Cover Story - Top 12 John Constantine Covers

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This is actually an article I was planning to do last October but that turned out to be a busy month.  That’s sort of the thing about Legends of Tomorrow, it’s a delight of a show with a ton of deep cut geeky heroes but it can be hard to keep up with how often they feature characters that could demand a whole number of articles, reviews, and lists.  Today we gather to celebrate John Constantine, everyone’s favorite blonde cockney street wizard and trench coat wearer.  

I joke but John is among a handful of mystical and urban fantasy characters at DC, and their adjacent imprint Vertigo Comics, who call themselves The Trench Coat Brigade, so just know that’s where we’re starting from with this dive into the top 12 Constantine comic covers.  I’ll be drawing from John’s first solo comic entitled Hellblazer, which began life as part of DC’s mature readers imprint Vertigo Comics and ended after 300 issues when they decided to import John to the main DC universe.  That’s a lot of titles to get through so let’s get down to it and get the cover story on the top 12 John Constantine comic covers.

12.

Like most of the issues I’ll be spotlighting in this list, these comics are the product of the modern age of cover design, and covers made for a more adult audience to boot.  As such, we’re dealing with a very different approach to scale, perspective, and content than you normally get on Cover Story.  We are far from the Silver Age at this point, as this cover should indicate.  This isn’t meant to be something that literally happens in the comic (though with Hellblazer it can be hard to tell) instead it’s representative of the emotion and content at hand.  

Firstly, I had to start with a cover that featured Constantine smoking, it’s basically a trademark of his character, but secondly, I love the visual language here to show how dead inside he is.  The cheap plastic mask over his inner skeleton is a great metaphor and one that manages to look appropriately spooky as well as evocative.  This cover also features some very good color balance between the dulled out brown and white of the skeleton and the weird pastels of the gradient background.  Overall this is a good first sample of what can be done with modern cover sensibilities. 

11.

This cover is closer in style to the classics of cover design but still decidedly modern.  That pure white background is a very modern and minimalist approach to cover art, one that puts a lot of faith in the reader to appreciate and grasp what’s happening without needing to fill up the scene with action.  However, the more meta idea of Rich, the Punk, trying to slap his name and logo over the Hellblazer title is classic comics through and through.  Basically, since the creation of logo art comic covers have been finding a way to have fun with it and I think this cover speaks to the cheeky irreverence of Constantine’s cover quite nicely.  

I don’t know anything about Rich, the Punk, except that I doubt he appeared in many more comics after tangling with cold heart Johnny here.  Seriously, Constantine’s a character who does a lot of smiling and swearing to exude a sense of blokey-ness to put people at their ease but he’s always meant to be incredibly mercenary and cold-blooded so the way he’s casually knocking the letter out from under Rich here perfectly sums that up.  I also like the Rockers vs. Mods subtext design to their outfits, with Constantine’s suit and coat balanced nicely against Rich’s leather jacket and jeans. 

10.

This is one of the more culturally unique aspects of Hellblazer in cover form, the way the book was made specifically to promote a British perspective.  Hellblazer got its start in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s during the British invasion, when a ton of really talented British authors and creators like Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore were crossing the Atlantic and breaking into American comics.  That was actually part of why DC created Vertigo in the first place, they wanted to tap into the more adult market that these British authors often appealed to.  

In the case of this cover, everything from the look of this soldier to the design of the houses speaks to a uniquely British experience but one we can still decipher.  The soldier is a British Tommy, one of the ground grunts of World War 2, his ghost looming large over the row houses of British suburbia.  It’s a creepy image and the use of camouflage green right down the center of the scene helps sell it as strange and unnerving.  There’s also the nice touch that the woman and stroller on the sidewalk are actually bisected by the pillar of green as if it’s coming out of the past to demand space in the now: it’s an eerie image even across cultural barriers. 

9.

Speaking of cultural exchange, this cover certainly sums up Constantine’s relationship to American readership really damn well.  He’s always been a popular character in Vertigo’s deck and a useful tool in DC after he immigrated to the main universe, but it comes with that same smarmy smug goofiness that you just love.  Like I mentioned earlier, Constantine has always been a character with a good deal of cheek and comedy at the core of his persona, mainly backed up by his cockiness- all of which is counterbalanced by his crazy Bohemian lifestyle as a wandering street wizard.  

In this case, I absolutely love the joke of dressing the statue of liberty in his trench coat and him holding up a pint glass of, what I'm sure is warm beer, is a real cherry on top.  I also like the addition of the big scar down John’s face, something that tends to get left out of his modern iterations.  It adds a touch of that hardscrabble life on the bottom that makes his sarcasm and smugness more tolerable because we know he doesn’t need to be taken down a peg- life is constantly doing that to him for us. 

8.

So harkening back to cover #10 and the issue of cultural exchange here’s an unfun fact for the uninformed in the audience: Britain actually was involved in Vietnam, as were the French.  This is mainly because the conflict in Vietnam extended well before America’s more pronounced involvement but there is a degree of shared cultural trauma around ‘Nam for Brits and Americans, though it’s nowhere near as pronounced an aspect of British history as it is American.  In any event, I really love the design of this cover and how it’s able to conjure up the imagery of Vietnam through just the vaguest of hints.  

Incidentally, take note of how different the soldiers reflected in the glass here look compared to the Tommy from #10, that’s part of conveying a different conflict and moral standing.  What’s more, this scene is clearly a flashback focusing on a battle over there rather than returning troops, which gives it a different cadence, as does the crying Vietnamese face.  I also like that we get the hint of Constantine in the background looming over the scene, it all creates a very evocative scene that I think speaks to the more gloomy and moody vibe the book could often hit.

7.

This is such a delight of a cover, a perfect blend of absurdist imagery and genuine menace, it’s that perfect blend that Hellblazer always did so well.  Firstly, I love the perspective shot here with the viewer framed as the one wielding the remote control and, I guess, trapping Constantine inside the television.  That’s a really funny idea and a nice meta-gag about the fact he basically exists for our entertainment.  But at the same time I also really like the look of fear and dread on John’s face, giving the situation a greater degree of tension than if he’d just looked annoyed or was flipping off the viewer.  

Actually, one of the funnier things about this design is that, with how scrunched up Constantine is, the implication seems to be he actually is inside the TV set rather than trapped in a broadcast or the like- that’s a funny idea.  I also want to quickly draw attention to the incredibly ‘90s looking pattern behind the TV.  It’s hard to make out exactly but it’s that weird blend of random shapes and colors that can best be described as “blockbuster video carpet pattern.”  I have no idea WHY they decided to make this the background of the walls but I salute the decision. 

6.

Here’s a pleasant little cover set along the British coast to give you chills.  Actually, my favorite thing about this cover is that, because this is a horror/urban fantasy comic, I have no idea if that skeleton is just supposed to be closer to the viewer and it’s a perspective trick or if it’s a giant skeleton being consumed by like snakes and other giant worms.  Either way, it’s an immediately striking and upsetting image and a great way to convey “buried secrets” without any dialogue at all.  

What’s more, there’s a superb use of color here, especially the contrast between Earth, sky, and sea.  The soft blue of the sky and vanilla clouds is a beautiful contrast to the deep burnt orange underground and I love the way the water shimmers around the horizon.  The use of brush strokes as well adds a real sense of texture to the cover.  It almost reminds me of a kind of demented hotel art, the inoffensive pleasantness of the sunny seaside day marred by this lone wanderer and the vast depth of horrifying secrets he brings with him. 

5.

If you’re wondering if it was intentional that we went from Constantine walking over a buried corpse to him being the one in a shallow unmarked grave: it definitely was.  In all seriousness, this cover is another great use of irreverence paired with creepy or disturbing imagery to highlight the ridiculousness of the upsetting situation.  In this case, John just being in the grave wouldn’t be too bad, this is a superhero comic after all, but throwing him into the dirt with both of his eyes sucked out of his head is a might be unsettling.  

However, that creepiness, accentuated by having his eye sockets still bloody from their emptying, is smoothed over by the joke of him getting buried with the things he loved most in life: booze and cigarettes.   Seriously, the image of John Constantine, in the grave but still with a cigarette in his mouth and an empty bottle of cheap alcohol clutched tight to his chest is basically the only way I could ever imagine this legend of urban fantasy finally biting the big one. 

4.

This cover might actually take a little explaining to get to why I found it so evocative.  It’s a very good cover all on its own as the image of the hero being burned in effigy is incredibly evocative and downright iconic.  The blend of scarecrow and crucifixion imagery on hand here really imbues the scene with a sense of horror and mysticism and the smoldering flames do a great job giving the scene energy but not movement.  What’s more, the background is really well composed, like that blend of sloping hills, barren trees, and empty sky all make for a creepy, abandoned countryside.  

Additionally, the color design and balance are incredibly complementary and well conceived.  The bright orange of the fire blends perfectly into the burnt blood red of the horizon and all of it contrasts to the soft purple of the snow-covered hills.  However, what really sold me on this cover was how much it drove home the way John’s trench coat is the signature of the character.  It’s his cape and cowl, his logo and costume, so seeing it go up in flame, even in effigy, is like seeing the bat cowl in tatters or a shattered Captain America shield, it’s just a great image. 

3.

God, this cover is freaky and terrifying.  Seriously, I actually considered using it as part of the main image for this article but every time I see it it’s just too messed up and creepy to employ.  Firstly, the all black background creates this superbly upsetting shadow over all the faces that really does evoke a sense of death to this image.  You get the feeling these people aren’t just being still but are in fact dead, hence why all their faces are as shrouded as possible.  

What’s more, there’s something really uncanny about how they’re rendered, looking just realistic enough that you could believe they’re some kind of skin masks.  Constantine being the only to move doesn’t help the situation either but it’s even less helpful that his movement is screaming in terror toward the viewer.  Seriously, I have no idea what this story could even be about just that this image is a goddamn horror movie in comic cover form. 

2.

As much as the trench coat is a symbol of John Constantine, there’s no denying that cigarettes are also a bizarrely emblematic element of the character.  A lot of that has to do with how John is positioned in relation to the main universe of Superman and company.  He originally appeared in the pages of Swamp Thing before sliding into the more adult line Vertigo Comics, which technically makes him a superhero who became a mature readers comic, hence why the idea he smokes and drinks were kind of a big deal at the start.  

Over time his chain-smoking became a kind of core part of his visual identities like Superman’s S or the Bat symbol, to the point people were actually incensed his 2014 TV show wasn’t going to feature him smoking.  As such, the visual image of the stubbed out cigarette and John walking away into the unclear distance serves as the perfect visual metaphor for his departure from the mature reader's line and re-entrance into the main DC universe.  It’s a cover that speaks to conclusions, the end of an era, and the character literally leaving a defining piece of himself behind. 

1.

In terms of visual language, a character putting their back to the reader can mean a lot of things.  In cover #10 John turned his back to us because the image of the giant soldier was so shocking and commanding, a statement on the nature of immediacy of the scene.  In cover #2, John’s turned back was to intimate a departure; that we, and the comic, were something he was leaving behind as he made for new beginnings.  In this cover, however, the turned back isn’t about either of those things, it’s a symbol for intimacy- a way to hammer home that the characters aren’t aware of our presence and that what we’re seeing isn’t actually meant for us.  

A small, quiet moment like this with John and his ghost friend walking under the moonlit sky could be done in a number of ways but the way it’s crafted here the message is clear: this is a private moment that we happen to have stumbled upon by accident.  It’s an almost tender scene that speaks to the genuineness and heroism that’s always been under the layers of cynicism and sarcasm that surround Constantine like armor. 

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