John Constantine

John Constantine is freaking awesome. Why? He tricked the devil into drinking holy water. He's the only person the devil will personally come to claim when he dies. He made the devil cure his lung cancer, save his life and try to ensure his survival when the devil would like nothing better than to see him dead. He flipped the finger to the devil. He made the devil declare him as the devil's own devil. He managed to score a hat-trick in screwing over the devil. What a resume.

I've read up to Issue 60 of the Hellblazer series so far and I must say, it's magnificent. The movie is very good and one of my favourite movies, but the comic is far better. For those who have watch the movie but have not read the comics, there are some differences. First of all, Constantine is British. In fact, he bears a striking resemblance to a young Sting (specifically as he appeared in the movie Quadrophenia). This is not coincidental. The artists of Constantine who are fans of Police have stated before that they had wanted to draw a character that looked like Sting. However, the movie did get the atmosphere, mood and tone of the comic right, though the comic is far darker.

The thing I like about Constantine is that he's not like other comic book heroes. He doesn't have magical superpowers. He's just a normal person, like one of us. He is also an anti-hero, manipulating people (even his friends, though reluctantly) to achieve his goals. Although at times heroic, he does things mostly to ensure his own survival.

http://www.dccomics.com/features/hellblazer/

For those interested, you can download the first issue of Hellblazer for free from the link above.