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Story : The Fear Machine Issue Numbers : #14 through #22. Creative Team : Jamie Delano (w), Richard Piers Rayner (a), Mark Buckingham (a), Mike Hoffman (a), Alfredo Alcala (a) John Constantine isn't exactly known for his taste in clothes. For more years than anyone cares to remember he's trudged through his strange life in a dirty old trench coat, a shirt whose top button has long since decayed through lack of use and a tie worn at a permanent half mast. Though not a comic book superhero in any real sense of the phrase, Constantine's adherence to a set dress code has become akin to the spandex worn by the likes of Superman and Batman, a uniform that's become very much an important part of the character. As I type this, Constantine is currently romping around the backwoods of America under the watchful eye of Brian Azzarello, much to the chagrin of a certain portion of the Hellblazer readership. This group believes that, like his trademark trench coat, Constantine's locale is a vital part of who he is - that he should be knocking back pints in some dingy English pub instead of meeting the DogFuck Twins in the bowels of Nebraska. But Brian isn't the first writer to play with the essence of just who John Constantine is, not by a long shot. Enter Jamie Delano and The Hippy Constantine. Following his final confrontation with the demon Nergal, John beats a hasty retreat to the English seaside, losing himself amidst the tourists in a bid to lay low. This Constantine cuts a rather tragic sight - the trench coat is there, of course, but jeans and bright red sun glasses don't look right on the Englishman. Things take a turn for the worse when Constantine's picture makes the front page of an English tabloid newspaper next to the headline 'Face Of Evil'. The accompanying story reveals that the police are looking for John in connection with the brutal murder of his landlady and one of her tenants (both slaughtered by Nergal's Damnation Army). A panicked Constantine hits the road and eventual ends up lost and alone in the English countryside. It's here that John meets the strange child Mercury and her mother Marj. John hits it off with the unusual pair and ends up joining them as they meet up with a larger group of New Age travellers. Despite being a little out of place, Constantine eventually manages to find a niche for himself amongst this community of diverse individuals. Over time John finds himself relaxing and adapting to his new life - it's odd to see Constantine sporting a big blonde beard and long hair - odder still to see him decked out in a tasselled jacket and living quite happily in a makeshift tent ! But, as tends to be the case with Constantine, no sooner does her get settled when things start to go horribly wrong. It starts when Myra, one of the travellers, recognises John as the man wanted by the police. Desperate to keep his secret, Constantine botches an effort at hypnotising her. As an act of revenge she spikes a drink for John with some 'magic' mushrooms. Coming out of a particularly bad trip, Constantine gets his first taste of the horror that is the Fear Machine when he witnesses a man evoke strange magic in a stone circle before said man bashes his own brains out. Unbeknownst to John, he too is being watched as he spies on the strange ritual. I won't be going into the specifics of the Fear Machine story here but suffice is to say that Constantine's presence at the stones is one of the factors that leads to a police raid on the New Age traveller's camp. Both Mercury and Marj and seized by the police during this raid and John is pummelled into unconsciousness for his efforts when he tries to save the pair. When he comes to, Constantine finds the camp in ruins but, apart from a few bruises, everyone else is ok. Nobody seems overly concerned with the loss of the two women, experience suggesting that both will be released after a night in jail. John, less sure of this than his companions, opts to trek into town and check things out for himself. Constantine manages to liberate a heavily drugged Marj from the local prison but there's no sign of Mercury to be had. When Marj finally comes down she is distraught, terrified that she'll never see her daughter again and none too enamoured with her colleagues plans to retreat up to Scotland. It's at this moment that Constantine reveals yet another change in image - now clean shaven with his hair cut tight, he's dressed from head to toe in black, complete with long black coat and dark sunglasses. It's clear that he's decided to revert to type, casting aside the peacefulness of the commune lifestyle in order to find the missing Mercury and dispense his own kind of justice to those who hurt his friends. Even now it's strange to see John Constantine look like someone who's just walked off the set of the latest John Woo action flick, it's easy to imagine him walking along in slow motion with that black coat billowing in the wind behind him..... <<< Back to Classic Scenes Index |
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