Hellblazer

Si Spurrier brings John Constantine home as Hellblazer joins the Sandman Universe

Acknowledging that “continuity is kind of a poisoned chalice, as you can use it extremely effectively or you could end up shooting yourself in the foot”, Si Spurrier admits that integrating John constantine into the Sandman Universe has been a tricky task. “we wanted to hit the ground with a version of John constantine that’s very familiar to readers of Hellblazer, and to hit them with this notion that he’s been away but he’s now come home,” says Spurrier, referring to the liverpudlian mage’s flagship book, which last appeared in 2013. launching at Halloween with a Marcio Takara-drawn one-shot before the new Aaron campbell illustrated monthly begins in november, Spurrier took inspiration from a moment in 1990’s original Books

Of Magic in which neil gaiman introduced fellow Sandman Universe star Tim Hunter.

“in that story, Tim Hunter has a sort of vision quest tour of the future,” says Spurrier. “one of the stop-offs he has is a hellish version of the last magical war of all time. He meets a mortally wounded constantine, who’s bitter about the fact that he didn’t strangle Tim Hunter all those years ago, as Tim’s become a monster. So in our

Hellblazer, we use that possible future as a point at which John’s life ends and begins again in our world. it’s not a spoiler to say that when that John is transported to our world, he wakes up in a cell at Ravenscar mental institute, where he’s frequently woken up at various points in his life.”

The Sandman Universe Presents: Sandman #1 is out 30 October.