Who’d have thought the scary stuff would come out after Halloween? Yes, the final nail in the coffin has been thoroughly beaten through the Vertigo titles integrated into the DC Universe with the cancellation of Hellblazer after its 300th issue, scheduled for release in February (Happy Birthday to me). But fear not, the cancellation of Hellblazer doesn’t mean the end for John Constantine. Though he’s already a major character in Justice League Dark and has been featured in the debut issue of Sword of Sorcery, DC will be giving him his own book entitled Constantine, which will follow the adventures of the younger Constantine we’ve grown to love and tolerate in the aforementioned titles.

I can tell by your silence that you’re suppressing your extreme happiness and joy over this news.

For those not aware, John Constantine is/was the main character of Hellblazer. Constantine was created by Alan Moore during his run on Swamp Thing and became such a popular character that he received his own title written by Jamie Delano with art by John Ridgeway. Released under the title of Hellblazer in 1988, Constantine is a magician/detective/consultant who navigates the British underground of demons, sorcerers, alchemists, and the like. Though he appears to be operating for the greater good, he often makes questionable choices and decisions that rarely produce long-lasting positive results. Delano, whose run on the title lasted until the early 1990s, used the character as a mouth piece to comment on British politics and culture, a trait that has stuck with the character over the last 25 years and various creative teams. It was a mature book for a mature audience, which was why the title ended up under Vertigo, DC’s adult-content oriented imprint, in 1993. Modeled after the musician Sting, Constantine is a foul-mouthed, hard drinking, hard smoking man, but what became most significant about him was his real-time aging. During his solo series, Constantine celebrated his 35th birthday and in any book published thereafter, if his age was mentioned it lined up with how old the character should be. That would make Mr. Constantine the ripe old age of 59 in 2012. Obviously too old by DC standards.

So, there you have it, DC will be cancelling their longest running title since the reboot last year. After 25 years of magic, Faustian deals, and British satire, the elder Constantine will be put out to pasture with the rest of the older versions of DC characters. I imagine Constantine, sitting on a dock, looking out over a serene lake, smoking a cigarette right before Dan DiDio puts two bullets in the back of his head. Because that’s how DiDio treats popular characters. In fact, DiDio released this statement regarding Hellblazer and Constantine:

“We’re supremely proud of Vertigo’s HELLBLAZER, one of the most critically-acclaimed series we’ve published. Issue #300 concludes this chapter of Constantine’s epic, smoke-filled story in style and with the energy, talent and creativity fans have come to expect from Peter Milligan, Giuseppe Camuncoli and Stefano Landini. And no one should worry that John is going to hang-up his trenchcoat – he lives on in March, in the pages of the all-new DC Comics New 52 ongoing series, CONSTANTINE, by writer Robert Venditti and artist Renato Guedes.”  – Dan DiDio, DC Entertainment Co-Publisher

Boy, doesn’t that just reek of someone who really understands the appeal of the character to his loyal fanbase?

Not that there isn’t a silver lining. Robert Venditti will be writing the book and with his successful titles like The Surrogates for Top-Shelf and X-O Manowar for Valiant, he seems to be up to the task of writing the dry-humored Constantine. Handling the art will be Renato Guedes who’s done excellent work on Superman, Supergirl, OMAC, and Action Comics. I want to believe that Constantine is in the right hands, but only time and the first issue will be able to tell me that.

But wait, there’s more! Right on the heels of Constantine’s perpetual state of youth, it seems that Warner Brothers is in talks with Guillermo Del Toro to direct a Justice League Dark movie that would feature or star one Mr. John Constantine alongside Deadman, Zatana, Etrigan, The Spectre, Phantom Stranger, and Madam Xanadu just to name a few. Constantine, however, isn’t new to the silver screen. The much maligned Constantine that came out in 2005 starring Keanu Reeves didn’t exactly win over a lot of fans, but it had its moments (and it is a personal guilty pleasure). Whether or not anything will come of this is entirely speculative at this point. Though Del Toro isn’t new to comic book adaptations with Hellboy and Hellboy II, he’s also got a laundry list of projects he wants to work on and produce. Though maybe being put under exclusive contract will force him to work on this project first above all others. Plus, Del Toro’s dark and disturbing aesthetic would definitely separate a Justice League Dark movie from its more clean-cut counterpart. Just be on the look out for a dude with eyes on his hands instead of on his face!

So what do you think about this latest news from DC? Would a Justice League Dark movie work?If not Del Toro, who would you want to direct? Who should play Constantine? Let me know in the comments!