Issue 43 – John Constantine

SHOW NOTES:

• Intro

  • Shoutout to Freudian Sips – mother-daughter duo have drinks and talk about brains, psychology, and all manner of interesting topics (NSFW) (2:32)

• Background (5:37)

  • John Constantine created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben in The Saga of Swamp Thing #37 (June 1985)

  • Originally designed by the artists to look like Sting, since they were fans of the Police

  • Started off as a DC character, but shifted to Vertigo in 1993, where he essentially stayed for over 20 years until the New 52 combined the DC and Vertigo universes

  • In the Vertigo universe, he ages in real time, unlike most comic book characters

  • Born as a sole surviving twin – he inadvertently strangled his twin in the womb with his own umbilical cord – the birth also killed his mother, and his father resented him for her death

  • Discovered he is the latest in a long family line of mages known as Laughing Magicians

  • Ran away from home after messing up a curse on his father that left him frail

  • Moved to London in 1969, got involved with the occult, and started a punk rock band called Mucous Membrane

  • Also in a relationship with Zatanna Zatara, although it was revealed that he was bisexual

  • His first act of heroism – in an attempt to save a young girl, he summoned a demon, but did so incorrectly, and it took the girl to hell – the demon, Negral, became one of his recurring antagonists

  • Later met Swamp Thing, and helped teach him to become more powerful – one of John’s longest friends

  • A chain smoker, he contracted lung cancer – tricked one demon into drinking holy water, then sold his soul to another demon – rather than fight over it, the demons agree to cure him of his cancer

  • Later blackmails God to keep his soul out of Hell, because if he goes to Hell he will take over, release the demons and not care about what happens

  • Tries and fails to save his sister’s soul from Hell – demons get one over on him

  • New 52 – some small changes to backstory, but personality remains essentially the same

  • Gets transported to Earth-2, where he cooperates with that world’s version of himself until it’s revealed that one of them has to die in order to save Earth-2 – he kills the native Earth-2 version, but tricks Darkseid and manages to save a large number of survivors

• Issues (20:44)

  • Difficulty keeping close relationships of any kind with people – most people are kept at a distance

  • Adrenaline addiction to dangerous and mysterious situations – also a nicotine addict (29:33)

  • Has magic ability, but often chooses not to use it unless he has to (36:29)

• Treatment (44:53)

  • In universe

  • Out of universe

• Skit (54:50)

• Ending (61:12)

References:

• “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” by They Might Be Giants – Anthony – 0:43
• Tiny Toons music video for “Particle Man” by They Might Be Giants – Anthony – 0:57
• Constantine film – Anthony – 3:47
• Mighty Peking Man – Anthony – 5:20
• Matt Ryan (actor) – Anthony – 5:48
• Matt Ryan (quarterback) – Anthony – 5:50
• “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” by the Police – Anthony – 6:44
• Synchronicity by the Police – Anthony – 6:51
• “Venus of the Hardsell” by Mucous Membrance – Anthony – 10:15
• Best Friends Forever – South Park – Anthony – 15:06
• J. Jonah Jameson episode – Anthony – 29:40
• Spawn episode – Anthony – 53:48
• “Fields of Gold” by Sting – Doc – 54:22

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