Hellblazer: John Constantine Reading Order: How to read the stories of the antihero of the DC universe

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Spinning out of the hit series Saga of Swamp Thing by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette and John Totleben in 1984, John Constantine became a popular character quite quickly and joined the new Vertigo line with his own title: Hellblazer.

John Constantine is a working class occult detective and con man from London who is known for his cynicism, his deadpan snarking, his ruthless cunning and his constant chain smoking. He wants to help save lives, but his technic can be deadly if it’s for the greater good. In fact, if you spend too much time next to him, you probably won’t live long enough to talk about it.

This article will not be updated anymore. Since we have launched a blog dedicated to comic book reading orders, you can find an up-to-date version of this John Constantine Reading Order here.

Hellblazer: John Constantine Reading Order

I. Saga of the Swamp Thing

John Constantine first appearance was in the Saga of Swamp Thing by Alan Moore. The way he was written defined who he was and what he could do. It’s recommended reading because it’s good, but Constantine is not the main character.

1. Saga of the Swamp Thing: Book 3 – Collects Saga of the Swamp Thing #35-42. John Constantine appeared in issues #37-40. It’s the beginning of the main storyline developed in the next book.
2. Saga of the Swamp Thing: Book 4 – Collects Saga of the Swamp Thing #43-50. The storyline mostly end here, but the epilogue is at the beginning of the next book.
3. Saga of the Swamp Thing: Book 5 – Collects Swamp Thing #51-56. Here, John Constantine only appeared in issues #51 and #55.
4. Saga of the Swamp Thing: Book 6 – Collects Swamp Thing #57-64, but John Constantine only appeared in issue #62.

After that, Alan Moore stop working on the series, but John Constantine came back, written and drown by Rick Veitch. I put them here because it is in the Swamp Thing series, but you could read them after the Original Sins storyline in Hellblazer.

5. Swamp Thing Vol. 7: Regenesis – Collects Swamp Thing #65-70.
6. Swamp Thing: Spontaneous Generation – Collects Swamp Thing #71-76.

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II. John Constantine, Hellblazer

This is where the first Constantine began under the title Hellblazer published by Vertigo. There are 300 issues. Jamie Delano and Garth Ennis were the firsts to work on the series. They wrote some of the best Constantine stories.

1. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 1: Original Sins – Collects Hellblazer #1–9, Swamp Thing #76–77.
2. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 2: The Devil You Know – Collects Hellblazer #10–13, The Horrorist #1–2 and Annual #1.
3. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 3: The Fear Machine-Collects Hellblazer #14–22.
4. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 4: The Family Man– Collects Hellblazer #23–33, Hellblazer Vertigo Secret Files and Origins #1

5. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 5: Dangerous Habits– Collects Hellblazer #34–46. Delano stopped writing John Constantine after issue #40.
6. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 6: Bloodlines – Collects Hellblazer #47–61.
7. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 7: Tainted Love – Collects Hellblazer #62–71, Hellblazer Special #1 and Vertigo Jam #1.
8. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 8: Rake at the Gates of Hell – Collects Hellblazer #72–84 and Heartland #1.

After Garth Ennis, the series still delivered some good stories, but not as frequently. The next authors are Paul Jenkins, Warren Ellis, Brian Azzarello, Mike Carey (author of the Felix Castor series) and Andy Diggle, Ian Rankin and Peter Milligan. Carey’s run is pretty good FYI.

9. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 9: Critical Mass– Collects Hellblazer #85–96, written by Paul Jenkins.
10. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 10: In the Line of Fire – Collects Hellblazer #97–107, written by Paul Jenkins.
11. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 11: Last Man Standing– Collects Hellblazer #108–120, written by Paul Jenkins.
12. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 12: How to Play with Fire – Collects Hellblazer #121–133, written by Paul Jenkins.

13. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 13: Haunted – Collects Hellblazer #134–145, Vertigo Resurrected #1 and Vertigo: Winter’s Edge #1–3, written by Warren Ellis.
14. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 14: Good Intentions – Collects Hellblazer #146–161, Hellblazer Vertigo Secret Files and Origins #1, written by Brian Azzarello.
15. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 15: Highwater– Collects Hellblazer #162–174, written by Brian Azzarello.
16. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 16: The Wild Card – Collects Hellblazer #175–188, written by Mike Carey.

17. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 17: Out of Season – Collects Hellblazer #189–201, written by Mike Carey.
18. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 18: The Gift – Collects Hellblazer #202–215, written by Mike Carey.
19. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 19: Red Right Hand – Collects Hellblazer #216–229, written by Mike Carey.

20. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 20: Systems of Control – Collects Hellblazer #230-238 and Hellblazer: All His Engines, written by Mike Carey and Andy Diggle.
21. John Constantine: Hellblazer Vol. 21: The Laughing Machine – Collects Hellblazer #239-249 and Hellblazer Special: Lady Constantine #1-4, written by Andy Diggle.
22. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 22: Regeneration – Collects Hellblazer #250-260 and Hellblazer Special: Chas–The Knowledge #1-5.

23. John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dark Entries – Another original graphic novel, this time from writer Ian Rankin and artist Werther Dell’edera.
24. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 23: No Future – Collects Hellblazer #261-266, Hellblazer Special: Papa Midnite #1-5, Hellblazer: Pandemonium #1.
25. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 24: Sectioned – Hellblazer #267–275, John Constantine: Hellblazer-City of Demons #1-5.

26. John Constantine Hellblazer Vol. 25: Another Season – Collects Hellblazer #276-291.
27. Hellblazer: Death and Cigarettes – Collects Hellblazer #292-300 and Hellblazer Annual #1.

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III. New 52 Constantine

At that point, DC Comics chose to take John Constantine out of the Vertigo imprint. He is now part of the main DC Comics universe. It’s a big departure for the series, in style, in tone and more. It’s kind of a soft Constantine, even if he is the same character. Well, not exactly the same, some elements of the story were retconned. It’s New 52 after all.

Before going back to his solo adventures, John Constanting joined the Justice League Dark.

1. Justice League Dark Vol. 1: In the Dark – Collects Justice League Dark #1–6, written by Peter Milligan.
2. Justice League Dark Vol. 2: The Books of Magic – Collects Justice League Dark #0, #7–13 and Annual #1, written by Jeff Lemire. Issues 7 & 8 are part of a crossover “Rise of the Vampires.” You can find the whole story in I, Vampire Vol. 2 collecting Justice League Dark #7–8 and I, Vampire #7–12.
3. Justice League Dark Vol. 3: The Death of Magic – Collects Justice League Dark #14–21, written by Ray Fawkes.
4. Constantine, Vol. 1: The Spark and the Flame – Collects Constantine #1-6, written by Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes.

5. Justice League: Trinity War – Issues #5-6 of Constantine and issues #22-23 of Justice League Dark tie in to Trinity War. It’s a bit complicated to follow the event with this two series only. This TPB is the best way to read the whole story, if you are interesting.
6. Constantine, Vol. 2: Blight – Collects Constantine #7-12, written by Ray Fawkes. Part of DC’s Forever Evil: Blight crossover.
7. Forever Evil: Blight – Another crossover between Constanting, Justice League Dark and more (Pandora and Phantom Strange).
8. Justice League Dark Vol. 4: The Rebirth of Evil – Collects Justice League Dark #22–29, written by J. M. DeMatteis. Issues #24–29 are part of Forever Evil: Blight crossover.

9. Justice League Dark Vol. 5: Paradise Lost – Collects Justice League Dark #30–34, Justice League Dark: Futures End #1, written by J. M. DeMatteis.
10. Constantine, Vol. 3: The Voice in the Fire – Collects Constantine #13-17 and Constantine: Futures End #1.
11. Constantine, Vol. 4: The Apocalypse Road – Collects Constantine #18-23
12. Justice League Dark Vol. 6: Lost in Forever – Collects Justice League Dark Annual #2, Justice League Dark #35–40, written by J. M. DeMatteis.

Justice League Dark Omnibus

Justice League Dark: The New 52 Omnibus – Collects I, Vampire #7-8; Justice League Dark #0-40; Justice League#22-23; Justice League Dark Annual #1-2; Justice League of America#6-7; Trinity of Sin: The Phantom Stranger #14-17; Constantine #9-12; Trinity of Sin: Pandora #6-9; Justice League Dark: Futures End #1.

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IV. Constantine: The Hellblazer (DC You)

For a short time before Rebirth, there was DC You and a short Constantine solo series.

1. Constantine: The Hellblazer Vol. 1: Going Down – Collects Constantine: The Hellblazer #1-6, written by Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV.
2. Constantine: The Hellblazer Vol. 2: The Art of the Deal– Collects Constantine: The Hellblazer #7-13, written by Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV.

V. Rebirth

The Big rebirth relaunch also touched The Hellblazer. Another solo series and now a new Justice League Dark series.

1. The Hellblazer, Vol. 1: The Poison Truth – Collects The Hellblazer #1-6 and The Hellblazer Rebirth Special, written Simon Oliver.
2. The Hellblazer, Vol. 2: The Smokeless Fire – Collects The Hellblazer #7-12, written Simon Oliver.
3. The Hellblazer, Vol. 3: The Inspiration Game – Collects The Hellblazer #13-18, written Tim Seely and Richard Kadrey.
4. The Hellblazer, Vol. 4: The Good Old Days – Collects The Hellblazer #19-24, written Tim Seely.

1. Justice League Dark Vol. 1: The Last Age of Magic – Following Justice League: No Justice, there’s a new Justice League Dark written by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez.
2. Wonder Woman & Justice League Dark: The Witching Hour – Collects Justice League Dark vol. 2, #4, Wonder Woman #56-57, Justice League Dark and Wonder Woman #1, and Wonder Woman and Justice League Dark #1.
3. Justice League Dark Vol. 2: The Lords of Order – Collects Justice League Dark vol. 2, #8-13 and Justice League Dark Annual #1
4. Justice League Dark Vol. 3: The Witching War – Collects Justice League Dark vol. 2, #14-19

5. Justice League Dark Vol. 4: A Costly Trick of Magic – Collects Justice League Dark #20-28, by Ram V.

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VI. Black Label/Sandman Universe

As part of the Black Label imprint, John Constantine joined the new Sandman Universe. The new series is by Simon Spurrier and Aaron Campbell.

1. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 1: Marks of Woe – Collects The Sandman Universe Presents: Hellblazer #1, John Constantine: Hellblazer #1-6, and Books of Magic #14.
2. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 2: The Best Version of You – Collects John Constantine: Hellblazer #7-12.
3. Hellblazer: Rise and Fall – Collects the complete Hellblazer: Rise and Fall miniseries by Tom Taylor and Darick Robertson.

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For more stories published by Vertigo, check out our reading order for Y: The Last Man. Don’t hesitate to follow us on Twitter or Facebook to discover more book series.