Andy Diggle

Hey guys, thanks for the kind words. And don't worry, I always found the criticism here to be smart, witty and very much on the ball. As the saying goes, it's not you, it's me.

I still have much love for old Conjob, but the experience of writing the book has been pretty negative, and I've decided to leave early mainly due to behind-the-scenes stuff that I can't air in public. That said, I have to hold my hand up and admit that I wrote SSSLLLOOOOWWW on this one, which has caused major headaches for everyone concerned, and Leo Manco has been a saint to put up with my lateness. He's the perfect combination of passionate artist and dedicated professional, and I've been privileged to work with him. Major shout-outs also go out to the amazing team of Lee Bermejo, Lee Loughridge and Jared Fletcher, all of whom did fantastic work against often crazy deadlines. Thanks also to Daniel Zezelj and Cammo for stepping up with some stellar work.

Maybe one day I'll come back and do some single-issue fill-in stories, if they'll have me. I'd like to. But right now, I'm done.

Andy: How do you react to the things we say on these forums? I can't imagine it wouldn't bug me from time to time. Or do you get used to it quickly, just by the nature of what you do (i.e., comic book nerds should get out more, etc)? Or is it people who write in sentence fragments who get up your nose most?

I try to be objective about any criticism.

And then cry into my beer.

Man that death-by-being-strapped-to-the wheel-of-a-landing-plane is forever burned into memory.

Er, that wasn't me.

Andy, are you going exclusive with Marvel?

Er, no, why do you ask? Do you think I'd be a good fit at Marvel?

I have been thinking about pitching them some stuff, but that'll be months away if it happens at all.

Yeah, it was. That's the whole point of their "Director's Cut" line -- to create Hollywood-friendly properties. Personally I think Vertigo should do the same.

Do you have an adaptation of something besides The Losers in development, Andy?

WB have also optioned "Guy Ritchie's GAMEKEEPER" which I wrote for Virgin Comics, but I don't hold any stake in that.

HELLBLAZER: JOYRIDE

Written by Andy Diggle

Art by Leonardo Manco

Cover by Lee Bermejo

In this volume collecting HELLBLAZER # 230-237 by fan-favorite writer Andy Diggle, Constantine discovers that there is a supernatural cause for the violence, crime and drug abuse of South London's Hunger Hill housing estate, and he must bring this cycle of misery and violence to an end... at any cost.

Vertigo | 192pg. | Color | Softcover | $14.99 US | Mature Readers

On Sale February 27, 2008

The perfect jumping-on point for Diggle's near-definitive take on the character... Diggle and Manco do for John Constantine what CASINO ROYALE did for James Bond.

Brian K. Vaughan

Subtle, well-considered writing with a creeping, gradual sense of dread. It's very impressive... This is already the best HELLBLAZER since Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon were in charge.

SFX

A must-read! Diggle's conjuring a spot-on take of Constantine's character. BOOK OF THE MONTH

Wizard

You'd be well-served to start at the beginning of Diggle's run, because this is the best work of fiction John Constantine has been involved with in years.

IGN

Like Diggle's take on Constantine's world, Manco's art shows no mercy and spares no-one... HELLBLAZER is as good as it's ever been. GRADE: A+

Mania

If you haven't jumped on board yet, you better hurry up.

Ain't It Cool News

Thumbs up!

Never mind, I found a copy of the review.

Anyone seen the Hellblazer review in this month's SFX magazine? It's sold out in my town. If someone could scan it I'd be grateful. Ta!

Nah. But thanks for calling!

I'll be at the Dublin con later this year, plus NYCC in February (or whenever it is) and hopefully SDCC in the summer. There may also be a French and/or Spanish con in the offing, time and money allowing.

Andy: Brixton? Is this for an anonymous, no questions asked place to stay?

He wants to live in London, and Brixton's a melting pot with a bit of life to it, without being too overdeveloped and wanky.

As Andy said, he's waiting to hear whether the story will be used.

Actually, they're still waiting for me to get my act together and write the bloody outline! At the moment it's still just an idea.

My question is during the rough plotting part of your process is there a general idea then where you could figure out when DC would likely be grouping up various chunks of the run,or is that something that happens more organically as you go along and you inform the editor when the time might be appropriate?

The vagaries of the Hellblazer trade program passeth all understanding, so I just don't worry about it. Turning it into TPBs is somebody else's problem; it's nothing to do with me. I just focus on the monthly.

And my question is that, now you're several stories in, is writing Hellblazer everything you hoped it would be?

Well, I thought it would be daunting, and it is. I do feel a weight of pressure to perform; it's not the sort of thing you can just hack out. But yeah, it's pretty cool being able to pull John Constantine's strings and put words in his mouth. I love the guy.

And, since you're patiently wading through our bleating pedantery, are you still enjoying it?

I've never much enjoyed pedantry, I have to say (my old forum used to have a "no sycophancy" rule). But yeah, I'm still enjoying the writing, altough I'm horribly behind in my deadlines at the moment due to having a new baby - my son Jake, born last month. I'm looking forward to things getting back onto an even keel - and I bet my editor is too! ;)

Hi andy, this is not an HB question as much as it is about working for DC.

 

Exactly how much freedom do writers have. Do you get to do whatever the fuck you feel like or do you have certain parameters you have to meet?

I've been given a HUGE amount of freedom at Vertigo. Nobody's told me what to write, and nobody's given me parameters; they've just invited me to pitch and then basically said, "Great, go for it." I think part of my job is just knowing what the parameters are supposed to be, y'know? Like Louis Armstrong said - if you have to ask, you'll never know.

I suggested doing a story about JC going to Hollywood to put the kibosh on a proposed biopic, and TPTB at Vertigo have asked to see an outline first, just to make sure it's not a blatant piss-take of the Constantine movie, which I think is fair enough. But apart from that, they've pretty much just let me get on with it.

I've been lucky to get a similar degree of creative freedom at DCU, for the most part. Mike Carlin has edited my Batman and Green Arrow stories, where I was given complete freedom to write what I wanted - so any faults in the storytelling are purely my own. The one exception would be Adam Strange, where there was a certain amount of editorially-mandated dicking around with obscure characters and crossover plot contrivances, which I wasn't crazy about, and I do think it hurt the story overall. But it started off well enough.

John's often hypnotized people. I think of it as just another spell, no more an "innate power" than summoning a demon.

What one image from those scripts do you think Leo nailed most successfully?

The "Nice and sharp" reveal of John in his new suit in 232 was pretty sweet, and I was very pleased with the before-and-after "flip page" in 233. And the double page spread of the Insanity Thing! Hell, it's all good.

Conversely, was there anything that stood out as not looking quite like what you had in mind?

Artwork never looks like it did in my mind. That's half the fun of it!

hey since you the writer of Hellblazer now, how would you describe John's magic ?

 

we all know he can do some major stuff and then he can only do minor stuff, then John would go to someone like Map, who knows some tricks John doesn't know.

I can't remember the exact quote or reference, but IIRC there's a bit in an early HELLBLAZER where JC describes magical practice as like following a recipe book. If you follow the recipe correctly you should get the result you're looking for, something like that.

I've never really thought of him having any "power" as such, beyond maybe a slightly heightened sensitivity to supernatural presences. He's just an ordinary bloke who's picked up some insider knowledge (and a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing). He'll go out and recruit allies with "real" powers as and when he needs them.

That's pretty much how he's always been portrayed, isn't it?

Andy, could we read any of your original scripts for Hellblazer please? Issue 232 or 233 would be nice.

Your wish is my command:

Hellblazer 232

Hellblazer 233

I do agree with the person who said that although John's experimenation may not make him openly bisexual, it sure means he's not entirely straight eithher. If he were, he probably wouldn't have had the urge to experiement with "the odd boyfriend."

I’m not sure anyone's "completely" straight. Constantine’s thrown himself into experiences way beyond where most people would draw the line, looking for kicks and, beyond that, looking for the truth - about himself, other people, the world at large. He kicks open doors most of us prefer to leave locked. That's one of the main appeals of the character.

With that in mind, I think he'd be willing to experiment with new experiences of every kind - sex, drugs, rock’n’roll and magic - in searching for the truth about himself (“Am I bisexual? More importantly, is this fun?”), especially in his younger days. He doesn’t ignore the elephant in the room.

I don’t know if that would make him “more bisexual” than most straight men; but it certainly makes him more inquisitive, more open to new experiences, more comfortable with ambiguity, and more confident in his own sense of self.

I pretty much agree with you. But I don't think the fact that he was a guest writer is relevant, nor is his agenda; we got what we got, and it's canon.

 

The big problem with the bisexuality thing is that the question isn't really "is John Constantine bi?" The question is, "what does bi mean?"

Nail, head. Sexuality ain’t black-and-white.

(Please, no interracial jokes!)

It's a can of worms. Leave it.

Don’t you mean canon of worms? :wink:

I saw this question's already been asked sort of, but I'd like to know... will there be a reference reaffirming Constantine's bisexuality in the future?

I don't buy that Constantine is bisexual.

I'd accept that he's the kind of bloke who might well have experimented back in his younger, wilder days, and decided it's not for him; but as far as I know (and please do correct me if I'm wrong here), there's no evidence that he is or was a practising bisexual beyond a single passing reference to "the odd boyfriend" by a guest writer in the fill-in issue HELLBLAZER # 51.

Now, that issue was written by John Smith, an openly gay writer, and it reads to me like he was somehow trying to "claim Constantine for the team", so to speak - in direct contrast to the way the character had been written up 'til that point by Alan Moore, Jamie Delano and Garth Ennis, all of whom characterized Constantine as straight, and showed him in solely heterosexual relationships with Emma, Zed and Kit.

Same since then. Warren Ellis even devoted an entire story to Constantine reminiscing about his old girlfriends, with nary a boyfriend mentioned.

Okay, you could argue that Constantine had a gay sado-masochistic relationship with SW Manor in Brian Azzarello's run - but since that entire storyline was an elaborate deception being wrought by Constantine on Manor, told in flashback by contradictory and unreliable "eyewitnesses", you can't even take that at face value.

I'd happily write Constantine as bisexual if that's how he'd been characterized for the past 20 years. But it isn't.

Opinions?

Here's a question --

Why didn't the demon blood cure Constantine's cancer?

Andy, at the latest con-yoke Stateside, Vertigo editorial there mentioned that you're signed up for a year on Hellblazer with more if you want it.

 

You're probably about half-way through that year in terms of scripts, are you leaning one way or another on a second year ?

I'd like to try and make it to the two-year mark at least, assuming there isn't a massive backlash or I get burned out before that. I like to quit while I'm ahead.