A. Heathen

It's true about the hills, but I wouldn't know about keeping the rain away.

The heat of the city keeps some of the snow & low clouds away.

London used to get epic "pea souper" fogs, but not any more.

Given that John went to call Swampy, and could have done so anywhere there's a plant, I reckon he deliberately went to the gingko plant.

Questions from the Clueless American #215:

 

Page 1, scene with bus:

Are doubledecker busses common in Britain?  Are they are old or are they currently being manufactured?

There are still new ones being introduced, but they recently phased out the classic Routemaster, with the open backs - because they are not very good for busy rush hours. There was a fuss because they are being replaced with more efficient single decker "bendy" buses - same capacity but twice the length and with three entrance/exits instead of one.

Page 2, setting up at the Tate Club:

"Born north of Watford, wasn't he?  All the breeding of a twopenny fart."

Obviously some snobbery directed against those north of a certain point in England, but can any of you say more about what was said here, exactly what it means, how common a sentiment it is, and who would be most likely to hold such views?

North v South divide (I'm from the Midlands, so am immune).

Watford is in fact on the northern fringes of Greater London. The wealthy are predominantly in the south (and so are the high house prices).

Page 3, at the Gardens:

Is the last panel of John hitting on his cigarette a nod to the cover of All His Engines?

 

Page 4, with Swamp Thing:

How did John know to stop in front of that tree to find Swamp Thing?  Or did he make Swamp Thing appear in a female tree so he could give him a hard time about it?

 

Also, Swamp Thing seemed concerned on hearing that Cheryl was dead.  Now I thought that the human soil had been stripped from him by the no name demon in Staring at the Wall, and that ST proceeded to be very unsympathetic toward people in the first few issues of his own title?  Or have things changed back again since I stopped reading Swamp Thing?

 

And am I right in understanding that the reason John had ST drop "a couple of flowers" on Cheryl's grave was because he wasn't going to be in Liverpool in time for the funeral because he needed to be in London to address the Tate Club?

The latter, I'd say.

And because he just walked away and so might not be welcome - probably thinks it's best to avoid Gemma in case she (a) blames him, or (b) asks him to do something about it.

The page starting with Cheryl's headstone:

Okay, we know why John looks so good at 52 after years of abusing himself, but how did Cheryl manage to look so young at age 58-59?  (2005 - 1946 = 59)

 

The Gemma/grave marker/floral full page spread:

Why did Swamp Thing cover and surround Cheryl's grave with a profusion of greenery when John had only asked for "a couple of flowers on her grave", "you know, discreetly"?

She looks okay for her age.

Entering the Tate Club and being seated:

"Careful of the fox fur -- it bites."  Is this just a mage's joke, or is there more to it?

 

Dining and conversing:

"But shouldn't the devil  have a cosmos of his own as extensive as God's?"  Is this conversation a reference to some kind of continuing debate within occult circle, to Carey's Lucifer title or to some other matter?

 

"Urp!  Sorry, sorry.  Too much asparagus."  What has asparagus done to this man?

 

"...Old horse."  Apparently a way of addressing someone saddled with a duty.  It sounds snooty.  What sort of people are most likely to use this phrase?

That fox fur reminds me of a film ... Mary Poppins ? Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

It's a lucifer reference for sure.

It's a reference to wind, which is reflected in the way he's talking beforehand.

Never heard it. Posh people for sure.

The page with nine panels of John speaking:

"You can't get something for nothing."  Why does Clarice look sullen and angry at this point in the speech?  Is it because she's worried about her borrowed years, or ...?

 

The page where John smashes the champagne glass:

What is "plonk" exactly?

Plonk is champagne.

Often cheap and "cheerful/nasty"

The hair and candle page:

Are Etheridge and the other man trying to hustle John off because they think he's drunk, or because they think he's being too "offensive" for Tate Club members?

 

Only John and Clarice remain:

Why didn't Clarice leave with the others?  Ade suggested in his annotations that it's because she's been around long enough this sort of thing doesn't scare her.  I think she may have also stayed to talk to John.  Or could there be other reasons?

Both.

She hid under the table and didn't get the visions?

The last page:

How does Constantine manage in England without a hat or umbrella?

Same way I do.

Well that's out of the way.

Now for business ...

Wigan, Charlton, Portsmouth and in between there's Torquay in the cup and the small matter of the Relegation Avoidance Window.

I will miss 2005 with its lovely mirror-symmetry, but hey here comes ZOOb !

Have a good one everyone.

Well Lucifer left hell in the Sandman and that's why the First was introduced, hadn't  Satan fork over the keys of hell, there would never be the First, or at least he wouldn't be named the first. And since there is no sandman movieverse, having the name 'the First' will confuse the audience.

Nope that's not right.

John Constantine doesn't exist in the movie's universe.

(cue applause for familiarity from the audience)

Your optimistic text proved wrong, although I am glad that today was apparently Show The Cheating [over-used word]s What For Day.

Evidence: Spurs dive in box = no penalty, Ronaldo gets fouled = "get up you known diver".

I can't really see Everton having cause for complaint about the sendings off, and Moyes was good for that, but of course the first goal should have stood.

I liked Kanu's celebrations tonight.

Umm...yeah. A bit of clarification would be in order there, I think.

Don't mention the war !

(Is Hagren referring to The Producers do you think?)

I saw Memoirs of a Geisha on Friday. I really liked the book, and from the previews, I wasn't expecting very much ("I shall destroy you!" indeed).

 

However, I wasn't pleasantly surprised. It was far from a perfect movie (all of the charming humour of the book was lost in the translation, and Nobu's character was really poorly handled), but it was actually a very good movie. The visuals were absolutely stunning, and the acting was quite good. After seeing Ken Watanabe as the powerful yet benevolent samurai in The Last Samurai and the painfully overacting warlord in Batman Begins, it was quite a surprise to see him as a sophisticated, subdued and charismatic businessman. Also, Zhang Ziyi and the actress who played Hatsumomo were both exceptionally beautiful.

 

While yet another classic case of "the book was better", it was still a very competent movie, and a good prologue to Christmas.

I've just seen that with Karen (who has read the book) and found it a very good film. Karen wasn't worried about any of the characters being changed radically from her reading of the book, and while I found the actual punchline a bit Mills and Boon it's so well performed and filmed that I can forgive it. It seemed to gloss over the war, but perhaps the book does that ?

Sadly, it being filmed in english took a bit of an edge off some of the supporting cast, but you know what American audiences are like with subtitles and this way is better than dubbed.

For everyone who has not seen it, (a) take a lady friend and (b) it's like Hero without the extremely brilliant bits.

Those guys in Orbital are pretty cool.

Comics Showcase usually has stock of Hellblazers (though Xmas might have depleted it).

How long are you in town for?

Just watched it.

I enjoyed that a lot.

Nothing out of keeping with stupid British sci-fi B movies.

Tennant is superb.

The Sycorax were as funny as they said Billie Piper was (and she is, but not in a good way). Can't we have Samantha Mumba or one of Sugababes as the Doctor's assistant ?

And the trick with the orange was just "because".

Like I was saying last week.

If they can't use TV footage to cancel out Izzet and Vaesen's sendings off, and post-matchously send off Cole, Terry and Crouch on Boxing Day then I ain't trusting them to decide goals that way.

Referees are more rubbish than football.

“London isn’t the world” – a reference to Hellblazer fans’ dependence on the city as part of John’s story ? A hint of stories to come ?

 

I was slightly confused by what Mike was getting at with this line, I must admit - particularly since he's done more than any other Hellblazer writer, with the exception of Warren Ellis, to emphasise John's position in a London-centric magic community - until now, of course, when he's effectively written that community out of the title again. An interesting sign-off line to use, anyway.

I'd say it's just Constantine's way of attacking the Tate members' self-importance.

Hey look, John's got to step twelve !

"Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others with the same problem, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

Incidentally, I would guess there's been a week or two since Cheryl & Tony were killed, so that's six issues sorted, how about the intervening fourteen ?

Here you go:

http://hellblazer.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=25&st=200

"AHE happened in summer 2004, didn't it? Check the date on the first page showing Chas' daughter's house."

 

That's proper puzzling if it means that the Chandlers' Holiday in November 2004 happens afterwards.

 

On one level it works because Chas might return and think the family should all get away (and it might cover up his little indiscretion). But it leaves only a couple of months for pretty much the whole of Mike Carey's last year !

 

Okay, let's try the issue by issue timeline again !

 

September 2002 issue - The Not Dead John returns from America. (#175)

This is eighteen months after the events of the previous issue, long enough for the Masters Family to hear that John's "dead" and for Gemma to go to London.

So let's say that 18 months from August 2002 ie February 2004 is date zero for Mike Carey.

(Trickery !)

 

Day 0) High on life seems to take place over two or three days.

 

Day 4) He's straight off to London.

 

Where Red Sepulchre takes between four days and a week, I'd say.

 

Day 11) or two weeks if we're generous.

 

There's an unspecified amount of time before "A Game of Cat and Mouse" (#181: April 2003) but it won't be too long, judging by the connection to the previous issue.

 

Day 0) "Black Flowers" begins.

Again, times are unspecified between issues and JC will surely be checking stuff out in between times. But these two issues take a couple of days.

 

Day 4) The "Third Worlds" triptych - although John travels free, he usually doesn't time travel, so he and Angie seem to spend a couple of days in each location (nightime follows daytime etc) and a couple of days between them for travelling.

 

Week ???) Besides the last page, the incredible floating Bred in the Bone could fit anywhere after Red Sepulchre to after the whole Staring at the Wall thing.

 

Week 3) John & Angie back in the UK at the start of Staring at the Wall. The world is going mad, and John has to recruit the "Doomed Patrol". (#189: Dec 2003)

 

The next day: #190 (Jan 2004)

 

The next day: #191.

 

The next day: #192.

 

The next day or probably later the same day: #193.

 

Week 4) "Ward 24" (May 2004) It's hard to imagine too much time here.

 

Week 5) "Out of Season" - now there's little doubt that this takes place in November 2004, so either we track back approximately 2 months to the start of Mike's run, and only the end of the second week ie either side of "A Game of Cat and Mouse" is available for the trip to LA. This fits the "Autumn 2004" timing nicely !

 

But as I was saying, if it was soon after, would Mrs Chas really be so unhappy to see Constantine knowing his part in saving Trish ?

Now, we need to get from November 2004 to 2005 (I wonder if it fits to say that the holiday was 2005? Was that a newspaper heading or something?)

James has given both of my explanations. I agree with the placement of All His Engines, not least because the current situation of Chas fits well with the midlife crisis of infinite Taxi drivers. And it also fits with Renee's attitude before Out of Season being shot down in flames (if John had saved their granddaughter in the circumstances of AHE and then taken the chance he did, how would your average sarf landan battleaxe deal with it?)

My work on the timeline, that I could not find earlier, suggested that there was one event that tied the earlier dates to something specific in the real world. I forget which that was, but I'll check. It may have been the situation in Eden/Iraq, but that could certainly be late what with things still being the same.

Mike's been aware of my theories on the span of his run being around six months or so at the most. There are a couple of places you can put a few weeks in, but that makes little sense. The comics world has always had a doppler effect on time, which Hellblazer has been free of. I like to think that we are now back on schedule and in fact, the past few years' worth of issues were ahead of "real world" time.

Right, let's see if I can find me timeline.

#215 – RSVP pt 2

Cover

It looks like John was making a point before that second cigarette was (super)imposed into his hands. http://members.aol.com/adeheathen/bradstreetbyebye.jpg

But the picture is more significant than that.

It reflects the career of Tim Bradstreet on the covers of Hellblazer, with each of the shards taken from one of his previous covers for the monthly series and the collections. Fairly complete references for which covers are featured here: http://members.aol.com/adeheathen/bradstreet_annotated.jpg

Page 1

The end of the line.

The 65 bus runs from Ealing to Kingston in the west of London.

John’s on his way to Kew Gardens (see page 3) which is around the half way mark of that route.

Page 2

The Tate Club party. Soho Square looks like this http://www.urban75.org/vista/soho.html there’s a bench dedicated to the memory of Kirsty MacColl who used to enjoy sitting there.

“I’m a beer teetotaller” was spoken by Proserpine Garnett to Candida in GB Shaw’s play of the same name.

Ken “Map” Ondaatje, surname given by Mike Carey in reference to Michael Ondaatje, Sri Lankan/Canadian writer of the book “The English Patient”, not to be confused with the film that was based on it (summed up by me as follows, “I would rather have my eyes cleaned with sandpaper”). However, the book is another matter, and has the following quote that might be considered relevant to Map.

“I believe in such cartography – to be marked by nature, not just to label ourselves on a map like the names of rich men and women on buildings. We are communal histories, communal books. We are not owned or monogamous in our taste or experience. All I desired was to walk upon such an earth that had no maps.”

Hermetic http://www.hermetic.com/ you may recall that in #181, John was “hermetically sealed” like a CGC comic book.

Page 3

This is the Palm House at Kew http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/collections/ph.html

I’d recommend a visit to Kew if you’re ever in London. Spring is best, but the seasonal displays are splendid.

Page 4

“I saw you in a dream” may well be a reference to Swamp Thing Vol.4 #20 http://www.dccomics.com/comics/?cm=4292

“That’s a female ginkgo, by the way”

There is a male ginkgo outside in the gardens, that has been there since the late eighteenth century http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/plants/trees/ginkgo_biloba.html

The female ginkgo smells rather unpleasant.

Page 5

If John’s on his way from Kew to Soho Square, this could well be the M4/A4 which is a short walk from Kew and heads back towards Hammersmith.

Page 6

Cheryl’s year of death is 2005, which indicates that the Hellblazer timeline is back on course.

“Dad’s loony cult” – he’s always been that way inclined. The Resurrection Crusade, way back when his daughter was kidnapped.

“CO-OP funeral”.

The Co-operative society was founded in 1863, after co-ops started to spring up across the North of England. Basically a way that retailers could work together with their customers rather than compete in a capitalist market. They branched out into funerals, and have always been seen as a cheap option

Page 7

Swamp Thing’s floral tribute.

Page 8

Arriving at the Tate Club, thus putting paid to my speculation (last issue) that the venue had been switched.

Clarice says she was there at the founding of the Tate Club, ie 200 years ago, so she’s quite a bit older than we thought.

Page 9

The party conversation is nicely teasing, but panel 2 is a definite reference to events in Mike Carey’s “Lucifer”

Page 10

“The best laid plans of man and superman gang aft agley” is a poetic Malapropism

Robbie Burns referred to the plans of mice and men

http://www.worldburnsclub.com/poems/translations/554.htm

whereas “man and superman” is taken from George Bernard Shaw.

“Moet et Chandon with a cherry in it” nicely sums up John’s attitude to pomp and ceremony.

Pages 11-12

John begins his valedictorian speech to the Tate Club.

The grin in panel 7 is almost Frusinian in it’s malevolence.

“Things fall apart” is from WB Yeats, “The Second Coming”

The first Law of Thermodynamics says that energy can’t be destroyed.

The second Law of Thermodynamics says that entropy never decreases.

The third Law of Thermodynamics says that processes end as the temperature approaches zero.

Brown’s Law of Thermodynamics is that physics proves the existence of dullness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_demon

Page 13

“Marks and Sparks” is Marks and Spencers, mid-range supermarket for the middle classes (and quite nice food thank you very much).

There’s a philosophical debate illustrated by John’s point that all that energy is gone.

Let’s say that the energy expended by producing the champagne has resulted in the thoughts spoken by the person who has drunk it. Therefore, do those thoughts merely disappear or do they pass on to others in the form of ideas? Tracing the energy that has supposedly been lost may be difficult, but that’s what philosophers are all about.

No wonder Physics and Philosophy have so much in common.

Page 14

Of course, John’s point is that there is no free lunch. When one of the magicians uses a spell, the energy comes from somewhere and goes somewhere.

“people die”

Pages 15 &16

There’s that hair from Eden (#185 http://www.insanerantings.com/hell/comics/...s/hb185ann.html )

Unlike some, I don’t think John’s supporting what God thinks in this spread. I think he’s confronting the Tate Club with the truth about their aspirations – that God is on their side or that they might get away with everything scott free.

He even uses the Hellblazer word.

Who will buy my flaming sword?

Pages 17 &18

There’s the fragments as seen on the cover, except rather than show John’s past they are showing the future of the Tate Club members.

“That’ll do Shep” is a reference to John Noakes, presenter of 1970s kids show, Blue Peter, who had a collie called Shep that would behave to such lines as “get down Shep” (not in the James Brown sense). This indicates that the angel is trained to do his bidding thanks to the spell.

Page 19

Everyone has run out except Clarice, who after all has seen this sort of thing before.

“No magician in the world will ever lift a finger to help you”, yes, well John’s heard that before too.

“London isn’t the world” – a reference to Hellblazer fans’ dependence on the city as part of John’s story ? A hint of stories to come ?

“You people need to fucking well get over yourselves.”

Clarice explains the visions seen by the Taters on page 17.

“Total perspective vortex” comes from Douglas Adams “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy”, and was designed to torture people by showing them just how (in)significant they are in the scheme of the Universe. John survived it, as did Zaphod Beeblebrox (he’s just this guy, you know?), because of his big giant ego.

“That way madness lies” is something of a hackneyed phrase nowadays, often used with hyperbole when “that way a bit of annoyance lies” would do. Shakespeare wrote it in King Lear.

Page 20

John’s ghosts, not a lynch mob.

Now I have to rush, and there are folks in Yorkshire who can reel these names off without recourse to looking them up, but here’s a temporary holding list:

Left to right: centre (back to us) John Constantine.

Page 21

The expressions of the ghosts tell a story. Some look angry but mostly it’s long-suffering pity. Even John cannot tell, as his internal monologue shows.

He’s shown the Tate Club members how they will be responsible for their own deaths, but pretty much all of John’s ghosts were less than responsible. Sure, some of them chose to side with him, but many of them trusted him based on nothing more than his cocky swagger.

Page 22

Tears in rain.

This page is an almost perfect end to a long run by Mike Carey which has stripped a lot of Earthly baggage while keeping the core of John Constantine’s saga for future storytellers.

#214 – RSVP pt 1

Cover

This *is* a lock-up in Streatham.

The graffiti names on the wall are members of the Voices from Beyond forum, on the very special Straight to Hell website – for all your Hellblazer and Constanteen needs.

Page 1

John returns to London via Kings Cross, where there really is a “Hogwarts” sign in deference to the Harry Potter books. There is not really a platform 9 ¾ though.

Liverpool trains arrive in Euston, not Kings Cross, but I suppose that John doesn’t want any old person who sees him arriving to know that he’s been to Liverpool.

Page 2

The Angel, St Giles.

Old Brewery is one of the house beers of the Samuel Smiths brewery – they don’t sell any of the branded “popular” drinks in their pubs. Legend has it that brothers John and Sam fell out over the approach that their inherited brewery should take, so they split it in two and Sam Smiths produces “traditional” ales at very reasonable prices – EVEN in LONDON – while John Smiths make “modern” bitter with widgets and all that. In fact, they were Uncle and Nephew, with the old brewery being passed on to the younger man in 1883.

Further legend has it that the two breweries (500m apart in Tadcaster) are in fact one, and the two brews are a triumph of marketing, but Sam Smiths is an independent brewery while John Smiths is owned by Courage.

Red Label is Johnnie Walker’s blended whisky.

(I recommend you try Compass Box whiskies if you like blends.)

Frank North, Anne-Marie , Gary Lester, Rick the Vic, Header, Straff, Helen, Judith, Alba are “friends” of John’s that have been killed because of their association with him. The first three (and Judith) were connected with John’s debut failure at Newcastle (#11 http://www.insanerantings.com/hell/charact...oy/newcrew.html ), Gary appearing in the first arc of the Hellblazer series and then turning up recently as an emissary of the Demon Constantine (#212), after supposedly warning John of trouble to come (#181).

Rick the Vic was killed by First of the Fallen, who would be John’s nemesis as we have seen. Header died in the same story, but by more mundane methods - telling a final tale as he dies of gunshot wounds in #78. Helen was introduced in that story, as former girlfriend of John’s now a heroin addicted prostitute. She died in the recent “Reasons to be Cheerful” story and John saw her in Hell in “Down in the Ground”. Straff was one of Paul Jenkins’s South London crew, but his mother died back then (#118), and mysteriously appeared alive to be killed again in #203.

Alba was meant to be Zed from way back in Delano’s Days. She wasn’t and got killed by Maria Constantine at the hairdressers.

Page 3

The invitation to the Tate Club, which was suggested as being in Shepherds Market, a good fifteen minute walk from Soho Square, but there was a bit of trouble there, so perhaps they moved the party?

21st December is the longest night of the year and the Winter Solstice.

There’s no W1 2KN postcode.

Page 4

Etheridge looks rather more Gothy-Sandman-fan than was intended – he was meant to be more of an office type, in keeping with the Tate’s gravitas. The name has been linked to Eldritch, but that’s not intended.

Page 5

“Do you go south of the river” is something of a joke among Londoners, but quite a bitter joke as many taxi drivers do not. Brixton is well south … down towards Streatham, as it happens.

Page 6

John’s relationship with Chas has been low before, but not this low.

There’s no Longwall Street in Streatham, but there is one in Oxford – where Mike Carey went to University.

Page 7

Woolworth’s & fluffy dice – top quality shopping !

Roberrr’s erroneous voodoo knowledge is exposed by John,

Maitre Carrefour = Master of the Crossroads, aka Baron Samedi.

Page 9

“Boracic” – cockney rhyming slang for “skint”, from “Boracic lint” = a dressing or poultice made from what is now known as boric acid, derived from Boron (tm: Borax).

Pages 9-11

The consequences of those occasional demonic possessions are rarely examined like this. While people directly linked to John’s doings might take it for granted that “wizards did it”, why should Chas’s family? This scene is similar to those in Austin Powers where the consequences of the deaths of Dr Evil’s henchmen are shown.

But not as funny.

There’s a significant parallel with those men who beat their wives while drunk and then seek to deny responsibility. No such excuses from Chas.

Page 12-13

A rather speedy progress from arrest to court … presumably this is a re-launch of the failed night court process. http://society.guardian.co.uk/crimeandpuni...,587969,00.html

This is Bow Street magistrates’ court in Central London, home of the famous “Bow Street Runners, who became the Metropolitan Police. Sadly, someone sold it to hotel developers. There are no night courts there.

“Sulfur, aconite and a rats tail” (as I type there is a naughty rat chewing the cushion behind me … good job I don’t need no rats tail spells !)

Sulfur is now accepted as the international spelling, although the UK always spelt it Sulphur. But there’s no way you’re getting away with “aluminium” ! Sulfur pongs like rotten eggs, and if you’ve ever been near a harbour at low tide, you’ll know it. Thankfully, when you crush garlic, you get more pleasant (honest!) sulphurous compounds.

Aconite is a poisonous herb aka Wolf’s Bane ! http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/a/aconi007.html

Rat’s tail is the tail of the common rodent, known to cohabitate with mankind.

Page 14

“Disorderly conduct” http://www.yourrights.org.uk/your-rights/c...y_conduct.shtml

John would not be likely to get found guilty of assault as it was a fight where he came off worse, and actually didn’t start it.

Page 15

Clarice bails John out.

She also confirms that Albert had died twice, hence previous comments about him being a zombie before the Constanteen Kids saw him off.

Page 16

Look, a London street scene with London policemen !

Yes, there is a Golden Nugget Casino, not far from Bow Street http://www.goldennuggetlondon.com/casino.html

Page 17

John earns his money the usual way. Note the excellent reference to the painting “A friend in need” by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge http://gaming.unlv.edu/gallery/a_friend_in_need.htm

Peckham Stubbs appears to be a made up character, hopefully Mr Stubbs of Peckham.

Paying back Clarice because you don’t want to be indebted to magicians.

Page 18

The picture in panel 1 is yer actual Streatham lock-ups.

(I’ll upload a photo later and you can see for yourselves.)

The inside is based on previous views from Mike’s run, and some of the artefacts should be identifiable when I’ve more time. Richie Simpson’s computer monitor is there. And the Ace of Winchesters. And an owl … reference to Harry Potter/Tim Hunter ?

Page 19

More specific details of what’s there.

Panel 1 Bible belonging to Rick The Vic(ar).

Panel 2 The gun that killed the Family Man.

Panel 3 Richie Simpson’s death.

“Liquid Alzheimers” in this case is petrol to start a fire, and burn away his mementos (but not his memories, oh no, they’ll be sticking around).

Page 20

The parallels between John’s addictions – magic and smoking – are linked by the cigarette that starts the fire. Many folks have that one last binge before stopping … see next issue.

Page 21

I really loved this page.

Page 22

There are still people looking after John.

Despite everything.

This issue should be accompanied by The Clash’s eponymous first album.

I’m not a big fan of retro-fitting flashbacks, but for Hellblazer they always seem to work well, and this is no different. Back to John’s childhood – one of the first times he used “magic” (NB, I know what you’re thinking, read on before commenting!).

Cover

The archway behind John is actually in Mile End, London.

(I have the original photo, which I will post if Tim says so)

The lock-up that you can see behind Boy Constantine’s silhouette is in Streatham.

Page 1

That’s a Ford Capri Mark 1 in panel 2 which dates this at 1969 at the earliest – meaning John’s around 16 years old. http://www.fordcapri.co.uk/mk1/index.htm

The flashbacks are pale blue hued, this issue might have been even better if there’d been more of that sort of difference between panels. But that’s a minor point.

Cheryl Constantine is John’s sister, perhaps she shouldn’t appear shorter than him at that age (as she does in panel 2).

The location is Mike Carey’s old home town. Arthur Street and Arthur Close do not exist (now?) but L9 is the Walton & Fazackerley area of Liverpool, and the closest to that kind of area is probably here : http://tinyurl.com/8tyj4

The Breeze is a genuine pub in Walton, it’s on Lancaster St, near Breeze Hill at the centre of that map. Collecting beer mats was big back in the days before computer games (qv matchboxes, bus tickets and birds’ eggs).

Tetley Brewery is proper northern beer, not like the rubbish they sell in London

(except that these days you can get it in London, because all the breweries are owned by the same company.) http://www.smoothlydoesit.co.uk/history

“Frig off” to masturbate, usually female. The profanisaurus http://www.viz.co.uk/profanisaurus/profan_front_index.php is usually good for such definitions, but drops the ball here if you ask me.

“mong” refers to someone with Down’s Syndrome – a reference to the so-called mongoloid features, although dictionary.com claims it is from Australian slang for mongrel. They are wrong. The word came back into usage in drugs culture of the 1990s, where to be “monged” meant to be “whacked out” on “drugs” http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/m.htm

John is playing slam.

Page 3

Note that Cheryl’s death is subject to investigation. This will be relevant later.

When people who own council houses or flats die, the property does not automatically revert to their heirs. Even if they lived there, which Gemma did not. There are rules about succession which say that a property can be passed on from one person to another once only. This would not apply as Tony’s death occurs so close to Cheryl’s.

There should not be a rush to throw Gemma out at this stage, but an order of 28 days to vacate the premises would probably be issued.

Kenny Nelson, the old school bully, wonder where he is now?

Page 4

“Two bob” = two shillings, now ten pence.

Page 5

TB = tuberculosis, an infection of the lungs. Until the 1960s TB was almost unstoppable, but thereafter the new antibiotics that came on the scene saw it all but disappear in the UK. Recently it has re-emerged here in the HIV positive and street homeless populations, but can be treated successfully if caught. Elsewhere in the world, where there is poverty and deprivation, TB is still a major problem.

“Yozza” short for the surname Hughes, as seen in “Boys from the Blackstuff”, Alan Bleasdale’s stories of 1970s Liverpool.

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/...bleasdaleal.htm

Page 6

“Beryl the Peril” was a female version of Dennis the Menace (the proper one, not the American one) in British comics http://www.tonystrading.co.uk/galleries/an...ryltheperil.htm

“Two pounds seventeen and six” is £2 17s 6d or £2.87 ½ - what the kids today would call £2.88 since there is no ha’penny any more.

Woodbines = cigarettes – do they still sell them ? http://www.vintagecollectibles.co.uk/images/sign1.jpg

Page 7

The Metal Box company has been mentioned before (#185 http://www.insanerantings.com/hell/comics/...s/hb185ann.html )

And Mike answers my question about the fate of that factory, but plants a seed that John’s Mum and Dad met there.

The other factories that John mentions are

BOC – British Oxygen Company, was in Liverpool, now in Blackpool. Interesting to note that the company was expanding massively in the sixties, but reaching out globally meant closures locally.

Jacob’s biscuits – top quality cream crackers (bet you can’t eat five at once!) – apparently there is still a Jacob’s biscuit factory in L9, but it’s owned by Nabisco.

Mother’s Pride – bread. White sliced bread, not your fancy modern ciabattas or croissants or brown! http://www.britishbakeries.co.uk/ourbreadb...glandwales.html

Auntie Jean – new member of the Constantine family? Continuity would suggest she’d be Thomas’s sister if she's got the magic in her. She could just be a neighbour as it was common, but you know John could be fibbing, right ?

Page 9

“away with the mixers” http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/a.htm

I wonder if this has anything to do with the biscuit factory?

Page 10

“bricking himself” means “shitting himself” as in “shitting bricks”.

Page 11

“gob” means spit.

Page 12

“spazzey” means stupid, from “spastic” which as everyone knows is cerebral palsy. See how slang insults work? Anyone different gets a label, and the label gets inappropriately used as an insult. Nowadays he would say “scopey” probably.

Pages 13-18

Isn’t this just some of the most atmospheric storytelling in Hellblazer for many a year?

Page 19

“Not magic” “That’s when I knew I had a gift. And exactly what it was.”

This seems poignant to me now, having read #214 and #215. John’s real gift has always been the cocky swagger of the conman. But what people want to believe is that it is magic. At some point he does become involved in magic … see page 21 for further exploration of this topic.

Page 20

Oh that’s what happened to Kenny.

Three comics – TV21, I bet.

Hot Wheels cars were fairly new to the UK in 1969, if they’d made it here at all. I can remember them coming out – as most things did in those days – just around Xmas.

Everyone knows what a Mars Bar is, surely?

Airfix models were one thing, but the boxes of OO Scale British Paratroopers would have been rather desirable. They did not look like this http://www.toemen.nl/fotos/arf0001723_gr.jpg however, but more like this http://i19.ebayimg.com/03/i/05/11/aa/a9_1_b.JPG

and you would require a box of German ones to play with them properly.

Page 22

I love this page.

This issue should be read to a soundtrack of the Beatles bootleg album "Get Back" which became "Let It Be"

well,i s was reading "books of magick:life during war time" a couple of weeks ago(I even strarted a thread about it, wich by the way nobody has paid a lot of attention to, and that hurts my feeleings,snif,snif) and in one of the finl issues, when jackie constantine was introduced, the character of brewster said something like " to every generation(and dimension) there is a human who will spit in the eyes of the gods and demons.The magical  protector.the cosmic trickster.The cosmic fool"......so,si john some kind of cosmic/universal entity supposed to exist to mantain some kind of balance to existance?

It feels rather like a retro-fitted "Secret Origin" of Constantine, but it's been addressed many times (and in a much better fashion) in the run of Hellblazer.

The first time it would have been brought up - perhaps indirectly - was when John's first ancestor was shown to be a similar magician (was that Bryan Talbot's annual?). It was addressed most poetically in the first Books of Magic series, where John turns up as an archetype at the end of time.

Personally, I can do without any more Constantines turning up, and I've said many times that any temptation to mess around with Jack The Ripper would be the final straw for me - however well done, that's just C.L.I.C.H.E.

And becomes too much like Blackadder.

You can be right, because my answer was a No Prize answer, not a Nerd Prize answer :-P

It was fun.

But the colouring was a bit on the dark side and it lost what appeared to be some quite nice artwork. I am a big fan of alien technology that looks like body parts.

Thinking of it as a B Movie really helped with the "gratuitous" cleavage shots ;-)