Brendan

Ah of course, I'm a dunce. I was thrown off by him using Tarot Cards - to me they're such a 'pagan' sort of signifier I couldn't put the dots together. 

thanks for confirming that this story wasn't referenced again. I like your interpretation of what was going on. I could buy that the almighty would take what John said as a threat because often in these sort of stories supernatural beings like the First are somehow bound by rules - and a soul-less John would be more of a wild card.

Like most of Jenkins run, I appreciated what the end was going for more than I was moved by the execution. (He was really ill-served by the art in the last few arcs) Sorry to say that reading his arc after almost everything else really does hurt it, it's hard to care about John building a new life when you know none of it will matter in the future. 

Having searched around for an answer to this, I'm hoping that this isn't a question that's been answered repeatedly here - could anyone explain the ending of Jenkins last issue for me? I've been reading the new collections as they turn up at the local library, so I've just read the end of Jenkins' run but it's been a long time since I read the beginning, and to be honest this run wasn't the most memorable for me, so not much has stuck. 

Who was the old man John is talking to at the end of the story who can communicate with God? Obviously he appeared early on but it seems like we're supposed to recognise him from folklore and I'm stumped. He tells John he'll always be with him etc...I was definitely missing some context. 

And the fact that the story ends with John selling his soul to the first of the fallen confused me, I've read the following runs by Ennis, Azz, Carey & I don't remember this ever being referenced again. Did i misunderstand something? Are we meant to infer that God removing his influence from John's friends has also cancelled the deal with the devil? Is it just something the comic quietly forgot about? thanks