Roots Of The Swamp Thing: Swamp Thing, Hellblazer, The Un-Men And More

Abby toys with a puzzle of interlocked triangles. Since the mating, she's been upset by Constantine's role, causing a wall between her and Alec. She walks a long road until a couple in a convertible (Julius and Ella) offer a ride. The couple is friendly but sleazy, and both are turned on when they realize who she is. When Ella tries to seduce her into a threesome, she demands to be let out. She strolls Houma Park, seeing "happy people" facing the problems they face, and wonders if she'd be any happier as one of them. She visits Liz and Chester but finds them sleeping peacefully, so she borrows money from a cash can and hails a cab to take her to a bus depot. She doesn't notice Constantine conning a petty conman out of his money. A man named Jack begs his wife, Joany, not to leave him for another man. Angry, he lashes out at the nearest woman: Abby. She throws pepper in his eyes, then accepts Constantine's offer for drinks. At Mundum's Bar & Grill, they get drunk and dance to Cajun music, and for the first time, she sees past his shady façade. Too drunk to walk to Houma, he gets a room at the Triad Hotel despite her reservations about the situation. He makes several innuendo, but the mood is platonic and they fall asleep. Back in the swamp, Alec ponders how to fix the situation, wondering if Abby would be happier if he took another form. He creates bodies resembling Chester, Batman, a cowboy, a rock star, Superman and even Constantine, but none seem right. Furious, agonizing over her absence, he destroys his creations and tries to solve the triangle puzzle. Failing, he broods for the rest of the night. In the morning, Abby awakens to find Constantine waiting with coffee and breakfast. The perfect gentleman-as much as Constantine can be one-he rents a rowboat to take her home. Taken aback at the scene they find, particularly a headless version of himself, Constantine bids farewell to a thankful Abby as she runs back to Alec. Before he leaves, he solves the triangle puzzle in a matter of seconds.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #77: "Infernal Triangles"

Over time, Alec's discarded bodies break down and become home to numerous swamp creatures.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #78: "To Sow One's Seed in the Wind"

Alec melts into the Green and is drawn into an alien firmament, the Grey, where thread-like spores suffocate him, telling him to "climb higher" until Abby's voice pulls him back to the physical plane. In Gotham, Batman watches as rookie policemen lower a dead man from a high roof, his facial orifices filled with the same threads. The cops slip, dropping the body to the street below. Batman swings to catch it, but it explodes in a puff of threads. An arm lands on the ground, where the threads attack a homeless woman. The remains are taken to Gotham's morgue, where Commissioner Gordon and Batman ask Brenda to examine them. She says the threads spread spores through inhalation or ingestion and must be destroyed. Batman is concerned, having inhaled a face-full. He returns to the Batcave for de-contamination but cannot clean his lungs. The bat-computer deems the threads an unclassified parasitic fungi related to Entomophthora, which attack the nervous system, impelling victims to climb ever higher to maximize spread. Batman goes to Arkham Asylum, where Dr. Lucas, a teratologist filling in while Huntoon is on a book tour, takes him to see Jason Woodrue and Pamela Isley. Batman rules out both, for Woodrue has been jailed ever since attacking Louisiana and Isley's experiments don't involve fungi. He visits the Gotham Branch of S.T.A.R. Labs, Tri-Skulan Research, bioweaponry experts and Wheelock Neuro-Optics, but turns up nothing. Recalling Alec's attack on Gotham, he and Gordon summon Abby. Though furious, she takes Chester's advice to avoid trouble. Batman meets with Gordon and Bullock, who report that records of similar deaths date back to the 1700s, with outbreaks every fifteen to twenty years. A man is seen climbing the Jade Dragon Export Building in Chinatown, and police quickly evacuate the street. Batman tries to save the man, but his hand breaks off and he falls to his death. As Abby and Chester relax with a Cajun named Ratheau ("Rathole"), the news reports Batman missing for two weeks. Ratheau says trappers spotted him in the Bayou du Large, heading North. He and Abby take Chester's boat to warn Alec, who is watching Batman's boat in the swamps. Deciding to force a confrontation, he tips the boat. Batman heads to the nearby Cajun town of Dogpatch, fighting the urge to give in to the spores ravaging his body. A trail of battered Cajuns leads him to the home of twelve-year-old Etienne Pitrie, a young boy who's friend LaBostrie is said to know the Swamp Thing. Scaring the family at gunpoint, Batman realizes the monster he has become and runs off. The spores tell him to climb higher, so Alec becomes a tree for him to climb. Caryring Batman to safety, Alec entres his body and cures him. Batman vomits up the spores and asks Alec to help the others, but he cannot for few are healthy enough to survive the cure. The spores have always been here, Alec says, and will always be, and the only solution is to isolate victims until they die. The Gotham Clinic does as he suggests. The homeless woman receives a room of her own, and though comfortable, she is lonely, unaware of the horrible death she will soon face. Meanwhile, Alec dreams of returning to the Grey, where a creature named Matango tries to capture him. He awakens with a start, reassuring Abby that even monsters have nightmares.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) Annual #4: "Threads"

NOTES: Lucas says Woodrue attacked Louisiana after becoming a New Guardian and was imprisoned at Arkham. However, the events happened in reverse order, so at this point, he should still be a hero and a free man. Matango is named for the Japanese film Matango (English titles: Attack of the Mushroom People and Fungus of Terror); this origin is more than a little ironic, given Matango's nature (revealed in future issues).

When his father's back goes out, Etienne Pitrie visits Gene LaBostrie and his pregnant wife, Ada. Like his father and grandfather before him, Labo is a traiteur (faith healer) and has made Etienne his apprentice. Many suspect their relationship, believing them to hold a dark secret between them, but this is mostly out of jealousy that their own sons weren't chosen. Labo gives him a balm that will only work when combined with prayer. He notices a cut on the boy's hand, suffered during Batman's attack. Reassuring him that Batman (whom the Cajuns call Chaube-Sourtis) won't return, Labo applies spider silk to his cut and makes a poultice for Pere Cheramie's gum ailment, which Etienne delivers. En route, Etienne stops to give Alec a remedy to keep the flies from bothering Abby. His and Labo's friendship with the Good Gumbo Man are the secret they keep from everyone else.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) Annual #4: "Traiteur"

Alec and Abby exchange bodies so she can soar the Green once more before her pregnancy makes it too dangerous. She returns to Heaven to experience the pure love she felt there, meeting the spirit of Alec Holland. Excited to learn of her condition, he says Linda is about to be reborn, and they watch from above as she enters the world as a Black male child―her first incarnation as a boy. Meanwhile, Alec explores Abby's womb to check on the fetal child growing within. Finally, as Abby returns to Earth, Alec grows himself a new body. To his astonishment, as a result of their bonding, his new form has emulated her female nature... and it's pregnant. What's more, he is about to go into labor. The labor is fast and furious, and he realizes it is himself he's giving birth to. His stomach opens up violently, thrusting forth a great flower containing a plant-like infant. It is Alec, and he quickly grows back into his normal form, leaving behind not only his temporary female form, but also the haunting memories of the fiery cataclysm that once formed him, for that origin is no longer his. He is now born of Abby, just as their child will be, and the love that binds the three of them is endless.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #78: "To Sow One's Seed in the Wind"

To keep the D.D.I.'s involvement in the Iran-Contra affair from affecting George Bush's chance of winning the U.S. Presidency, the government orders the D.D.I. dissolved, all records of its personnel and activities erased. Alec discovers this while hacking their computer via payphone for information on Lex Luthor, the only remaining person involved in his murder attempt. He heads for Metropolis, where reporters await Superman's first official press conference atop the Daily Planet building. Liz and Chester are attending at the request of Liz's publisher, though Chester has to calm her during two panic attacks. Lois Lane and Clark Kent are also attending, as is Huntoon, who accuses the Planet of being in cohoots with Superman and thinks superheroes with dual identities are textbook schizophrenics. As he rambles, Clark spots Alec growing a body outside the LexCorp building and discretely destroys it, casually blowing away a second attempt with his super-breath. Huntoon mistakes Clark's concentration for a seizure and questions him about epilepsy, while sultry WGBS reporter Misty Brink from Life Styles of the Super and Sexy teases Huntoon for the absurdity of his suggestion that Superman would work for or with a newspaper. Insider LexCorp, Luthor finishes having sex with hia secretary, Miss Rhodes, then listens to her report about the intruder trying to penetrate their defenses. Alec enters through a phone line but is caught in an electromagnetic defense field, until Rhodes, unhappy with the way Luthor treats her, smashes a control panel, severing the field. Superman, however, traps him with X-ray vision, which Alec breaks through by propelling himself at Superman at the speed of light. The two beings repeatedly repel each other's powers until, finally, they agree to call a truce and talk. Alec tells Superman why he's after Lex, but Superman insists on following the law, not personal vengeance. Alec asks why, of all the species on Earth, he defends only the selfish needs of humans, and after a pause, Superman says he loves them. Not wishing to stand in the way of such a lofty ideal, Alec agrees to leave Luthor alone. Satisfied, Superman holds his press conference, and every attendee (even Huntoon) is so caught up in his charisma and pressnce that all immediately forget his late arrival.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #79: "Waiting For God (Oh!)"

After the death of crime fighter Susan Linden (Black Orchid), another Black Orchid forms and instinctually seeks out her creator, Dr. Philip Sylvian, a botany expert who knew Alec Holland, Jason Woodrue and Pamela Isley in college. However, Sylvian is killed by Linden's gangster ex-husband, Carl Thorne, before he can teach her anything more about her hybrid existence.

Black Orchid, Book One: "One Thing is Certain..."

The new Black Orchid visits Arkham Asylum, hoping to learn more about the nature of her existence from either Woodrue or Isley. Woodrue is no longer there, and the staff are unhelpful so she leaves. Batman notices her and asks what she needs. He recognizes the name of the first Black Orchid and gives her a card bearing his emblem to show the staff. The card gains her admittance to Isley, who refuses to help out of jealousy that she is what Isley always wanted to be-a human-plant hybrid. Black Orchid tells Batman of her failure, bemoaning the fact that Alec Holland is dead and unreachable. To her surprise, Batman informs her otherwise, suggesting she visit Louisiana.

Black Orchid, Book Two: "Going Down..."

Black Orchid arrives at Louisiana and calls out for Alec, who brings her to the Green. Though awed at meeting a god, she asks for his help. He tells of his and Phil's plans to save the world when they were in college, giving her a handful of seeds to sow. As she departs, Abby asks Alec about it, and he tells her "I was giving her... babies." Understandably, Abby is quite taken aback.

Black Orchid, Book Three: "Yes..."

Bog Venus explores a biocircuitry world orbitting an X-ray-emitting black sun, while Ghost-Hiding-in-the-Rushes meditates on a double-star planet inhabited by semi-sentient vegetation. And as Saint Columba examines a pure crystal asteroid orbiting a red sun, the Kettle Hole Devil finds a vast plant-based computer on a world covered in rainbow prisms. Each feels an uncomfortable stirring as if the Earth is in trouble from beyond. These four planets are being used by an alien race called the Dominion (or Dominators) to invade Earth. Able to grow weapons and technology from plant life, they are vulnerable to Alec's powers and have turned their sights on elliminating him. Meanwhile, Alec grows nursery furniture out of hardwood, then returns to the Parliament to assure them the crisis has passed. There, Alex Olsen reveals the Parliament knew Alec's solution and sent the Swamp Knucker to spur him into action. The oldest of the Mind, able to foretell the future, passes on a warning of an impending alien attack. Alec scoffs, thinking the Parliament is lying to hide its humiliation over his ending their reigh. Olsen says one of the earliest members of the Parliament has a message for him: "See you soon." He heads home, perplexed, and finds that Abby has gone to see Liz and Chester. Unable to shake a premonotion of dread, he wonders if he should heed Olsen's warning. To let Abby know he'll always be there for her, he fashions an organic wedding ring and places it beside hers. Suddenly, the Dominion's matrix disruptor magnifies Earth's vibrations, making him so uncomfortable that he must shed his body and flee into space, just as the aliens had hoped he would. Capturing his spirit, they elliminate him entirely from existsnce in this space-time point.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #80: "The Longest Day"

NOTE: An Invasion crossover.

The disruptor throws Alec back to various past eras, including 1945, 1914, 1872, 1800, 1780, the sixth century, 33 A.D., 40,000 B.C., billions of years ago and the dawn of life on Earth. For much of his journey, Alec remains trapped within a mysterious amber crystal. In each period, contact with the crystal, known as the Claw of Aelkhünd, propels him along to the next leg of his journey.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #82-90 [various titles]

NOTE: See the above dates for the specific details of those individual adventures.

What Alec doesn't know is that the Claw of Aelkhünd contains his own trapped spirit. The presence of two Alecs in the same time-space violates a law of physics, propelling him backward to another era.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #91: "Augurs and Offerings"

For the duration of Alec's trek through time, no prior plant elementals approach him. Since they know the secret of Alec's (and their own) history that he himself has not yet experienced, they cannot take the risk of altering that history, thereby elliminating their own existence.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #89: "Founding Fathers"

With Alec no longer a threat, the Dominion procede with their planned invasion, poised to elliminate Bog Venus, Ghost-Hiding-in-the-Rushes, Saint Columba and the Kettle Hole Devil if necessary. Chester, meanwhile, brings Abby home in his boat, but her intuition tells her something is wrong. When the two reach her home, they find a melted, lifeless slag, with no sign of Alec.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #80: "The Longest Day"

NOTE: An Invasion crossover.

The Dominators coordinate an attack group of several alien races to battle Earth. Out of fear for what humans might one day become, the aliens have decided to destroy them.

Invasion, Book One: "The Alien Alliance"

Abby and Chester spend the night in a tent. She dreams of Alec, awakening to look through the decomposing remains of her home. Within, they see a giant alien, the mate of a being Alec assisted fourteen years earlier. The alien handcuffs her and places a bag-like helmet on her head. In Gotham, Roy Raymond recovers from major reconstructive surgery, his face and hair restored to his true age. The experience with Wild Thing has humbled him, making him re-evaluate the ethics and actions of the press. The world reels as the alien invasion begins in Australia. Abby's captor takes her aboard a spaceship, the Widowsweed, reporting its mission accomplished. The Dominator, pleased, orders Abby's death to prevent the birth of a new elemental. The alien is stunned at the news of her pregnancy; it, too, is about to be a mother, and it shows Abby its incubating egg. In the swamp, Chester tries to find his boat but gets lost. He ends up in Cypress Swamp, near the Hollands' barn. The alien detects a metallic object in the bog. Taking Abby along, it investigates, ignoring repeated hails from the Dominion. It recovers its mate's ship and body, apologizing to Abby for its actions; it took this job to be allowed passage to Earth in the midst of the invasion, and now it has found what it came for. Telling Abby the Dominion have killed Alec, it sadly departs. Abby refuses to believe he's dead, but before she can think about it, Guy Gardner of Green Lantern Corps arrives, looking to enlist Alec's help in the war. He sees the alien ship and destroys it with his ring, then leaves to rejoin the war effort. Horrified at such needless death, Abby returns to her broken home. Chester begs her to come stay with him and Liz, but she chooses to remain, believing in her heart that Alec still lives.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #81: "Widowsweed"

NOTE: An Invasion crossover.

Earth's heroes combine forces with the military to defeat the alien invasion force. Among those who answer the call to fight is a being with a remarkable resemblance to Alec. However, given Alec's "missing in time" status, it's unclear who this being might be.

Invasion, Book Two: "BattleGround Earth"

During the war, members of Suicide Squad travel the Louisiana bayou, passing one of Alec's husks.

Suicide Squad #23: "Weird War Tales"

NOTE: An Invasion crossover.

Jason Woodrue, rehabilitated and operating as the superhero Floro, visits Abby in Cypress Swamp. The Justice League, he says, need Alec's help against the aliens. Finding no trace of him in the Green, Woodrue believes Alec may be dead. Overcome, Abby tells him to leave. He does so, muttering, "And people say I was crazy."

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #82: "Brothers in Arms, Part Two"

The Phantom Stranger pays his condolences to Abby, having found no sign of Alec in the Afterlife. Again, she dismisses the idea that Alec might be dead. Her next news is equally dim, for Chester informs her that the latest D.D.I. check has come, marked "Final Payment."

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #83: "Brothers in Arms, Part One"

Daily Planet reporter Arthur Young and photographer Albert DeGuzman conduct a series of man-on-the-street interviews, asking passersby how the alien invasion has affected their lives. When they approach Abby Holland, she angrily demands the press leave her alone, threatening the world with another Gotham-like attack if they keep bothering her. The Planet runs her comment alongside those of other citizens in Young's "Personality Parade" column, crediting her as "Abigail Cable." In the same edition, "Cat Calls" columnist Catherine "Cat" Grant reports that "reclusive author" Liz Tremayne is hard at work on her third novel, following Swamp Thing (published in the late 1980s) and Flowers of Romance (set for publication in the coming winter). The Planet also reports scattered sightings of the Swamp Thing, despite his recent expulsion from the Earth.

Daily Planet—Special Invasion Edition

NOTE: This faux newspaper was released in 1988 to promote the Invasion miniseries, containing 16 pages of in-universe news stories and columns (and even TV/movie listings), and sporting the front-page headline "Earth to Invaders: Drop Dead!" The dateline on the paper is Nov. 4, 1988, but I am disregarding that date since Hellblazer #10, which takes place right after Swamp Thing #76—whereas the newspaper must be set after Swamp Thing #80, since that occurs before the invasion begins—is specifically said to happen on Winter Solstice (December 21) 1988. It's interesting to note that Liz Tremayne apparently wrote and published at least three novels while still living in Louisiana, despite her fear of the outside world.

Ultimately, the human spirit, coupled with super-human powers, repel the alien invasion.

Invasion, Book Three: "World Without Heroes"

The war fills Earth's Afterline with aliens who find their own spirit-places incompatible with Earth's and move to its fringes, where they shape parts of Heaven to fit their own belief systems. The defeated Dominators, who have no distinct preconception of the Afterlife, are scattered among other races' Afterlives. They find Earth's Hell especially fascinating and wish they could compare notes with those of their kind still in the living universe.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #97: "Scattered Houses"

Year one of Project: Cornucopia doubles the normal coca crop yield of a Central American country targeted by Sunderland Corp. as its chief competitor in the cocaine market. Sunderland's treachery remains unexposed for another two years, by which time it will be too late to do anything about it.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #124: "Husks"

At age 18, a young man enters the Marines like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather before him. He finds that he is an excellent marksman and earns the nickname "Pilate" because anyone caught in his cross is crucified. For the first time in his life, Pilate finally has a sense purpose.

Swamp Thing (Series 3) #4: "Killing Time, Part One-The Pride"

A sequel to the 1982 Swamp Thing film is produced, entitled The Return of Swamp Thing. The film focuses on Alec's relationship with Abby, but like its predecessor, it gets many details wrong.

The Return of Swamp Thing

NOTE: This film is available on DVD. Since these "fictional" events are outside Alec's reality, they are not detailed here. This film spawned a 72-episode spin-off television series that aired from 1990 to 1993, as well as a five-episode animated series in 1990, soon to be released on DVD as Swamp Thing: Guardian of the Earth. Rumor has it a new film will be produced in 2005.

Ada LaBostrie goes into labor, which lasts eighteen hours before the child is born.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #90: "Journeys"

With help from a midwife named Maria, Ada and Gene LaBostrie deliver their son, Dêlas.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #88: "Survival of the Fittest"

A Freemason sub-group called the Magi Caecus form a secret division called Black Squad, a security detachment assigned to soften up society. The Black Squad's role is to harass and beat up members of the radical left, libertarian intellectuals, peaceniks, Hippie travelers, homosexuals, druggies, football supporters, strikers, Blacks, and other so-called minority groups. Their goal: to disorganize the leaders of any groups that might stand in their way when the time comes to mount a worldwide coup and rule from the newly formed Fortress Britain in the name of Jallakuntilliokan, an ancient deity also known as the God of All Gods (or G.O.A.G.).

John Constantine, Hellblazer #21: "The Fear Machine, Part VIII-The God of All Gods"

NOTE: Although no specific date is provided for these events, I am allowing several months for them to occur. There is room for debate on this one.

The Magi Caecus hire Geotroniks Research to create a device called the Fear Machine, using psyhics to harness the power of Earth's Ley lines to broadcast waves of terror at specified target victims. The focus of the project is on Stonehenge and other standing-stone sites, where the Ley lines' power is strongest. The project is run by a man named Webster, with a scientist named Dr. Phillip Fulton responsible for keeping the psychics ready for the experiments. However, the Russians learn about the project and send spies to uncover what it's all about.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #18: "The Fear Machine, Part V-Hate Mail and Love Letters"

To keep Webster's role in the project low-key, he poses as the head of security while a figurehead director is assigned to run the operation and take the fall if needed. The director is unaware of this arrangement, and of the Fear Machine's very purpose, believing the machine is only intended to cause global unrest to enable a new political direction, not to awaken a sleeping deity.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #21: "The Fear Machine, Part VIII-The God of All Gods"

Spring 1989 A.D.

Three homeless people-Fan Ronnie, Sylvia from Hull and Jacko-spend a cold spring night beneath a London bridge until police scare them off. Finding an abandoned apartment (room 512) in a nearby tower estate, they tuck in for the night without heat or food. Ronnie and Sylvia wrap themselves in a curtain to keep warm, but Jacko has nothing and no one to hold him and dies in the night. Looking for someone to help him stay warm, his spirit continues to roam the building even after death. Ronnie and Sylvia die as well, their bodies remaining unnoticed for months until the stench becomes noticeable in the hallway. A woman named Anthea and her lover Sarah call the police, who scrape the rotting corpses off the carpet and remove them in plastic bags.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #27: "Hold Me"

Matt Higgins, a former British soldier who fought at Alamein in the Western Desert Campaign of World War II, learns that he has heart disease, early-stage lung cancer and cirrhosis of the liver. Advised to stop drinking and smoking and avoid excitement, he does just the opposite, hoping to die quickly rather than face a protracted, suffering death.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #43: "Dangerous Habits, Part Three—Friends in High Places"

June 14, 1989 A.D.

Abby visits Matt at the hospital. Frail and emaciated, he is locked in a horrific, sexual coma-dream, at the center of which is Eve, the mother of humanity and a denizen of the Dreaming, who helps him let go of his misery. The hospital adminstrator, Dr. Hubert Sax, tells Abby she owes 2.7 million dollars, for records show Matt to have been an un-insured private investigator; thus, he has been transfered to the Neo-Mort Division, where his organs are being harvested for experiments. She storms outside, where Adam Strange tells her that aliens killed Alec because their technology was plant-based; those deemed a threat were imprisoned on Starlag, but Alec wasn't with them. Abby tries to call the D.D.I. about Matt's bills but cannot find a phone number. She tells Liz and Chester of her baby's origins, and Chester suggests she run away and change her name, but calls from Mrs. Luban of Deadbeat Depot International (a collection agency also called D.D.I.) force her to face the problem. At the hospital, she finds Matt hooked to several machines, his eyes and organs removed. Sax dismisses her outrage, saying Matt signed the "Organ Donor" portion of his Driver's License in 1974, giving the hospital the right to experiment. She contacts Social Security, who cut off her benefits and demand she return those already paid. A malpractice lawyer says she has a case, but that it would take seven years and the hospital would cease caring for Matt. In the Dreaming, Matt meets Morpheus the Sandman, who offers him a new life as his assistant, the Raven. First, Matt must give up his diseased body and free Abby from all obligations to him. As she returns to the hospital to perform euthenasia, Matt awakens to stop her from taking on the burden. He apologizes for his abuse, asking her to forgive and forget him, then trashes the machines keeping him alive. He dies at age 41, a mere shell of his former self but destined for something greater. Abby returns to the swamp, where Constantine says he knows about her situation and can help. He summons the spirit of Ritchie Simpson from his computerized purgatory, offering to free him in return for info on the D.D.I. Ritchie confirms that all D.D.I. data has been erased, but Constaintine reneges on their deal, closing the connection. He offers to help Abby find Alec, but she has grown tired of his "help" and strands him in the bog.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #84: "Final Payment"

NOTE: The date of Matt's death is revealed in issue #92, but his grave (seen in #125) incorrectly records his death year as 1990, even though issue #146 correctly places it in 1989. Stranger still, Abby herself gets the month wrong in The Dreaming #22, telling the police he died in May 1989. The oddest aspect of this issue, though, is the way the D.D.I. is portrayed. As originally presented, the D.D.I. was a top-secret organization, not one that would send people checks with its name stamped on them, or which a citizen could reach by telephone. Herein, the D.D.I. is portrayed as a group known to the public.

Summer 1989 A.D.

Detective Chief Inspector Geoffrey Talbot of the British police, a 29-year veteran with a reputation as a straight cop, exposes corruption in the Thomas Valley Drug Squad when a catches a DCI from the squad stealing money and running a Special Patrol Group overseen by the Freemasons.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #18: "The Fear Machine, Part V-Hate Mail and Love Letters"

The DCI officer is named Davis, and he is indicted for extorting unnatural sexual favors from illegal immigrants-usually Africans-in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Davis loses his job and his wife, while Talbot is ostracized for turning in a fellow cop. Davis joins Geotroniks Research as a security guard for the Freemasons' secret Black Squad division. He holds a grudge against Talbot, however, and for months thereafter, he writes anonymous, threatening letters to Talbot.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #21: "The Fear Machine, Part VIII-The God of All Gods"

Knowing it would destroy him to learn that his beloved Force hates him so, Talbot's wife Joanie continuously destroys the letters without him knowing about them.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #18: "The Fear Machine, Part V-Hate Mail and Love Letters"

Constantine decides it's time to settle the score with Nergal. To that end, he returns to the site of the old Casanova Club in Newcastle, now an automobile graveyard called Casanova Car Breakers, to hatch out his revenge plan at the very spot where they first battled ten years prior.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #11: "Newcastle-A Taste of Things to Come"

NOTE: Despite 1988 cover dates, issues #11 to 13 must take place after Swamp Thing #84 due to Ritchie's still being in cyberspace. In issue #12, he will be sentenced to Hell, so Swamp Thing #84 must occur before that issue. Making things more difficult, Constantine's appearance in Swamp Thing #88 places the entire "Fear Machine" storyline (Hellblazer issues #14-22) before that issue, as there's no break in the storyline for him to visit Abby. This means Hellblazer #11 to 22 must occur between Swamp Thing #84 and #88. It's a stretch, but it works. Incidentally, Constantine says it's been ten years since their battle at Newcastle, which took place in 1978 (11 years prior), but since this placement is the easiest way to reconcile Ritchie's appearance in Swamp Thing #84, I'm chalking it up to math error.

For the next week, hiding from Nergal in a trailer at Casanova Car Breakers, Constantine prepares for the coming battle. From Hell, the demon uses his own blood as a weapon by making Constantine's skin break out in boils. Constantine considers asking Swamp Thing's help, but the Bog God is "too busy playing Happy Families." His human contacts, meanwhile, are either dead or ignoring him. In his pocket, he finds a gas bill he'd shoved in his pocket back at his Paddington flat. Inside is a note from Ritchie Simpson, with a phone number. Hoping Ritchie can help, Constantine calls the number. Still trapped in cyberspace, Ritchie instructs him on how to build a linkup to join him in the computer realm. Constantine makes Ritchie a deal: if he helps destroy Nergal, Constantine will find him a new body. Meanwhile, Agony and Ecstasy, the Slave-Twins of Hell's Inquisition, summon Nergal to stand before the Triumverate (Lucifer, Beelzebub and Belial) to account for his failures concerning Constantine. At that moment, the mage issues him a challenge to meet at Newcastle. The Inquisitors give Nergal one more chance to redeem himself, and Nergal tracks Constantine's summoning to the computer linkup. Unable to find his soul to take to hell, Nergal follows him into cyberspace, chasing him throughout the electronic chaos. Too late, he realizes Constantine has led him to the edge of Heaven, a realm he is forbidden to tread. An outraged seraph attacks him for such trespass, destroying him utterly. The angel then turns to Constantine, expelling him from Heaven and back to cyberspace. However, he finds that Ritchie has severed his link to his body so as to take it as his own. Constantine convinces him to take Nergal's body instead, but the demon husk is too much for Ritchie to handle. Barely surviving, Ritchie uses Nergal's powers to build himself a more suitable body. This angers Agony and Ecstasy, however, who drag him down to Hell for daring to steal a demon's body. His punishment: 10,000 years of agony and ecstasy at their hands. Though Constantine mourns his friend's fate, he feels alive for the first time in ten years, the shackles of Newcastle finally broken.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #12: "The Devil You Know..."

Alternate Timeline: The Golden Boy—John Constantine's stillborn twin in the "real" world, given a chance at life and the same name—also defeats Nergal, just like his counterpart before him.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #40: "Twins—The Magus"

NOTE: "Twins," the title of this two-part storyline, does not appear on the title page, which simply contains the subtitle "The Magus." The title "Twins" is stated in the letters column to issue #39.

Still recovering from his battle with Nergal, Constantine visits Clacton Pier, a beach he and his family frequented in the '60s, when he was a young boy. Reflecting on the innocence of childhood, he wonders how he lost his way, how the world went so sour. Passing a group of ecologists protesting a nearby power station, he wonders if he's a wanted man in Paddington for the murders of Mighty Mouse and Mrs. McGuire. He relaxes near the dunes, self-conscious of the boils on his face, and watches the other beach-goers. Toy planes buzz him, startling him for a moment. Nearby, a man named Tony makes love to his girlfriend in the sand. As Constantine takes in mankind's destruction of the beach, he drifts off to sleep and dreams of death and loneliness. In his dream, an explosion at the power station kills all life on the beach in a wave of radiation. Only Constantine and a woman survive. The last people on Earth, they spend their final days making love as their bodies rot from radiation sickness. Impregnated with his child, she goes to full-term in minutes, delivers a two-headed seal, and dies during childbirth. Constantine realizes his only hope-the only hope for mankind-lies in his offspring's survival and evolution, but a flock of irradiated birds kill the seal before it can evolve, then turn on Constantine, picking his bones clean as well. Alone, defeated, a failure at love, with no family, Constantine gives up hope and lies down to die. At that moment, he awakens in a panic, certain that his nightmares, some day, will be the death of him.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #13: "On the Beach"

NOTE: The beach's name is specified in Hellblazer #11. This is an actual beach, in a town called Clacton-on-Sea, England.

Detective Chief Inspector Geoffrey Talbot, assigned to investigate the murders of Mighty Mouse and Mrs. McGuire, tells a reporter for The Sun that the main suspect in the Paddington murders is John Constantine. The police do not really think Constantine did it, but they have no leads and must tell the press something. Given his background in magic, Constantine makes an easy scapegoat.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #18: "The Fear Machine, Part V-Hate Mail and Love Letters"

Constantine visits the Bay Hotel bar and chats up the waitress, a student named July, with a discussion of William Blake's poetry. The next morning, after a night of drunken sex, he slips out of her apartment. At a newsstand, he buys The Sun and sees his own face on page 1, with the headline, "Face of Evil-Satanist Slayer Sought." According to the article, he is wanted for the murders of Mighty Mouse and Mrs. McGuire. Stowing his gear at Char's lock-up, he hitches a ride out of town, trying not to be recognized. A police car stops and the officer chases him into the woods, but he eludes capture. A young girl named Mercury spots him changing and comments on the tree tatoo on his rear end. He, of course, has no idea what she means. She invites him to eat with her friends, and he accepts. In her hand is a bag of psilocybin mushrooms for her friend Eddy, who has gone to Exeter for an alternator for their van, the Heart of Gold. At her campsite, Mercury introduces him to her Hippie-esque friends, the Freedom Mob, former members of the Peace Convoy. Mercury, he learns, is psychic. Eddy returns with the alternator and welcomes Constantine to their group. He drifts off to sleep as they head out on the road, awakening near Stonehenge. He finds them pleasant and peaceful, though he wonders whether their nomadic life is practical, especially in winter; still, he realizes, this is the perfect way to avoid arrest. They meet up with other travelers at the Wykes Valley Park-up, where farmers sympathetic to their cause let them rest in exchange for helping out on their farms. He meets Merc's other friends, including Marj, Jo, Samson and Errol "the Bollocks." Marj gives him new clothes and shows him how to build himself a "bender," a tent made of sticks and a tarpaulin. Errol offers him a smoke and a shower, saying this group is the only family he's ever had. That night, over dinner, he learns that the Freedom Mob are magic-users, with Eddy as their shaman. He tries to fit in, but they sense his aloofness and hope he'll learn to relax and stay ahile. Eddy has a copy of The Sun with his photo on it, but says nothing about it. That night it rains, teaching Constantine an important lesson about slopes and drainage gullies.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #14: "The Fear Machine, Part I-Touching the Earth"

Over the next week, Constantine notices Myra, one of the Freedom Mob, watching him, mistaking her interest as romantic. When he tries to make a move, however, she calls him a black magician, here to steal Eddy's power. Realizing she's read the paper and could make things difficult for him, he enters her mind to alter her memories. However, he does a clumsy job, and she knows he's done something to her. This he regrets, as he likes these people and feels at home for the first time since Newcastle. As Myra walks away in confusion, Merc joins him for a walk. They follow the Ley lines, a network of geophysical electromagnetic energy. Merc stops before a group of stones fenced in, set off by a sign reading "Geotroniks Research & Development." Angry that anyone would cage the stones, she climbs the fence to free them. This attracts a guard, Davis, who grabs her until Constantine brandishes a log as protection. The director of the site threatens to call the police, but Dr. Phillip Fulton tells them to leave. On the way back, Merc says the latter probed her mind. The thrill of "dark doings" entices him, but he pushes the thought aside, preferring not to destroy his newfound happiness. At camp, he apologizes to Myra, who offers a cup of tea as a truce. He chats with Errol, who shows him a portrait painted by a woman he recently lived with. Her name was Zed. As Errol speaks, fly agaric in the tea kicks in, sending Constantine on a psychadelic trip causing him to run away in fear. He stumbles to the stones as a deep rumbling noise fills the air. A Soviet spy named Gregori, linked to them via electrodes, kills himself by slamming his head into a stone. Unable to help him, Constantine battles his own fears as a giant vision of Swamp Thing devours his mother. In the morning, evidence of the man's death is removed. Unaware of a Geotroniks employee watching him, he wanders back to camp, where Marj waits with fresh clothes. Fleetingly, he recalls Errol mentioning Zed being alive, then drifts off to sleep. That night, he and Marj make love, and he realizes she and Merc have become his family. Heartbreak looms, though, for the police are right outside.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #15: "The Fear Machine, Part II-Shepherd's Warning"

NOTE: Gregori's name is revealed in issue #21.

All night, Marj suffers nightmares of a man hung by a noose from a bridge, whom she recognizes as Geotroniks's Dr. Fulton. She climbs into bed with Constantine and Marj to ease her fears, but moments later, the police raid the camp, smashing the van windows. Beating the Freedom Mob senseless, they take Marj and Merc away. The guards try to rape Marj, but Fulton stops them, injecting both women with a sedative. Later that night, a storm startles two cows named Meggan and Old Gwennyth into trampling the greenhouse of a local vicar, Reverend Jenkins. The cows kill his sister, Flora, before Jenkins is able to stab them to death. The next morning, Constantine awakens to find Jo and Sam tending to his injuries. All the vans are busted, and the police said they'd return. As the group fix the engines, Constantine follows the Ley lines to town, hoping to find his friends. He stops at the church, where a crane is lifting the dead cows out of the greenhouse, then visits the police station, posing as "Arnold" from the Citizens' Legal Defense Group. The police release Marj in his custody, but she is too drugged to communicate with him. She was found in that state, but the cops have no idea who Merc is. On his way out, Constantine spots Davis from Geotroniks, who has come to see Chief-Super Beale. Stopping for supplies, Constantine takes Marj back to camp and discusses their options with Eddy. The Ley lines are messed up, Eddy says, and the Geotroniks site has vanished. The Freedom Mob are heading to Scotland to link up with the Pagan Nation and fight the system using magic. Constantine shaves and dons fresh clothes; he promises to meet up with them once he finds Mercury. Though taken aback by his clean look, they admire his determination and wish him well. Constantine hops a bus to Paddington with a renewed sense of vigilance, knowing he's fighting the right fight for once.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #16: "The Fear Machine, Part III-Rough Justice"

Siskin, a member of Dr. Fulton's psychic tracker-team, burns out during intense experiments.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #17: "The Fear Machine, Part IV-Fellow Travelers"

Meanwhile, Merc finds herself in a room alone. Looking in a mirror, she is terrified by a vision of a man cutting out his own eyes with scissors. Her screams summon Fulton, who tries to comfort her, but upon seeing in her mind the image of himself in the noose, he has to run outside for air.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #16: "The Fear Machine, Part III-Rough Justice"

The next day, Corporal Colin Morgan, a 27-year-old member of Dr. Fulton's psychic tracker-team and the man Merc has seen kill himself with scissors, has a vision of activity near the Wykes Valley Stone-Circle. In response, Security Chief Webster sends an Environmental Inpact Squad to investigate, who find the Soviet spy buried near the stones. Webster learns the whereabouts of the spy's partner, Sergei Antonov of the Leningrad Institute of Paranormal Research, and orders Fulton to have Morgan track him so he can be detained before reaching his embassy. Morgan reaches out with his mind, locating Antonov on the 10:44 train from Bristol to London Paddington. Morgan alligns himself with a series of standing stones, the core of Fulton's Fear Machine, and prepares to send a fear charge at Antonov. On the train, Constantine wanders pat private cars filled with sunsavory sorts and notices he's being followed by a mysterious gunman. Morgan's psychic burst hits the train, and chaos erupts as everyone sees visions that scare them to the point of insanity. Constantine fights the paralyzing fear while searching for the man who'd been following him. Throughout the train, he sees endless fear-induced carnage. He catches the gunman, but the man is gripped with fear and shoots a nearby passenger. Moments later, the train derails in a wreck of twisted metal, and the backlash cripples Morgan, who breaks contact. Constantine survives, dragging the unconscious gunman when he spots Beale and Davis leading a team of Geotroniks investigators. Fulton is horrified by the extreme loss of life, but his boss doesn't care. Overwhelmed by what he's witnessed, however, Morgan takes his own life by jamming a pair of scissors in his eyes, just as Merc had seen.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #17: "The Fear Machine, Part IV-Fellow Travelers"

NOTE: The company's name alternates in spelling between Geotronik and Geotroniks throughout the storyline. I have used the latter spelling for the sake of consistency, as a sign outside the building in issue #18 shows it to use the "s" spelling. Morgan's age and first name are revealed in issue #18.

Thirty-seven people die in the train wreck, including driver George Wheelan. Geotroniks covers up the incident by planting a bottle of whisky. A two-month inquest indicates a drunken Wheelan failed to heed speed limits and signals. Elsewhere, lawyers issue writs against the Ministry of Defense alleging negligence in preventing Morgan's suicide. On the same daty, an eight-year-old boy on Wasteland is abducted, and police begin a house-to-house inquiry in Leicester. At a residence in Wimbledon, London, a women named Joanie Talbot opens a hate-mail letter sent to her husband, Detective Chief Inspector Geoffrey Talbot. The envelope is addressed to "Mr. Clean Bastard Talbot." Knowing it would destroy him to think his beloved Force hates him, she destroys it. The constant letters are more than she can bear, however, and she kills herself with a razor. Constantine, at Sam's recommendation, rents a room at the Hotel Oscar Wilde, owned by two men named Harold and Ken. Marj writes him a letter saying that after weeks spent traveling the Scottish countryside, the Freedom Mob has settled near the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, on a glen owned by a rock band called the Bogus Gods. There, they've met up with the Pagan Nation, a Green Anarchist group with a self-contained outpost who can harness the Ley lines' power. The letter speaks of Zed, who is with the group and has re-united with Errol. The groups, Marj says, have experimented in orgies. Constantine develops a reputation in London as a bad man, thanks to The Sun. When he falls behind in rent, he sells his collection of 19th-century Japanese pillow books to an Oriental bookstore in Bloomsberg. That night, he visits a bar and finds Inspector Talbot, who has no interest in arresting Constantine and is upset over something. Feeling bad for the man, Constantine bar-hops with him. A straight cop, he faces termination after 29 years for exposing corruption in the Thomas Valley Drug Squad. He caught a DCI from the squad stealing money and running a Special Patrol Group overseen by the Freemasons. Constantine escorts him home, where they find Joanie's body. Helping clean up, he heads home after the ambulance arrives to find Marj's letter waiting for him. Ken says a hotel resident, journalist Simon Hughes, has written an article for The Guardian about recent suicides connected with Geotroniks. Constantine heads to his room, where he reads Hughes' article and a piece on Ley lines in the Ley Hunter, then writes to Marj about all that's happened. When he gets to Hughes' room, however, he finds the man bound and gagged in a closet. Merc, meanwhile, documents her Geotroniks tests in a diary. Her role has been to elicit fear from test subjects and trap it in a set of standing stones for future use, and though it tires her test subjects, she has been growing stronger daily.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #18: "The Fear Machine, Part V-Hate Mail and Love Letters"

NOTE: The name of The Guardian is misspelled as The Grauniad at one point.

Ken hears yelling in Simon's room and wakes Harold. The two investigate to find Constantine trying to save Simon's life, but mistake his actions for sexual perversion and express outrage. Constantine gets the rope off Simon's neck so he can breathe, then gives him brandy to calm his nerves. Simon says Geotroniks, a defense contractor working on tracking systems for nuclear submarines, is utilizing Earth's electromagnetic landscape as dolphins do. He'd been investigating the company because its scientists kept turning up dead. Inside Geotroniks, Mercury gets comfortable using the Fear Machine and comes to think of Dr. Fulton as a friend. However, when he makes her terrorize a young boy named Matthew Reilly by exploiting his fear of cancer, she goes deeper than usual and experiences his terror firsthand. This, combined with knowledge she gains while accessing Siskin's catatonic mind, causes her to withdraw from both Fulton and the Fear Machine. The fear inside the machine is growing, and she knows only evil can come of it. Meanwhile, Zed and others from the Pagan Nation perform magic rituals of their own to locate Marj.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #19: "The Fear Machine, Part VI-The Broken Man"

After escaping his ten-year imprisonment, the Sandman, Morpheus of the Endless, discovers that John Constantine has his secret pouch and sets out to retrieve it.

The Sandman, Master of Dreams #2: "Imperfect Hosts"

Awakening from a nightmare of creatures crocheting his intestines into body bags, Constantine heads out into the rain to grab lunch at Ed's Easy Diner. Ordering a cheeseburger and two mugs of coffee from a frycook named Leigh, he chooses Marvin Gaye's "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" on the jukebox but it plays Elvis Costello's "Sweet Dreams" instead. Mad Hettie, a 247-year-old mystic who has the knowledge of a High Priestess but lives as a bag-lady, warns him the Sandman is back. Constantine dismisses her babbling, however, believeing the Sandman to be a fairy tale. For three days, as he researches other projects, the radio reminds him of the Sandman with such songs as Annie Lennox's "Sweet Dreams," Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover" and "The Power of Love" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. On day three, he finds Morpheus standing in his doorway. They travel to Chas's lock-up, where he looks through boxes labeled "Brujería," "The Plant Elemental," "Crisis," "American Gothic," "Liverpool" and "Tibet." Finally, in a box labeled "1981," he finds a photo of his ex-girlfriend Rachel and realizes she must have taken the pouch for drug money. They travel to Rachel's house, where Morpheus warns him it's not safe. Rachel has been living off dreams induced by the magic sand for six months, but the sand has also released nightmares on Earth. They find the body of a burglar trapped in the dreams, and Constantine succumbs as well and dreams he is falling from a plane. Morpheus catches him, bringing him back to reality. The walls are crawling with the flesh of Rachel's father, waring them to leave. They find Rachel seated in bed, decrepit and malnourished, singing The Everly Brothers' "All I Have to Do is Dream." Morpheus retrieves the pouch, saying the dreams will return to him. Constantine urges Morpheus to ease her suffering; for only the sand was keeping her alive. Morpheus gives her a final dream of a happy life, then euthanizes her and returns Constantine to his flat. Before leaving, he removes Constantine's nightmares of Newcastle, ending ten years of torment. Relieved, Constantine goes for a walk singing Emmylou Harris's "Mister Sandman."

The Sandman, Master of Dreams #3: "Dream a Little Dream of Me"

Rasputin, a fellow magic-user from Russia, describes John Constantine as "an impertinent bumbler."

Firestorm the Nuclear Man #85: "Soul of Fire"

For two days, Merc remains catatonic, locked in the Fear Machine, and none can draw her out. Fulton panicks, wondering how the director will react to his failure. Suddenly, she wakes up, pretending to be his friend and suggesting they take a card ride. Her goal is to escape. In the morning, Constantine and Simon call on Talbot, whose wife's funeral is today. Following them is a homeless man with a cane, who keeps mumbling, "I'm a broken man." At the funeral, they find Tablot alone, with no one else in attendance except a vicar and the undertakers. Even his daughter is absent, unable to afford the trip from Australia. Constantine asks Talbot's help in sorting out Simon's near-murder and the goings-on at Geotroniks. At the train station, the homeless man accosts Constantine, stuffing a paper in his coat and then jumping in front of the train. As he does so, he yells, "Jallakuntilliokan!" The paper reads, "Tremble-the G.O.A.G. is coming." A symbol on the page scares Simon, for the same symbol was on the ring of the man who tried to kill him: the sign of the Freemasons.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #19: "The Fear Machine, Part VI-The Broken Man"

A Russian paranormal student on the run from the KGB approaches Talbot, claiming a splinter group of Freemasons, the Magi Caecus, are behind recent events and plan to seige the world government. The next day, Fulton takes Merc for ice cream at Bristol Station, but she slips away and alerts the police, who arrest him. In prison, he realizes he let her turn him in out of guilt and love. Entranced by her innocence, he'd fooled himself into believing she loved him back, even though he knew such feelings for a child were wrong. He knows Webster will kill him as a traitor, and he knows he deserves it. Constantine, Talbot and Simon stop at the Hangman's Noose for drinks and to recover from the train incident. Talbot tells them about the Russian student and takes them to his place, where the Russian awaits. It's Sergei Antonov, who attacks Constantine on sight, thinking he killed Sergei's friend Gregori. Webster meets with the director, who believes their plans to be inspired by God. Webster claims he is only a killer concerned with eliminating Fulton, but the director knows not his true function: a priest of the Magi Caecus, he is the one really running the show. As Webster checks on the comatose patients, he can sense the power of the Fear Machine all around him. Entering the room containing the stones, he calls out, "Jallakuntilliokan" and prepares to consecrate the temple. The director sends Davis to capture Ken and Harold from their hotel in Islington, then on to Talbot's home to nab him as well. There, after assuring Sergei that he's not the enemy, Constantine tries to work out a plan of attack. The solution lies in magic, he says, though neither Talbot nor Simon believe in the supernatural. Meanwhile, Webster takes Fulton to a bridge and hangs him, just as Merc foresaw. Guilt-ridden for all he's done, Fulton puts up no fight. Davis kidnaps Talbot. Constantine poses as a cop, tricking Davis into giving him the phone number of his superiors. Constantine visits a library to research a book called Masonic Tradition. Back at Geotroniks, Webster leads Matthew Reilly into the temple and sacrifices him to awaken Jalakuntilliokan, the God of all Gods, whose name he writes on the wall in the boy's blood. As Jallakuntilliokan stirs, Marj, Zen, Merc and Constantine all feel a burst of psychic energy.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #20: "The Fear Machine, Part VII-Betrayal"

All Hell breaks loose at the Freedom Mob's campsite as lightning ignites a tree. Several Pagan Nation members trying to extinguish the fire are impaled on the tree's branches. Eddie douses it but the roots break his arm. At Geotroniks, Webster kills Ken and Harold. The director receives word from the Lodge's Grand Master to abort all operations, but Webster's ritual to summon the God of all Gods has begun. Constantine, meanwhile, makes it out of the library in pain, convinced the end of the world is near. The number Davis gave him dials the Parliamentary Undersecretary's office, proof the plot goes high up indeed. Chas drives Constantine from London to Scotland, complaining about the distance but relieved they'll be even after this. The sky is raining blood, however, and Constantine doubts there will be an "after this." He tracks down the Parliamentary Undersecretary, Bartholomew "Binky" Carter-Browne, M.B.E., at St. James Park. Binky owes him a favor, as Constantine saved his life in the mid-80s, and begrudgingly tells him about the Fear Machine and the Magi Caecus. The cult had planned to awaken Jallakuntilliokan (the God of All Gods), Carter-Browne says, and rule the world from a newly-built Fortress Britain. However, the conspiracy has been exposed and aborted, and heads will roll for it; Geotroniks is being shut down, and Carter-Browne will be forced either to commit suicide or resign for his treason. Constantine and Chas drive to a coffee shop, where they find Merc sitting alone, trying to ignore the nightmares replaying in her brain. The reunion is emotional, and Constantine promises to bring her back to her mother.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #21: "The Fear Machine, Part VIII-The God of All Gods"

Scared by Constantine's assertion that the world is going to end, Chas sells his cab and takes his wife on a trip to the Bahamas. When the world fails to end, she grows furious at him for throwing away his livelihood. He gets a job at Eddie Morgan's licensed betting shop, who dislikes Constantine. Chas also holds a grudge against his friend for misleading him.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #28: "Thicker Than Water"

NOTE: Another Eddie Morgan appears in House of Secrets #140 and Gigant #3/1983 as a cabby who helps the patchwork Man. It's unclear whether they're intended to be the same person or not, but given that both Eddie and Chas are cab drivers, it's certainly possible.

In a cell at Geotroniks, Ken and Harold wonder why they've been imprisoned with Talbot, Simon and Sergei. Nearby, the bloody heads of the Fear Machine's earlier victims form a mobile of sorts. In the next cell is the ex-director, bloodied and beaten, who tells them Webster runs the show now and that he never knew the Masons' true plans. Webster enters and says they will all die to provide the stimulus needed to stir the world into a new age ruled by the God of All Gods. One by one, Davis leads them to their slaughter, telling Talbot he wrote the letters that killed Joan. Constantine delivers Merc to the Freedom Mob, and Zed pretends she doesn't remember him. Errol tells him what happened the night before, so Constantine uses magic to travel the Ley lines in his mind to spy on the Fear Machine. He can only watch as Webster kills Simon, spilling his entrails to summon the primal gods. Humbaba-Fortress of Intestines, Cousin of the Titans, Father of the Dragon-tries to consume him, but Merc pulls him back in time. The creature pursues, but Merc manages to turn it away.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #21: "The Fear Machine, Part VIII-The God of All Gods"

Constantine awakens to find Zed sitting nearby. She admits to recognizing him and holds no grudge over the Resurrection Crusade affair. Zed is much stronger now and finally understands her place in the world. Merc is fine, she says. He doubts they can beat this, but she has faith. He asks Errol to round up the others so they can form a plan for the final battle. At Geotroniks, Davis leads Sergei to die at Webster's hands, leaving Talbot by himself; the inspector hopes to live just long enough to kill the man responsible for his wife's death. Meanwhile, Constantine reveals his plan to the Pagan Nation and Freedom Mob: to disrupt the Ley-lines by driving copper stakes into the stone circles, thereby cutting off power to Jallakuntillikoan. The women are skeptical, but with no other choice, Eddy leads the men to see to it. Myra, Sam and Jo decide to part ways with the Pagan Nation, worried that Zed has Marj under her thumb. Constantine bids them farewell, then finds Marj bathing in a waterfall. Things are different between them now-though he wants her, Zed has told Marj they must wait to consumate their love. The Grand Master of the Magi Caecus works to repair the damage done by Geotroniks. He summons Carter-Browne to answer for his failure and sends an underling, Tyler, to hang him from Thames Bridge. Webster's actions have drawn government attention to Geotroniks, but the Magi cannot intervene since that would further expose them. Webster desecrates Sergei's body in the name of ritual, then Davis disposes of it as he has with the others. Only Talbot survives, and as Davis unlocks his cell, a vision of Merc distracts him, allowing Talbot to strangle him to death. Webster comes up behind Talbot and kills him, completing the ritual, but as Jallakuntilliokan rises from the bowels of the Earth, Merc gets its attention. Zed tells Constantine his role is to impregnate her-maleness caused the problem, so femaleness must repair it. Engaging in a magical menage a trois with Marj and Constantine, she gives immediate birth to a large egg. The women hold up the egg as the dragon bursts from the sea. The egg hatches, revealing an identical dragon. Intertwining, the twin dragons of Jallakuntilliokan descend back into the sea, nature's balance restored. The resultant tidal wave pulls Constantine out to sea, nearly killing him. Luckily, a passing ship rescues him. Aboard ship, he warms up with a blanket, some coffee and the Daily Record, which declares the emergency over, citing a death toll in the thousands. Unfortunately, Constantine remembers none of it.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #22: "The Fear Machine, Part IX-Balance"

Zed also survives being washed out to sea, and thereafter acts as a caretaker for the beleaguered Earth and the soul of mankind.

DC Heroes Role-Playing Game—Magic Sourcebook

After being separated from Marj and Mercury, Constantine finds his long-buried memories of his stillborn brother, the "Golden Boy," resurfacing. Over the next several months, his attempts to re-submerge them fail, causing him to grow more and more depressed.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #34: "The Bogeyman"

For the next three weeks, Constantine hitches rides from town to town on his way back to London.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #23: "Larger Than Life"

Eventually, Marj decides she needs a break from the Freedom Mob. Despite Merc's protests that they should remain with the gang, the two eventually pack up the van and leave Scotland.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #34: "The Bogeyman"

Green Arrow pays a visit to Sherwood Forest, in the modern remains of Nottingham, England. At the Blue Boar Inn, he encounters John Constantine, who warns him to be careful in this neck of the woods, for he could be "walking straight into Hell."

Green Arrow #25: "Witch Hunt, Part One"

NOTE: I have placed this cameo after the conclusion of "The Fear Machine" since Constantine is too busy to visit Nottingham throughout that storyline, and before his ordeal with the Family Man. At this point in time, Constantine is hitching rides from town to town. It's reasonable to assume he stopped for a pint along the way. His comment about Hell would be especially fitting, in fact, given all he's just been through.

Three weeks after Constantine's rescue at sea, a truck driver drops him off near the home of his old friend, Jehosephat P. O'Flynn, a.k.a. "Jerry the Dealer"-an antiquarian and obscure commodities broker. Two anygry dogs, both named Cerebus, guard the door. As Jerry locks them up, a blind man bursts into the house, places a paper in his hand and runs head-on into traffic. Jerry rushes Constantine inside and says the man was Blind Pew from the novel Treasure Island, sent to give him the Black Spot of the Pirates' Court. Constantine decides he must be drunk and offers to sell a pint of his demon blood. This sets Jerry to ranting as he throws old texts into the fireplace. Writers keep using him as characters in their books, he says, but he gets no royalties. He claims to have been visited by Sherlock Holmes, who came to purchase cocaine and a violin, and to confirm rumors that Jerry was the living embodiment of Magnus G. Tolstoy, Hieronymus Smith and other larger-than-life fictional characters. As such characters enter the public domain, Holmes told him, they are granted life; only those who attain immortality through enduring fame may roam at will in public domain. Dr. Watson led Holmes away, but Holmes warned that others would come for him. The Big Bad Wolf calls, huffing and puffing so hard he nearly blows the house down over the phone. Panicking, Jerry runs outside for the dogs. Constantine realizes that with so many writers putting him in their books, and with his ego building so mythic a personality, more people now think him a work of fiction than a real man; this has trapped him between fact and fantasy. The King of the Urban Jungle attacks Jerry's dogs. In fear, Jerry and Constantine run past Arlington Park to the Caxton Arms, but the bar is filled with characters such as the Artful Dodger, who attack them as well. Running on, they stop at a Chinese restaurant, the Rice Bowl, for dinner. When they admit they have no money, Dr. Fu Man Chu tosses them through the front window. They run away, avoiding Peter Pan as he tries to sell them an eternal youth drug. As Captain Hook dispatches Pan, Constantine urges Jerry to stop playing up his colorful side and return to reality. They head for a cab, but a prostitute named Nancy warns them not to enter. Furious, the driver, Bill, beats her to death with a tire iron. Constantine and Jerry chase Bill to a library, but only Jerry is allowed to enter. Holmes bars Constantine's way, saying he cannot enter...yet. Inside, a court of fiction legends-Peter Pan, Oliver Twist, Alice in Wonderland, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, the Invisible Man, Redbeard, Robin Hood and others-convict Jerry of copyright violation, sentencing him to an eternity in the moldy catacombs of forgotten books and minor characters. In horror, Constantine watches as Winnie the Pooh drags Jerry down to basement storage, singing "Bump. Bump. Bump. Down the funny stairs."

John Constantine, Hellblazer #23: "Larger Than Life"

Constantine spends a week laying low at Jerry's place, knowing he'll not need it anymore. Meanwhile, on a summer Sunday in suburban Cambridge, Helen Cherry prepares tea for her husband Robert ("Bob") and checks on their children, Adam and Emma. Outside, as Bob tends the garden, a neighbor named George says his wife Joyce entered them in a "Happy Families" competition. Flattered, Bob goes to tell Helen but finds his family slaughtered. Several days later, at 6:01 a.m. in Dogthorpe, Peterborough, Peter Lucas hears of the Cherry family funeral on the news while preparing for work. The radio identifies the deaths as the work of a serial killer known as the Family Man.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #24: "The Family Man"

The Family Man's real name is Samuel "Sammy" Morris. A retired detective, he lives at the Bethany Homestead for the Elderly, where none of the nurses realize the horrible crimes he commits.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #28: "Thicker Than Water"

Worried about his wife June and their kids, Sarah ("Lucy," age 7) and Mark (age 6), he stays home instead. Back at Jerry's place, Constantine makes breakfast and uses a coin on a string to divine the combination of Jerry's safe. Inside are £95,000, a bag of cocaine and some paperwork. The door bell rings, causing him to flush the drugs down the toilet. A kindly old man asks about Jerry, and Constantine invites him in to rest a bit. Retrieving an envelope meant for him, the man gives Constantine a parcel in return and a business card reading "H. Familiaris, Esquire." Constantine peeks in the envelope to find the names, ages and address of the Lucas family. Wary of getting caught up in Jerry's illegal dealings, he packs his things and the cash after the man departs. He spots an accounting ledger filled with names, including the Witchcraft Museum, Albert Dawn, the Church of England, Lord Lucan, Sim Fein, the Conservative Party, John Cleland, Barton Clowes, DeLorean, Massad, St. Germain, Papa Midnite, the Royal Society and the P.L.O. Several entries are for someone named "R.H." Also in the safe are the Happy Families ad and a bunch of entry forms. Intrigued, he reads Jerry's diary and is horrified to learn of his friend's connection to the Family Man serial killer. Moments later, Reed Hackett calls from Hackett Video Productions, asking about his next parcel from Homo Familiaris. Suddenly, it all clicks into place: Hackett is R.H, Familiaris is the Family Man and Constantine has just given him his next victim. Slowly, he opens the parcel to find a child's cup filled with blood. Horrified, Constantine sets Jerry's home on fire, burning the blood money with it. He then rushes to Dogthorpe, hoping to stop the murder. He's too late, however, as Familiaris has already reached the Lucas home.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #24: "The Family Man"

NOTE: Sarah Lucas's name changes to Lucy as the story progresses. To get around this inconsistency, I have merely assumed Lucy to be a nickname.

The Family Man pays a call on the Lucas family and kills them all, stripping their flesh with a bayonet. Instead of going to the police with the evidence, Constantine burns it all and tries not to think about it for the next three months. Eventually, however, his guilt gets the best of him. During this period, he has repeated nightmares of the Lucas family, while Morris has nightmares involving Constantine, whom he regrets leaving alive as a witness to his crimes.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #28: "Thicker Than Water"

James Hancock Finch, CEO of Pittsburgh-based Vanermeer Steel, creates a superhero team called the Captains of Industry to protect the interests of individual corporations from Firestorm and other pro-environmental heroes. Finch and his aide, Charthouse, turn to the corporate sector for support. Lex Luthor turns them down, but the Sunderland Corp. shows interest.

Firestorm the Nuclear Man #87: "Freak Storm"

With Sunderland aboard, the plan proceeds under the name Metamorphosis Project.

Firestorm the Nuclear Man #88: "Meltdown"

Finch orders a metahuman named David Drake (Typhoon) to deal with firestorm. Creating a tornado, Typhoon overpowers the elemental, nearly levelling the factory in the process. The resultant battle endangers all of Pittsburgh, causing Lorraine Reilly (Firehawk, a former girlfriend of Ronnie Raymond, one of the human spirits within Firestorm) to take a stand against them both. Firestorm defeats Typhoon, then departs the scene, preferring not to fight his ex-lover.

Firestorm the Nuclear Man #87: "Freak Storm"

Sunderland Corp. completes construction of its new HQ outside San Diego, Calif. The cryogenically frozen body of General Carlton Avey H. Sunderland is transferred there from Washington D.C. and put on display, as per his will. Ms. Radcliffe, assistant to new CEO Alan Windsor—Sunderland's British cousin—briefs him on the latest Sunderland undertaking, the Metamorphosis Project, exploring the potential use of metahumans in the commercial sector. The first step involves Harold Lawrence Jordan, nephew of Hal "Green Lantern" Jordan, also known as Maser. The company has studied his ability to change his body into any frequench of EM radiation, and has hired him to protect commerce. Radcliffe introduces Windsor to his chief research scientist, Dr. Moon, and the head of his in-house P.R. group, Rodney Hawkins, then contacts the company's New York office, where Maser is standing by. Bouncing himself off a satellite, Maser travels through the TV signal to appear in San Diego. Windsor is impressed, and Hawkins explains plans to market him to a toy-buying audience. Windsor decides to farm him out to the Captains of Industry first, to see if he can hack it. Meanwhile, Gregori Eilovitch Rasputin, a Russian with precognitive powers and insight into Firestorm's nature, confronts the elemental about the destructive path he has been following. Dismissing him, Firestorm says mankind is raping the planet and will be destroyed if it doesn't heed his warnings, then returns to the steel factory to level it. Finch calls Windsor for help, who sends Maser to stop him. Maser reads his energy pattern and disrupts it, but the resultant blast nearly kills them both.

Firestorm the Nuclear Man #88: "Meltdown"

NOTE: Swamp Thing #121, set in 1992, shows the D.C. headquarters to still be in operation. As such, the San Diego plant must have been created as a second HQ, not meant to replace the other.

Summer to Autumn 1989 A.D.

Police come to question Abby about Matt's death. Panicking, Chester hides his drugs and digs up the marijuana plants in his back yard. As Chester leaves for Abby's home, Liz asks him to bring with him a history book she has found, inexplicably containing a photo of Alec taken in 1872.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #85: "My Name is Nobody"

The book is called Hawk, Son of Tomahawk, and it is the autobiography of a frontiersman from the American Old West. Chester takes it to Abby, along with food, kerosene and pregnancy aids, then returns home to avoid arousing police suspicion. The cops have been checking his house thrice daily, looking for Abby, and Liz has reverted to her earlier paranoid persona. As he leaves, Abby sadly wishes Alec would give her a sign that he's alive.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #86: "Heroes of the Revolution"

Following Matt Cable's death, the home he and Abby shared in Terrebonne Parish remains abandoned for years, avoided by superstitious buyers.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #144: "A Hope in Hell"

NOTE: Amazingly, when Alec returns to this house five years later, during the Mark Millar run, he finds Matt's clothing, money and passport sitting in the bedroom. It does seem odd Abby would leave such things there, or that no one would have stolen them by now.

Chester and Liz visit Abby to check on her progress. She is due to give birth in a few months, and they beg her to come stay with them. Time-traveller Justin Arthur (the Shining Knight of All-Star Squadron) pays his respects, bringing news of Alec's role in protecting Camelot in the sixth century. Abby is ecstatic to learn that Alec still lives, but breaks down when Sir Justin says finding him would be impossible given the infinite places and times he could be. Seeing her distress, however, Justin puts aside his own fatigue and vows to find him.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #87: "Fall of the House of Pendragon"

To increase their funds, Chester decides to sell some posters, comics and other momentos from the 1960s. Among them is a poster from Brother Power's 1967 bid for Congress, and he wonders what became of to the living puppet after Raegan fired him off in a rocket. Mike at Third Eye Books and Paraphernalia buys everything for $2,500. Meanwhile, Brother Power's satellite, Daedalus B-103, falls back to Earth, and a Bu-Intel-Sec operative named Steel tracks its descent via NASA's computers. He asks Firestorm the Nuclear Man to destroy it, but the attempt is unsuccessful and the satellite crashes in downtown Tampa. Brother Power rises from the rubble, feeling far out. He grows a body several stories tall from nearby junk, causing havoc for rescue workers but doing no damage. Steel contacts Batman because of Gotham's experience with a swamp monster. Batman refers him to Abby but makes it clear Alec is no monster and Abby must be treated with respect. Agent Gideon Endor (Triangle) forces Liz and Chester to bring him to Abby, offering to clear her name in the Matt Cable affair if she cooperates. With little choice, she accepts on the condition that Liz and Chester come along since she's seven-and-a-half weeks pregnant. When she tries to contact Brother Power, the elemental spirit of her child feels its pain too intensely for her to bear. At her hotel, Abby receives a visit from Jack-in-the-Green, a former Erl-King who has uprooted from the Parliament to speak to her about the doll, whom he says is a failed plant elemental. Endor invites Chester to get drunk with him at the hotel bar. He hates hippies because he once followed that route and discovered what a lie the "flower-power" idea really was. Refusing to accept that, Chester goes for a walk and encounters Brother Power. Friendly and mellow, the doll is unaware of how much time has passed and how much people have changed. On Chester's advice, he agrees to stop growing giant bodies, happily walking off to find love and beauty. Before heading to bed, Chester informs Endor that the problem has been solved; he, in turn, informs Steel, who assures the President that all is safe. Liz and Chester return Abby to the swamp, where her boat, the Honorable Joe Simon, awaits. The lovers then return home, but Chester can't shake his fear that some day, Liz will no longer need and love him.

Swamp Thing Annual #5: "Brothers"

Jason Woodrue wanders the Brazilian swamp, talking to a Vanus flytrap named Milton, which he picked up at a Brasilia Airport florist. He encounters Maya the Merciless, a driad from his homeworld of Floria, en route to see the Parliament of Trees. She had heard of his healing and wanted to see it for herself; and though he babbles a bit and discusses theology with a plant, it is clear he has put his insanity behind him. Arriving at the Parliament, he meets Alex Olsen and seeks wisdom about the nature of the relationship between plants and humans. Olsen says little about the issue but warns him to avoid the Forest Lords who can turn his mind, and to beware the corruption of Matango. Olsen bids farewell, saying his place is not with the Parliament. Fuming at being cast out, Jason retrieves Milton and departs, wondering what a Forest Lord and Matango are, and why he can't be a god like Alec. The Venus flytrap, of course, says nothing...though smiles do seem to form on its three bulbs.

Swamp Thing Annual #5: "Shaggy God Stories"

Reporter Steve Jones of Steve Jones Investigates records a biography of the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler and Two-Face. During a "Person on the Street" segment, he asks downtown Gothamites for their perspective on the villains. John Constantine, here on a brief visit, refuses to comment.

Secret Origins Special #1

NOTE: Throughout the "Fear Machine" storyline and the issues following thereafter, Constantine remains in the United Kingdom, making a trip to Gotham impossible. Therefore, I have placed this story shortly before Swamp Thing #88, in which he is seen visiting Louisiana.

Constantine visits Abby, who fills him in on recent events. He looks through the book about Hawk and reads about the Claw of Aelkhünd, then heads out to track it down, hoping it will return Alec to the present. After four days' travel through the jungle, he finds the Claw in the possession of a primitive tribesman. In Dogpatch, two police officers ask Labo to pass a message to Abby: her name has been cleared at the highest level, the investigation into Matt's death dropped. Labo gives her the message, but she already knows, as that was part of a bargain for her help during the Brother Power incident; the government has even paid Matt's hospital bill. With only three weeks left before Abby's delivery date, Labo takes her to see Maria, the midwife who delivered his son Dêlas seven months prior.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #88: "Survival of the Fittest"

As the Cajuns prepare for an upcoming festival, trying not to let their enthusiasm be dulled by the dillution of toursits worldwide, Abby enjoys her time with Labo's family. She has had two false labors so far and the baby's birth is imminent, but still she holds out hope that Alec will be there when it happens. Reassurig her, Labo makes a pot of green gumbo; it is said that for every green added, one will make a new friend the following year. That night, while discussing Chester's ecogroup's efforts to boycott Exxon for the Alaskan spill, Abby suddenly goes into labor. This time, it's for real. Meanwhile, John Constantine returns to Canada, hoping to find the Claw of Aelkhünd and end Alec's time-traveling. Nancy Ming performs accunpuncture on him, "accidentally" hurting him―all part of her routine, being slightly sadistic and wishing to punish all Brits for England's treatment of Hong Kong. She then refers him to her uncle in Hong Kong, a fortune teller at the Temple Street Night Market.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #89: "Founding Fathers"

In Hell, the battered head of Anton Arcane endures demon torture alongisde the heads of General Sunderland and others. With Matt Cable dead, Hell's hold on Arcane breaks, allowing him to roast his guard and escape, Sunderland right behind him. A demon catches them but is impressed at Arcane's fortitude. At the dawn of time, a volcanic erruption dissolves Alec's body, trapping him as it hardens. Unable to escape, he spends the next several million years encased in amber crystal, fading in and out of consciousness. He re-lives all the stops of his trek through time, this time in proper chronological order: first billions of years ago in Eden, then to a Neanderthal village in 40,000 B.C. and on to 33 A.D. Gethsemane, sixth century Camelot, the Old West in 1780 and 1872, and Germany in World Wars I and II. Meanwhile, Constantine seeks out Ming's uncle in Hong Kong, who divines the location of the Claw of Aelkhünd: Vienna, Germany, at a Nazi war memorabilia museum. Only when someone mis-pronounces its name does he recognize "Elk-Hound" as a derivative of "Alec Holland." The Claw, he realizes, is linked to Alec, but before he can steal it, a grey-skinned woman kisses him, her mouth stitched closed. Grey fungus splits her stitches and pours into his mouth, choking him. He sees other grey humans approcahing and uses a mystic tuning fork to make their heads explode and shatter the Claw. Once free, Alec is set upon by a mass of grey fibers, which he lures into the Green, forcing them to retreat. Recognizing the fungus from Gotham, he knows its name: Matango. Without thanking Constantine, he rushes to Abby, who lies prone in Labo's cabin while Maria and Ada prepare her for childbirth. In Brazil, Yggdrasil addresses the Parliament for the first time in millions of years, warning that nothing must disrupt the creation of Alec's successor. He suggests a representative be sent to watch over the birth. Hard labor begins, and as Maria cuts Abby, Chester passes out. The fern-like face of Jack-in-the-Green appears in the ceiling, smiling at the successful birth of Alec and Abby's daughter. Alec arrives at the final moments of birth, gently nudging Maria aside so he can deliver the baby himself. Washing her with his own scented juices, he hands her to Abby, who cries in joy. They name her Tefé after the river running through the Parliament of Trees.