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| Publisher |
DC Vertigo |
| Writer |
Garth Ennis |
| Writer |
Stuart Moore |
| Penciler |
Steve Dillon |
| Inker |
Steve Dillon |
| Colorist |
Tom Ziuko |
| Letterer |
Gaspar Saladino |
| Cover Artist |
Glenn Fabry |
| Published | March 1993 |
Forty bloody years... Having been born in 1953 (literally not metaphorically), with the birth of Vertigo in 1993, John Constantine was turning 40 and Garth Ennis dedicated an entire issue to the event. Although John initially doesn't expect much from his birthday he does arrive home to see a group of old friends waiting for him and the group drink the night away. Although the friends are all from his past some are never seen again, and others only truly met in later issues...but two significant and unexpected guests arrive in the form of the Phantom Stranger and Swamp Thing, the former who's shoes were pissed on by a drunk Constantine and the latter who arrived angrily only to find it wasn't John who called him and that it was supposed to be a birthday surprise to which he does his... This is the first issue of Hellblazer to be published under the Vertigo imprint. Despite the series' usual creative separation from other DC publications, this issue features several other DC Universe characters, including Swamp Thing, who would go on to continue its own series under the Vertigo imprint in the same month. The issue also features Zatanna, a prior romantic interest of Constantine and prominent member of the Justice League. This is one of the few times Constantine interacted with the mainstream DC Universe before the "New 52" initiative in which Constantine's presence was more notable. This issue takes place on John's 40th birthday, May 10th 1993.
