Actually, that headline is inappropriate; no one, not his creator Alan Moore perhaps, and certainly not this writer, knows all there is to be known about John Constantine, the latest comic book character to make it to the world of celluloid. The closest anyone comes to it is a fan (ok, a rabid fan) called John Goodrich whose webspoor can be found at www.qusoor.com/hellblazer/introduction. Still, with the eponymous motion pic starring made-for-sci-fi-and-fantasy-star Keanu Reeves set to hit the screens in India-it already has in the US and Mr. Goodrich says it is mediocre-and a game and a comic book based on it to follow, it makes sense to know enough about Constantine to make small talk at the next party you go to (if you are lucky you could find yourself talking to this writer; think about it). Caveat: Constantine's friends have a way of meeting gory (that's G-O-R-Y) ends. Now, on to the catechism; Constantine-can't call him Johnny boy-would have liked the term. By RS

He Is 20 Years Old...

Constantine was created in 1985, when Alan Moore was asked by dc to take over (essentially recreate) Swamp Thing, a series based on a character created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson in 1972. Moore (recommended readings: Watchmen, From Hell, V for Vendetta, and the two Supreme books), as is his wont, spoke to the two artists dc had identified for the project, Steve Bissette and John Totleben, about what they'd like to do; both wanted to create a character that looked like pop star Sting. Moore parlayed this into a character, an Everyman-magus called John Constantine. In 1988, dc figured Constantine was ready enough for his own series, and Hellblazer, written by Jamie Delano to begin with, was born. The series is still alive.

For the record, John Constantine was born on May 10, 1953 (that makes him 51 years old today).

There's Something About Constantine...

With the exception of Batman-the most psychologically complex of the costumed superheroes and the protagonist, if you can call it that, of countless comic books; this writer recommends ones written by Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns), Jeph Loeb (Hush, The Long Halloween), and Grant Morrisson (Arkham Asylum)-Constantine is, arguably, the comix character that makes the most appearances. And he is, without a doubt, the character that makes the most unexpected appearances. For instance in Neil Gaiman's Books of Magic, the first of the series and the only one the man wrote (the series degenerated into mediocrity soon after), Constantine is one of the four mystics-the other three are The Phantom Stranger, Doctor Occult, and Mister E-who introduce Tim Hunter, the greatest magician to be to, er, magic. Apart from dc plugging the character (stranger things have been known to happen, although the likes of Moore and Gaiman are beyond persuasion), it is likely that most authors see the same thing in Constantine, the literary equivalent of a point of inflection. Then, there is the thing about featuring someone who almost dies of lung cancer (he escapes by first, striking a complex deal with three demons, each individually, for his soul, and to avoid fighting with each other, the three decide to keep him alive forever; then, when this deal comes unstuck, a friendly demon cures him). Go on, read it yourself.

Looking for Constantine: Ewan McGregor (left) or Jude Law would have probably been a better choice as John Constantine than Keanu Reeves

John Comes From A Long Line Of Constantines...

A family tree maintained by another fan named Adrian Brown has traced John back to Kon-Sten-Tyn, King Arthur's successor. There are countless others. This writer's favourite ancestor-of-John has to be Lady Joanna Constantine, an 18th-century adventuress famously engaged by Morpheus to find the head of his son, Orpheus, in one of the Sandman books (created by Neil Gaiman, the Sandman series is to adult commix what the Sherlock Holmes stories are to detective fiction).

No One Likes Keanu Reeves Playing Constantine...

The obvious problems: Constantine is British; Reeves is American and plays an American Constantine. Then, the man is blonde; Reeves is not. This writer would have thought Jude Law (a recent blog from Neil Gaiman says he thinks so too), or Ewan McGregor (yes, said writer has seen Down With Love and still thinks he would do) would have been better bets. Moore, again for the record, has not seen the movie, was not consulted on the script-several writers have written the Hellblazer series, from Jamie Delano, to Garth Ennis (Preacher, anyone?) to Brian Azzarello and the motion picture seems to be largely divorced from most of their output-insisted on his name being removed from the credits and had his share of money from the pic redistributed to co-creators John Totleben, Steve Bissette and Rick Veitch, and to Jamie Delano and John Ridgway.