Constantine: Easter Eggs and DC Comics References In Quid Pro Quo

Tonight's Constantine was chock full of mythological and religious references, some of which we [...]

By Russ Burlingame

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Tonight's Constantine was chock full of mythological and religious references, some of which we still haven't been able to track down a proper spelling for (or maybe the show made them up) and some of which (but not all) had bearing on Hellblazer, the John Constantine-starring Vertigo series.

We've assembled a list, complete with some tweets from the production staff, and are counting on our readers to help us identify what's next.

What did we see? What did we miss? Read on...!

All His Engines

Aleister Crowley

The real-life English occultist to whom Constantine's Ader stone originally belonged has ties to Nergal, the demon from Newcastle, in the Hellblazer canon.

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Fennel

In the comics, Fennel appeared in the aforementioned "All His Engines" story. His story in that tale was more or less just like it played out in the show.

Carabasan

I can't find a 1:1 demon for this in the Hellblazer Wiki or my memory (although I admit I may have either forgotten it or spelled it wrong). That said, its doglike head shape reminds me a bit of the Norfulthing that Constantine originally summoned Nergal to destroy in Newcastle.

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Felix Faust

Felix Faust is a longtime foe of the Justice League's who has frequently been a menace to humanity in the DC Universe, although his experiences with Constantine are very limited on account of the wall that was up between DC and Vertigo for years.

Faust's most notable recent appearance was when he and Neron partnered in 52 in the hopes of manipulating Ralph Dibny to serve them. When he figured out their plans, he managed to bind them inside their lair forever by killing himself.

Apparently that's just a thing you do to stop Faust.

...oh, and a nice little Easter egg for Breaking Bad fans...!

Ader Stones

While I can't remember Constantine in the comics ever using, or at least naming, an Ader stone, they are real-life objects that occultists use.

Crazy coincidence

The band, Lillian Axe, who played in the club on the episode have a song called "47 Ways to Die." The production weren't aware of this at the time of production.

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