Ray Fawkes Talks Constantine

And then tonight? Constantine returns to NBC for the rest of its 13-episode first season, its future uncertain as it failed to get a back nine but remains in contention for a second season at the network.

Each faced the unenviable task of reinventing the character for a new, more mainstream audience following the end of Hellblazer, Vertigo’s longest-running series and a comic in which Constantine starred for 200 issues, largely existing outside of the traditional DC Universe.

Series writer Ray Fawkes joined us to talk about how he’s made it work.

In the recent past, we’ve had the Futures End issue, John appearing quite a bit in Futures End and a trip to Earth-2. With all the superheroes and the tie-ins and everything, this book has still managed to get good reviews and word-of-mouth. How do you keep it from becoming every Hellblazer fan’s worst nightmare of a Constantine book?

Thank you. As far as I’m concerned, it all comes down to John’s personality and the tone of the book itself. Through John’s eyes, the world becomes his world – even if it’s populated by superheroes – cast in a cynical, melancholy hue.

It’s not the setting that makes John a compelling character, or the people he has to associate with. That’s part of his strength – he’s the gutter mage, working his dirty deals and struggling with his demons. I’ve done my best to make sure that he stays John Constantine, no matter where he is or what situations he stumbles into. I’m glad to see readers responding favourably to our efforts.

Do you ever feel like those concerns are a bit misplaced, though? I mean…Wednesday’s issue features Constantine and Dr. Fate fighting Parademons on the cover. That image alone…awesome.

Well, bringing John back into the DC Universe does have some perks!

How much conversation have you had with the Futures End and World’s End folks to make sure everything syncs up? Or is your story really fairly self-contained?

We had some extensive discussions when all of these stories were originally conceived, and then we all went back to our respective corners so that we could work on our books without too much over-the-shoulder peeking in any direction. I mean, we put the effort in to make sure everything makes sense, continuity-wise, but we also work to make sure that each of our stories is self-contained enough to form a satisfying whole on its own. 

How to you retain what people love about Constantine when you have beats like in #20, when he feels what seems to be genuine guilt over the trust people have placed in him? It feels like a difficult balancing act, and one the TV show has drawn some criticism for “mainstreaming” a little by making him somewhat more likable.

I don’t think it’s outside of John’s realm to feel guilty about his choices – or even to wish that he was more worthy of trust. But he is who he is, and he (and the rest of us) all know that he’ll never be more trustworthy or more noble – but he will get the job done.

Readers who worry that he might be getting too soft in his Earth-2 experience are encouraged to read issue #21, out this week. It’ll put all their fears to rest with shocking finality.

Is it safe to assume that some of the characters of Earth-2 will continue to play a role in the title beyond the World’s End tie-in?

That’s the plan… for the ones who survive, that is.

I was motivated to call you up because I saw you basically hand-selling the thing on Twitter, talking about how great the word-of-mouth has been lately. For anybody who’s just hearing about it now, or coming to it because of the TV show, what do they need to know about the series to jump in?

Hmm… a devil-may-care, street-level con-man who faces of against all the forces of Heaven, Earth and Hell and always finds a way to leave them with a grinning two-finger salute… what’s not to like? Constantine lives in the darkest, meanest, coolest corner of the DC Universe, and he thrives there. This is the book everyone should be reading.

What’s the most unexpected thing that you’ve encountered taking this character into the mainstream DC Universe and trying to craft an identity for him there, with all the other sages and mages available?

Hmm. The most unexpected thing, I’d say, is figuring out how quickly almost every other mage in the world would want to get rid of John – and realizing that the feeling would be mutual. That had a lot to do with putting together the first few issues of Constantine in the New 52, and the ramifications are always with John in the book.

Jeremy Haun is no stranger to drawing strange creatures and the dark side of things. Beyond that, what do you think is the biggest thing he brings to the title?

You know, I could sing praise about Jeremy’s work on Constantine all day and night. He turns in perfect pages, in my opinion, capturing the exact atmosphere of strangeness and dread I’m trying to convey with my scripts. But the biggest thing he brings to the title, in my opinion, is the incredible humanity of all the characters in the book. The subtlety of their expressions, and the wondrous life he brings out of them. I’m not sure how he does it, exactly, but I love it.