Notable writers who have contributed to the series include Jamie Delano, Garth Ennis, Eddie Campbell, Paul Jenkins, Warren Ellis, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Brian Azzarello, Mike Carey, Denise Mina, Andy Diggle, and Peter Milligan.

Other writers who wrote for the series include Paul Jenkins, Warren Ellis, Brian Azzarello, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Denise Mina, and Andy Diggle.

John Constantine, the main character of Hellblazer, was portrayed as a kind of confidence man and occult detective who did morally questionable things, arguably for the greater good.

Some attempts to use the character in other superhero or family-friendly comics were altered due to editorial mandate, such as "Gregori Eilovotich Rasputin" in Firestorm and Captain Atom (who refers to Constantine as "an impertinent bumbler in England").

& Quinch for 2000 AD, a title made popular by John Constantine's creator Alan Moore, Delano was selected to start the character's first run in his own comic by then editor Karen Berger in 1988.

Delano's run was characterised by his political satire, taking on late-1980s and -90s tropes such as with city financiers being literal demons, and Constantine meeting with Freemasons from the Houses of Parliament.

The following four issues, "The Devil You Know"[15] finally explain John's failure to save a young girl, Astra, from a demon in Newcastle, an event that left him near insane and incarcerated in an asylum known as Ravenscar, and still haunted him to the comic's end.

The penultimate major run of Delano's tenure was "The Family Man",[17] which differed from the main body of the series thus far in that Constantine's nemesis is not supernatural (beyond an opening metafictional encounter with a fictional fence), but a former policeman turned serial killer.

[18] During his run, there was also a stand-alone issue, Hellblazer Annual #1, exploring Constantine's ancestry, and featuring the video to John's punk band, Mucous Membrane's song "Venus of the Hardsell".

A more substantial return was made in 2010 for a hardcover graphic novel Hellblazer: Pandemonium with artist Jock to commemorate the 25th anniversary of John Constantine's first appearance in Swamp Thing.

It also had a strong religious theme, with John's dealings with the First of the Fallen, and some storylines, such as the relationship between an angel, Tali, and a succubus demon, Ellie, would go on to be used again as a major plot device in Preacher, one of his most popular works.

[15][22] The next major arc, "Fear and Loathing" (issues 62–67), covers a high point of John's personal life, with his relationship with Kit going well, and a 40th birthday party where his friends Ellie, Zatanna, and the Swamp Thing attend, and use their various abilities to create a large quantity of Bushmills whiskey and marijuana.

He also returns to Jamie Delano's coverage of anarchist lifestyles, and the effects of the Criminal Justice Act of 1994, a controversial law which restricted the ability of the public to throw raves and large demonstrations.

[35] Jenkins' run then draws to a close with two storylines, "Up the Down Staircase" and "How to Play With Fire", which relate the First of the Fallen's new plan, to essentially let mankind ruin itself through television and consumerism, and Ellie's plot to leave Constantine friendless and alone.

[39] His brief run began with "Haunted", a London-based story in which John investigates the brutal murder of a former girlfriend, Isabel by an Aleister Crowley style magician, Josh Wright.

[47] Following several forewarnings, Constantine then travels the world to set up a plan for a forthcoming tragedy, which will occur when "Three doors are opened", involving Swamp Thing and the Garden of Eden amongst others.

[49] Leading up to the landmark issue, John has little control over events, and is led along by a psychic serial killer, who threatens to kill Chas and his family, and a demon, Rosacarnis, who offers his memories back, at the cost of 24 hours in her service.

[55] With help from Gemma Constantine, Angie Spatchcock and Chas Chandler, a plan to reverse the problem is made, as tension builds among the soldiers now surrounding the city.

[58] The run starts by introducing two main antagonists, an aging politician, who is using a strange portal to enter other people's minds and commit crimes,[59] and Mako, a cannibalistic mage who devours other magicians in order to obtain their power.

Over the course of the run, John dealt with a demon taking revenge on people involved in the Liverpool dockers' strike[63] gone insane and sought help from Shade, The Changing Man, after chopping off his own thumb, seen Phoebe die at the hands of Julian,[64] and traveled to India to try to find a way of saving her.

The final panel of Hellblazer reveals John, looking shocked and much older than we'd previously seen him, standing in a bar appropriately called "A Long Journey's End" surrounded by people, in front of a shelf full of bottles with the names of the comic's staff over the years.

Nonetheless, the character would again star in another solo series entitled Constantine: The Hellblazer, co-written by Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV with art by Riley Rossmo, released on June 10, 2015.

[76] However, during New York Comic Con 2023, it was revealed that the series would be getting a revival miniseries called John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America, with Spurrier and Campbell returning and publication beginning in January 2024.

"[Hellblazer] retains the occult connections, but what sets it apart from the sad, played out "dark fantasies" that you'll find on the shelf next to it is its clear knowledge that real horror is perpetrated not by eye-soiling pantomime monsters, or pale things in black with stupid names.

[12][81] Being set in the UK, many famous British personalities have appeared or made cameos such as Sid Vicious, Margaret Thatcher, Aleister Crowley and Alan Moore.

As stated by Warren Ellis, Hellblazer's major themes were cynicism, nihilism and "sudden violence", with the protagonist often narrating the story in dark proses with occasional breaking of the fourth wall.

"[89] Jamie Delano's original run on the title is looked on fondly, with journalist Helen Braithwaite stating, "His take on the character of John Constantine has never been equalled.

[67] As a result, DC co-publisher Dan Didio issued a statement defending this decision, stating that, "Hellblazer's had a long and incredibly successful run and that's a tip of the hat to all the great creators that have worked on the book over the years.

[102] Many modern examples of the genre such as Hellboy, Supernatural, Grimm, The Originals, and The Dresden Files have been influenced by it,[83][102][103] and many imitators of both the series and its character flourished such as Criminal Macabre, Gravel, Planetary, and others.

"[117] In late 2012, director Guillermo del Toro discussed the notion of creating a film that would star John Constantine alongside other DC/Vertigo characters such as Zatanna, Swamp Thing, and more.