Jamie Delano

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Jamie Delano

Born 1954
Northampton
Nationality British
Area(s) writer
Notable works Captain Britain
Hellblazer

Jamie Delano (born 1954 in Northampton) is a British comics writer. He was part of the first post-Alan Moore "British Invasion" of writers. Best known as the first writer of the comic book series Hellblazer, starring John Constantine.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Jamie Delano was hand-picked by Alan Moore to continue writing John Constantine,[citation needed] originally a secondary character introduced during Moore's revolutionary Swamp Thing run. Delano established the character in his own right, fleshing out what had been, in Moore's hands, a more shadowy, wisecracking sort of figure. It was also Delano who set the character firmly in London, Moore (and later Veitch) preferring to present him travelling virtually anywhere at will. Delano's Constantine is very much flesh and blood, never using magic when a con will do, frequently drunk, down & out, and haunted by his accidental condemning of a little girl named Astra to Hell.

Delano's approach owes much to the quiet, cold but vicious work of British "new wave" writers like Ramsey Campbell and J.G. Ballard[citation needed] and it is this tone that subsequent writers have either had to adopt or go violently against. This also makes Delano the first Vertigo writer, as Hellblazer is often thought of as the company's flagship title. He established the character's history – and his family's – going all the way back to the time of King Arthur in one of the more emblematic Constantine stories, "The Bloody Saint" (1989), drawn by Bryan Talbot. Much of his version of Constantine was the basis of the 2005 Constantine movie.

Most of his work since leaving the book to Garth Ennis and many others since (though he has gone back to the character a number of times), has also been for DC/Vertigo, both radical treatments of established characters and more pointed, political works, a list of which (from his site) can be found below.

Much of Delano's often bitingly witty work shares concerns with that of other British comics writers like Pat Mills,[citation needed] and can be characterized as science fiction, or horror, but often is a blend thereof and used very allegorically. In its concern with transformation of bodies and cultures, through psychedelia, conspiracy, or science, his work shares much with the likes of David Cronenberg[citation needed] and some, like Ghostdancing or Animal Man, have taken a great deal of influence from Carlos Castaneda and Jim Morrison.[citation needed]

Frequent subjects in his work include the War of the sexes (World Without End), imperialism and genocide (Ghostdancing), and environmental & cultural collapse (2020 Visions, Animal Man).

Most recently, it has been announced that, as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations, he will be returning to Hellblazer to write Pandemonium, a graphic novel to be drawn by Jock. He is also has a number of series in the pipeline at Avatar Press. [1]

[edit] Bibliography

  • One-Off:
    • "Blood Sport" (with David Pugh, in 2000 AD #484, 1986)
    • "The Ark" (with Dave Wyatt, in 2000 AD #504, 1987)

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Back into Hell: Jamie Delano returns to John Constantine's world, July 27, 2007, Comic Book Resources
  2. ^ : Selfmadehero :
  3. ^ Future Imperfect: Jamie Delano talks Narcopolis, Comic Book Resources, November 7, 2007

[edit] References

[edit] External links

[edit] Interviews

Preceded by
None		 Hellblazer writer
1988-1990		 Succeeded by
Grant Morrison
Preceded by
Neil Gaiman		 Hellblazer writer
1990		 Succeeded by
Dick Foreman
Preceded by
Dick Foreman		 Hellblazer writer
1990-1991		 Succeeded by
Garth Ennis
Preceded by
Garth Ennis		 Hellblazer writer
1994		 Succeeded by
Eddie Campbell
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