Dangerous Habits

Dangerous Habits is a six-issue Hellblazer story arc written by Garth Ennis with art by Will Simpson published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. Dangerous Habits collects issues #41-46 of the Hellblazer series. The story features the occult detective John Constantine, who at that time caught terminal lung cancer, and subsequently conning the Lords of Hell to cure it. The story was loosely adapted into the movie Constantine released in 2005.

Publication History
The story was written by Preacher writer Garth Ennis, who took over the title in 1991. He proceeded to write the longest run for any writer on the title.

What could I possibly do to John Constantine that hadn't been done before? And one course of action suddenly stood out above all others: Kill him.

Plot summary
After some time dealing with coughing up blood and headaches, John Constantine goes to the doctor for a check-up. The doctor later diagnoses that he has advanced terminal lung cancer, and that he only has little time to live. Upon hearing this, Constantine attempts to cure it and save himself, knowing that his soul is damned and hell is ready to welcome him.

John then visits a friend and fellow mage in Ireland named Brendan Finn for help. Upon arriving however, he learns that Brendan cannot help him, and that he too is dying. Disappointed, John and Brendan decide to celebrate the last remaining days of their lives drinking. Brendan tells John the secret of how Jesus managed to turn water into wine. He leads John to the cellars, where he changes a pool of holy water into beverage. The two get drunk together and the pair share one final drink as Brendan passes away. As John leaves, he has his first meeting with Satan, also known as The First Of The Fallen, who came to collect Brendan's soul.

The First tells him that Brendan sold his soul in exchange for the biggest drink collection. The First agreed to the deal because he finds a hopeless drunkard like Brendan as amusing. But both agreed that the First must collect Brendan soul at midnight the day he died or the deal will be null and void. Angered by the discovery, John attempts to save his friend's soul from being dragged into Hell. Five minutes before midnight, he invites the First for a drink, offering him a glass. The drink however, was actually holy water turned into alcohol. The First is poisoned after drinking it. Seeing him in a weakened state, John mutilates him with a shattered bottle and sends him back. Brendan's soul wasn't collected in the allotted time, sending him to heaven instead of hell, thus John saved his friend from eternal damnation.

John then seeks to enlist Ellie's aid in a search for a cure. Ellie reveals that the First is furious with John and that upon Constantine's death, his soul will be claimed by Hell and tormented as none before it. Realizing that he now simply cannot afford to die, John gate crashes a gentlemen's club and seeks aid from the Angel Gabriel. John bluffs him by reminding the angel of his debt to the conman, but Gabriel was unfazed. Believing that no mortal can order an angel, Gabriel rebuked him, saying that he does deserves Hell for all the mortal sins he did.

Realizing that he can only rely upon is himself, John sets about in saving his life. Constantine sells his soul to the other two lords of hell. Each thinking he is the only one to have "bought" John's soul. As John dies, the First Of The Fallen arrives on the scene, determined to taunt John during his dying minutes. The First however, is shocked when the other two lords show up to claim John's soul. The three lords are faced with a terrifying situation - if Constantine dies then they will be forced to go to war for the ownership of his soul, which if they do will cause unbalance, and a chance for Heaven to attack them in an unbalanced state. The three themselves are too proud of letting the other into gaining the prize, as all three have a reputation to keep in Hell and surrendering a deal is humiliating. Unwilling to risk all out war, the three decide to heal John of his cancer. Once the healing is complete, John taunts the three and flips the First Of The Fallen a finger.

Reception
Many praised Dangerous Habits as one of the greatest stories in Hellblazer. Goodreads gave it a 4.29 out of 5. Jim Pascoe praised the comic, saying "The result is a tense supernatural drama that begins with Constantine being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Though this book only hints at the freeform casualness and over-the-top vulgarity that became Ennis's trademark in the Preacher series, this is an immensely enjoyable read with strong characters and dynamite plot twists."

Dangerous Habits was voted the best Garth Ennis story on Comic Book Resources, ahead of his work on Preacher, The Boys and The Punisher. In the same article Brian Cronin describes John's one time love, Kit Ryan, as one of the series' most memorable characters. The popularity of Ennis and Dillon's run on Hellblazer is also credited for Vertigo agreeing to publish their seminal series Preacher. Empire Magazine called it "rightly one of the most celebrated in comic book history".

Collected editions
The story was reprinted and collected in trade paperback released in 1994. The book includes an introduction by its author, Garth Ennis.


 * Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits (ISBN 1-56389-150-6)