...a ghost, a magician, a detective and the actual devil all walk into a bank.
A series of unusual suicides have been happening all over London. Wealthy bankers, titans of industry, even members of the aristocracy have been found dead, having been thrown from a high-place and landing with a fatal splat. The really weird part: they have a large pair of wings sewn into their backs.
John Constantine is on a case of his own, investigating the sudden appearance of a kid he believed to have died in a failed ritual, and he meets up with his childhood friend Detective Aisha Bukhari, believing that both bizarre cases may be connected in some way. As he goes home, he finds himself with a peculiar houseguest: Lucifer Morningstar, King of Hell, First of the Fallen and the original cheeky bastard. Turns out the Devil has a proposition for him, and it just may have to do with his case.
Hellblazer: Rise and Fall (stylized as Hellblazer: Rise + Fall) is a Hellblazer story written by Tom Taylor (Injustice: Gods Among Us and DCeased) and illustrated by Darick Robertson and Diego Rodriguez. Released under the DC Black Label in 2020, this comic is a stand-alone story and does not share continuity with any other version.
This comic provides examples of:
- Abled in the Adaptation: In the original continuity, John's father Thomas was missing an arm, having lost it in WWII. Here he still has both of his arms.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: In original continuity, it's revealed that a drunk Thomas Constantine tried to force his wife into a late-term abortion, resulting in his wife and John's unborn twin to die from complications. Here, the story starts with Mary dying just after giving birth to John with no hint that it was for any reason other than a difficult birth.
- Affably Evil: Lucifer may be a Troll with a bad temper, but he's also a civil devil and is perfectly willing to cooperate with John Constantine, especially considering he came to him for help. He even apologizes for setting his flat on fire.Chas: For the Prince of Darkness... yer not a bad sort.
Lucifer: Thank you, Chas. - And I Must Scream: During the decades long time Despondeo possesses Billy's body, his soul is still in there trapped with him.
- Bedmate Reveal: John is horrified with himself when he realized that he wound up having drunken sex with the Devil. Or at least Lucifer made him think as much, having him dream that it happened just to screw with him.
- Big Red Devil: Demons in this comic default to this appearance, Lucifer being a svelt Flaming Devil variant while Despondeo was a more typical example.
- Bullying a Dragon: After growing fat off of the despair the damned provide, Despondeo got it in his head to challenge Lucifer Morningstar for the throne of Hell. It ended with him getting his neck torn open as he was choked with his own spilt entrails before being caged for his insolence. If it weren't for a young John Constantine summoning him, he would have faded away into nothing eventually.
- Composite Character: In the Vertigo continuity, Lucifer Morningstar and the First of the Fallen were two separate entities. Here, "First of the Fallen" is one of Lucifer's titles. Even his appearance here as a Flaming Devil jives more with the First's more traditionally Satanic design in contrast to Lucifer's more androgynous, angelic qualities.
- Deal with the Devil: It's revealed that Despondeo sells Lucifer's wings to wealthy business-people with a lot of sins on their souls in exchange for all of their earthly possessions, convincing them that they can simply fly over The Pearly Gates and into heaven with no resistance. While they get cast down by The Armies of Heaven to their deaths, Despondeo is free to destroy their business empires and feed off of the despair the socio-economic fallout it causes.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Lucifer responds to a security guard barring him from interrogating Mr. Henderson by ripping out his kidney. When Constantine steps in and deters him with holy fire, John finds his apartment in flames.
- Establishing Character Moment: We're introduced to Lucifer Morningstar after John discovers that something had broken all of the protective wards he placed over his apartment before he's pinned to the ceiling while Lucifer is helping himself to John's leftover curry. When John refuses to be intimidated, he drops him onto the floor (taking care not to drop him on the couch nearby) and then offers him an extremely rare bottle of wine, wanting to negotiate in his help to finding his wings. This clues us in that this version of the Devil is extremely powerful, a massive Troll, but he can be reasonable when the situation calls for it and hold no real ill-will towards John.
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: It's implied that John sees Lucifer as a Flaming Devil because that's how he pictures him, everyone else confusing him for a normal human.John: Aisha can't see the horns?
Lucifer: No.
John: Why can I seem them?
Lucifer: Because I know you like them. [Brandishes his forked-tongue mockingly] - Heel Realization: Towards the end of the series, Thomas has one about his treatment of John after his mother’s death. He apologizes to John and says that Rebecca’s death was never his fault. John chooses to forgive him. it’s shown that Lucifer assisted him with it.
- I Have Your Wife:
- Mr. Henderson complies with Despondeo's demands because he threatens to mutilate Billy's body while he's still in it.
- Despondeo threatens to torture Aisha's children in various creative ways if she tries interfering with his evil plan.
- Money Is Not Power: The story involves Despondeo conning corrupt plutocrats out of their wealth with the lie that surrendering their fortunes will enable them to avoid going to Hell for their transgressions.
- Mythology Gag: This version of Lucifer Morningstar has a lot more in common with his 2016 TV show iteration than his Vertigo counterpart; he's a dark-haired gentleman in a nice suit that likes to Troll people, has a short temper, has his moments of humility and involves himself with a police investigation when it involves his stolen angel wings.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: It wouldn't be a Hellblazer story without the supernatural headache of this story in some way being Constantine's fault. In this case, he had summoned a lesser demon when he was younger, the demon possessing a banker's son and, after gaining strength in the streets of London, took Lucifer's wings.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: When a pair of hoodlums protect Despondeo from John (thinking John is beating up a defenseless kid), he returns the favor by breaking one their necks and punching the other's face in For the Evulz.
- Pet the Dog:
- After witnessing Thomas slap John for mouthing off to him, Lucifer tells him something that makes Thomas apologize for his abusive behavior towards John, Thomas asking if he wants to bond over a pint later. Lucifer admits he had a pragmatic reason for it, considering Despondeo feeds on despair and John's self-destructive behavior is rooted in his dysfunctional relationship with his dad.
- Despite his resentment of John, Thomas genuinely enjoyed taking him to football matches and one of John’s memories is the two of them cheering on the Reds.
- Pragmatic Villainy: While Constantine did do a good thing by giving away all of the wealth Despondeo had accumulated to the less fortunate Just Like Robin Hood, Lucifer doesn't mind, seeing millions of people suddenly getting disposable income as a situation ripe for all kinds of sinful behavior.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Unlike other demons Constantine has faced, Lucifer seems to be more interested in things like sin and evil as a professional curtesy and is otherwise a nice guy. He even decides to steal Despondeo's con — selling "salvation" to a rich guy who has it coming just to watch him plummet to his death — before leaving back to Hell.
- Take That!: The story does not pull its punches portraying rich people as fat, selfish monsters who would literally sell everything they own if it meant not having to actually face the consequences of their actions, all the while having the resources to help people and just choosing not to.Aisha: Imagine being able to do this and just... not doing it?
John: Billionaires are the most worthless people on the planet.
