A Geek’s Guide To Storytelling June

Could Preacher Give DC A Way To Bring Constantine Back To The Small Screen?

Tripwire’s columnist, author Joshua Khan, writer of the forthcoming fantasy book series Shadow Magic, gives us the latest in his occasional column arguing that AMC’s Preacher TV adaptation and Fox’s Lucifer could offer a way to bring Constantine back to television…

Now Amazon Prime has its benefits (that one day delivery) and it took me a while to realise I’d accidently latched onto their TV streaming shenanigans. Twice. So after getting a refund for the second package I thought I’d waste some afternoons checking what they had on offer.

The Man In The High Castle. Vikings. Black Sails.

And Vertigo.

Constantine, Lucifer and now Preacher.

With DC ruling the airways (if not the mega-plexes) with their Arrow, Gotham, Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl, all dressed in glorious spandex, they’ve also slipped in the broody, gothic cousin, Vertigo.

I loved the Vertigo imprint, way back in the early nineties. I’d grown bored and too cynical for the four-colour camped stuff (I was young and naive then) and thought, hey, this is for, like ‘grown ups’ and isn’t that Neil Gaiman a clever chap?

The early days were a glorious shambles. Half-in the DCU, half out. We had walk-on parts with the capes, then bit by bit, Vertigo found its own country.

It couldn’t decide what it was. Hellblazer and Sandman led the way, with a mish-mash of soap and opera, gritty and seedy one minute then mythic and ethereal the next. We gained Shade, we gained the Books of Magic mini-series and Doom Patrol and the like.

That was then. This is now. Vertigo has moved off the page and onto teh plasma screen.

Lets start with Constantine. I know it’s been cancelled, but it was my first joy at Amazon and I have a soft-spot for the Liverpudlian anti-hero.

Matt Ryan nails the look and attitude of big JC. The fragility behind the arrogance is there, how he’s not sure if it’s all power or bluff. Like any street hustler card-shark, Constantine relies on mis-direction. How good is he? You doubt, but, somehow, don’t dare call his bluff. Like many first seasons (see Gotham as a perfect example of this) it was testing various styles to see what suited it. Was it Monster of the Week? That format’s worked well for Grimm, after all. Was it aiming at something bigger? There were hints about a pending apocalypse, an attempt to raise the stakes early on, which (IMHO) was part of the problem. Too much story too early on. It can be intriguing, it can be irritating. Just ask the producers of Batman v Superman. Somethings take time, and be fed it, drip by drip.

If there was one key fault, it was its caution about going ‘full dark’. Hellblazer was always a brutal, cynical comic. Constantine fucked up, and fucked up his friends most of all. It had a hard, punk edge and that’s what made it stand out. The tv series (perhaps naturally) wanted Constantine to be more sympathetic. Interestingly the movie with Keanu did try and embrace the ‘fuck you’ attitude of JC, but Keanu was just not the right guy for the role. Deep down we still expected him to go “Whoa, that is most bodacious!”.

Not Constantine.

The horror needed to be more explicit. I’m not talking about hurling buckets of pig’s blood at the screen (though the comic did plenty of that) but the creeping ‘under-the-skin’ horror. It hit that beat a few times, but that would have established its identity more strongly. I still hope a more receptive network picks it up, especially with what’s happening with Preacher.

Despite its faults, Constantine was a great romp of a show. There’s a loyal core of Constantine fans working hard to bring the guy back, and he’s already guest slotted in Arrow and (I believe) is imminent on Legends of Tomorrow.

Preacher next, because it does right what Constantine did wrong. If Preacher succeeds I think that, more than anything, will give Constantine a second chance.

Okay, I’ll admit out of the two great comics Ennis created, I preferred Hitman to Preacher. Hitman had pathos, humour and a better artist. Simple as that.

But Preacher was bold! You had to love that! Taking on God! Hell yes! Angels as assholes! Mutant inbred messiahs! The ignominies of Starr! And of course Arseface!

Sometimes more IS more.

photo©2015 Joel Meadows. All Rights Reserved.

The TV series isn’t following the comic and the first season seems to be designed as a soap opera, set in small town Texas, rather than the road-movie format used in the comic.

Episode 3’s just come out (at the time I’m writing this) and we’re met our trinity, Custer, Tulip and Cassidy. Custer’s just learning to harness his ‘Voice of God’ superpower, and we’ve had glimpses of Starr and The Saint of Killers.

Arseface is very much in evidence, and I love the shmuck already.

The mood’s Cormac McCarthy all the way, and now I’ve read him the influence of ‘Blood Meridian’ and ‘No Country for Old Men’ seems extraordinarily powerful. I don’t mean that as a criticism, but as a compliment. If you’re going to be inspired, be inspired by the best.

TV Tulip seems to be made of much stronger stuff than comic Tulip, and that’s a plus. What’s also working is the humour. Strange than Ennis could get Hitman’s comedic beats so right, but Preacher just never worked, funny-wise. It was a dour series, one that ended with the biggest cop-out ever (a mistake he didn’t make with Hitman, again demonstrating Hitman had pathos and heart in abundance).

So, the core premise is in place. Custer has a superpower that seems related to Heaven (did you catch the Tom Cruise joke? T’was excellent!). The question is what’s he going to do with it? And just quite how sick is the community he’s trying to save?

What Preacher does well is gore. From Cassidy’s initial mile-high encounters to well, Cassidy doing pretty much anything, Preacher’s happy to go for it. Just like the comic it’s happy being gross. For all its big themes it still comes across as something targeted at fifteen-year old boys with its focus on cool heroes (who smoke like they’re auditioning for Mad Men), gross imagery, and rebellion.

So, if Constantine is to return, it could do much worse than take a look at its religious, unrestrained younger brother.

At the other end of the spectrum is Lucifer which is as camp as Butlins. And I love it most of all.

So, Lucifer has come down to LA, having become bored of ruling Hell.

It’s both ‘fish out of water’ and a ‘buddy-show’. He’s teamed up with an ex-softcore porn actress turned detective (only in LA, right?) to, well, I’m not quite sure. Right wrongs? He’s Lucifer and it was his job to punish the guilty so working with the police gives him direct access to those guilty parties I suppose.

It’s certainly sexy, with the nightclub and the orgies and the manage a trios (with a young man, excellent move) and all the glamour of a Hollywood A lister. But Tom Ellis is an excellent light comedian and he makes Lucifer both charming and a bit irritating. He channels the classic Cary Grant fool.

Tonally its way, way down from Preacher with regard to the horror, though there are hints of it. Take it as a camp comedy and you’ll be more than satisfied. As much as Constantine fits the Preacher mould best, I’d be more than chuffed to see JC and Lucifier lighting up outside of the Lux nightclub. They are kindred spirits, tricksters at heart trying to do the right thing against (what they believe to be) an unjust divine being.

Preacher. Lucifer and Constantine. Here comes Vertigo…

Joshua Khan’s Shadow Magic is out now in the US. Follow him on Twitter @WriterJoshKhan

Joshua Khan June www.tripwiremagazine.co.uk