Skip to main content

Characters & first appearances

What is the first appearance of John Constantine?

Published Sep 14, 2026 · Updated Sep 14, 2026 · 1 min read

Short answerJohn Constantine's first full appearance is The Saga of the Swamp Thing #37, cover-dated June 1985, by Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette and John Totleben, who modelled his look on the musician Sting. He can be glimpsed in background cameos in Saga of the Swamp Thing #25 (June 1984). Constantine's own series, Hellblazer, began in January 1988 and ran 300 issues.

Saga of the Swamp Thing #37

Moore's run on Swamp Thing (from #20, January 1984) had already redefined the character. Issue #37 begins the "American Gothic" arc: a trench-coated Liverpudlian occultist turns up to recruit Swamp Thing for a tour of American horrors, chain-smoking and refusing to explain himself. Bissette and Totleben had drawn a Sting lookalike into #25 as a joke; Moore built the character around him.

Collecting

Saga of the Swamp Thing #37 is the most valuable issue of the run and a top Copper Age key, helped by the 2005 and 2014 screen versions. As a 1985 direct-market book it survives in high grade, so the market is concentrated at 9.6 and 9.8; a CGC 9.8 is in the store. Issue #25 trades at a fraction, as a cameo.

  • Saga of the Swamp Thing #20 (January 1984) — Moore's first issue.
  • Saga of the Swamp Thing #21 (February 1984) — "The Anatomy Lesson".
  • Hellblazer #1 (January 1988) — first issue of his own title, by Jamie Delano and John Ridgway.

See the John Constantine character page and the DC Comics publisher page.

Written by the Rare Comics Collectors grading team. Spotted an error or have a question this guide does not answer? Tell us.

In the vault right now

Browse all listings →
Key issueLast copy

DC Comics · Copper Age

Swamp Thing #37

CGC 9.8 · Universal Blue

First full appearance of John Constantine

(0)
$1,399

Keep reading

  • Collecting

    What are the ages of comic books? Golden, Silver, Bronze, Copper and Modern explained

    Collectors divide American comics into eras: the Golden Age (1938 to the mid-1950s), the Silver Age (1956 to about 1970), the Bronze Age (about 1970 to 1985), the Copper Age (about 1985 to 1991) and the Modern Age (1991 to today). The boundaries are conventions rather than official dates, but each era has its own print runs, survival rates, paper and pricing, which is why listings and price guides always state one.

    Updated Sep 14, 2026

  • Collecting

    What is a key issue in comics?

    A key issue is a comic that matters for a reason beyond its story: the first appearance of a character, an origin, a first issue, a death, a famous cover, a creator's debut, or the first appearance of a costume or team. Keys are the books that hold and grow value because demand is tied to the character or event rather than to the issue's rarity alone.

    Updated Sep 14, 2026

  • Collecting

    First appearance vs cameo: what is the difference?

    A cameo is a brief appearance — often a single panel, a shadowed figure, or a last-page teaser — while a first full appearance is the issue in which the character plays a real part in the story. The market usually prices the first full appearance higher, but when the cameo is the first time the character is seen at all, both issues become keys. Incredible Hulk #180 (cameo) and #181 (first full appearance) for Wolverine is the classic example.

    Updated Sep 14, 2026

  • Collecting

    Newsstand vs direct edition: how to tell them apart and why it matters

    From the late 1970s to around 2013, most Marvel and DC comics were printed in two editions: newsstand copies sold on returnable terms through news outlets, and direct editions sold non-returnable to comic shops. They share the same interior; the difference is on the cover, where newsstand copies carry a UPC barcode and direct editions show a logo, a blank box or a different barcode. Newsstand copies from the 1990s onward are scarcer in high grade and often sell at a premium.

    Updated Sep 14, 2026

  • Characters

    What is the first appearance of Superman?

    Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1, cover-dated June 1938 and on sale in April 1938, created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster and published by Detective Comics, Inc., the company that became DC Comics. It is the first superhero comic and the most valuable comic book in the world: a CGC 8.5 copy sold for 6 million dollars in April 2024.

    Updated Sep 14, 2026

  • Characters

    What is the first appearance of Batman?

    Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27, cover-dated May 1939, in a six-page story titled “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate”, created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and published by Detective Comics, Inc. (DC). Finger, who wrote the story and shaped the costume, was officially credited by DC as co-creator from 2015. A CGC 8.0 copy sold for 1.5 million dollars at Heritage Auctions in January 2022.

    Updated Sep 14, 2026