Hellblazer #249 - Vertigo

I learned a part about John Constantine's history this issue that I guess I missed somewhere along the line. It appears that while John is the Laughing Magician, really . . he is, and he isn't. Apparently, when John was born, his arse of a father tried to give his mom a homemade abortion. It killed John's mother, but not him. However, it did kill John's twin brother who was growing inside of there with him. While in another reality, the same thing happened . . of sorts . . but it was John's brother that survived and not him. It all has something to do with magic and synchronicity. John's seen bits and pieces of him before, but apparently he's never put anything together until now. Once, long ago, they tried to reconcile and merge but John's ego was to strong, and they separated like oil and water. Plus, from John's point of view, "I was off my tits on magic mushrooms at the time, and nothing seemed to have changed afterwards. I figured it was just a bad trip. That was real?" He also saw him at Ravenscar when he cast a mirror cage spell there, but he was just in the shadows so he never put it all together. But ever since, he's been hiding in John's head. He's been waiting there for John to become weak enough for him to take over. After they couldn't merge, John picked up Cancer. "When that didn't work out, you tried a more subtle approach, didn't you . . . ? Broke my heart. Made me a drunk. No wonder it's been so hard to try and pull my shit together! Every time I try to reassert some control over my life, you've been there to drag me down again!" So John uses the power of his mind . . since that's where they're at, and he's in control . . to remove him. He pictures a scalpel. " Think of it as a visual metaphor. I'm having you surgically removed." Afterwards, as he's lying on the floor, with the shattered mirrors around him . . ."Fuck it. I go me own way. Always have." Again, high praises for Andy Diggle. He has done a tremendous job in the short time that he's been on this series. I absolutely love what he's brought to this book. It's the perfect book for his style. And I also think that renewed energy has lit a spark in Leonardo Manco. His work looks great also. I've been reading this book for quite a while, but I haven't been this excited about it . . in years. Congrats to all for turning out such a great book.