Photo : Ian Forsyth ( Getty Images )

Today, DC Comics announced John Constantine, Hellblazer: 30th Anniversary Collection, a commemorative compilation honoring the history of DC’s chain-smoking demon-fighter John Constantine. The book will include a number of “memorable stories” about Constantine from writers like Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and Garth Ennis, along with a “comprehensive timeline” of Constantine’s miserable life, a series of essays about the character, and—perhaps most interestingly—a foreword written by Sting. As comic book fans know, Constantine was originally inspired by Sting, at least in terms of his look (though Gordon Sumner may have fought a demon or two in his day), so this should be a fun way for Sting to pay tribute to the character who has been paying tribute to him for 30 years.


In yet another twist, though, Sting’s foreword will be written from the point-of-view of Golden Boy, a version of John Constantine from an alternate universe who is cool and successful and popular in all the ways that the normal Constantine is not. Given the fun of comic book multiverses, that means it’s sort of DC canon now that Sting is our universe’s version of John Constantine.

The Hellblazer collection will be available in October.