It is no secret that DC has, at times, struggled to find the right tone for John Constantine since his return just before ‘Flashpoint.’ Do you completely lean into the Vertigo/”Hellblazer” model? Return him back to his “Swamp Thing” roots? Tone him down even more and have him quit smoking? All of these have been tried thus far, but very few have worked as well as the classic Constantine stories that made him so beloved.

Enter Tim Seeley and Jesus Merino.

The new creative team on “The Hellblazer” unites a writer with a penchant for nailing horror and one of DC’s secret weapons over the past half decade or so. If DC has one writer in its current stable that can balance that ‘Rebirth’ line of telling new stories with a classic tone with Constantine, it is Seeley, he of “Hack/Slash” and “Revival.” The team is bringing some hype back to this title, and we are thrilled to share an exclusive first look at their first issue, #13, which is due out on August 23rd.

Written by Tim Seeley

Illustrated by Jesus Merino

Colored by Carrie Strachan

Lettered by Sal Cipriano “THE SPIRIT HUNTER” part one! Home from Paris, John gets in a drunken argument, has a terrible dream about a dead teenager, and then finds the corpse. Did someone use his imagination as a weapon, or has his distaste for humanity made him a murderer?

Thanks to DC for the preview, and make sure to pick up the issue on Wednesday!