The Devil's Dust: John Constantine's Last Stand

In the depths of Hell, amidst swirling clouds of devilish dust, John Constantine, the renowned occult detective from DC Comics, finds himself looking upward at the towering 20-foot demon known as Malgorthrax. Kneeling down, John's eyes blaze with determination as he channels his mystical powers. With a swift motion, he places his hand on the dusty ground, casting a spell that unleashes vibrant streams of purple and green plasma. The magical energy surges forth, striking Malgorthrax's hooven feet first, then spiraling upward until the demon is fully engulfed by hex fire.

[Workflow: Used Tengr + Nightcafe to generate separate pieces: demon, John, basic background, and some runic symbols.  Masked in additional layers such as the dust storm, pixel layers to create more dust, plasma particles, runic glow, etc.  Assembled everything within Affinity.]

Hi-rez image link [2563 px wide]

John Constantine casts a powerful spell outward...

Placing a Protection Spell (John Constantine)

John Constantine placed a protection spell on the room. I will probably use pieces of this one in a future creation.

Superman Holds Up a Collapsing Building

I created an homage cover based on Pablo M. Collar's original interior panel artwork.   I began with Tengr to kick things off, sourcing art from My Adventures with Superman #1 (August 2024).  I then expanded the image vertically and added more destructive details by hand, blending in other layers for special effects like dust clouds and falling debris. Finally, I created a variant cover layout to complete the production look and feel of an actual Superman Unchained #6 comic book.

 

John Constantine Taking in the Local Pub

My image of John Constantine taking a break in the local London pub was inspired by artist Moritat's panel image I saw in Hellblazer #2 (2016).

Moritat's inspiring image

Smoke and the Shadows in the Cemetery of Lost Souls (John Constantine)

As the sun began its slow descent towards the horizon, casting a warm, blue-tinged glow over the crumbling headstones within the Abney Park Cemetery, John Constantine stood tall, his eyes fixed on the statued gravestone before him. The angel, its features chiseled from marble, held a bow and arrow in its outstretched hand, its gaze seeming to pierce the very soul of the man standing before it.

The air was heavy with the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves, and the distant chirping of crickets provided a mournful accompaniment to the silence. A light foggy mist had begun to rise from the ground, shrouding the gravestones in a veil of mystery. The mist was so fine that it seemed to glow with soft, ethereal light as if the very essence of the dead was rising to greet the living.

As Constantine puffed on his cigarette, the flame casting a brief, golden glow on his weathered face, he noticed that the mist was illuminated by shafts of light that seemed to pierce through the fog like rays from the heavens. The light was so intense that it cast eerie shadows on the ground, making it seem as if the dead themselves were rising to claim the living.

"What's the story, angel?" Constantine muttered to himself, his voice low and gravelly.  As he spoke, the wind picked up, rustling the leaves of the nearby trees and sending a faint whispering through the air. Constantine's eyes never left the angel's face, his mind racing with the possibilities. He knew that in this place, where the veil between the worlds was thin, the whispers of the dead could be heard on the wind. And he had a feeling that this angel was trying to tell him something, something that would change the course of his life forever.

[Workflow: Used Tengr to generate a variation of a source Llovet image featuring John. Then used Google image searches to find all the other components to use as further elements. Composed these pieces of John, re-used cigarette+smoke+glow from one of my other images, refaced the grave marker behind John, added more trees, applied curves + HSL recoloring effects, fog pixel layers, ray lighting layer, bunches of masking work.  All final edits, and source image clean-ups were done within Affinity Photo.]

Image list:

1. final image of John smoking a cigarette in a graveyard
2. Gravestone Halloween image i used
3. Graveyard with trees
4. green rays that I overlaid with foggy/mist layer

Smoke and the Shadows in the Cemetery of Lost Souls 

.

.

.

.

.

(John Constantine) The Wandering Son of England Returns Home

[another imagined John Constantine comic book cover for DC Comics which I started after seeing a painting by Behshad Arjomandi.  This one-shot storyline proposed to be written by Paul Jenkins, with interior art by Giuseppe Camuncoli.]

In the heart of London, where shadows dance with secrets and the rain whispers of forgotten sins, there strides a man unlike any other. John Constantine, the enigmatic and troubled occult detective, returns to his homeland with a heavy heart and a burdened soul. As he strolls down the slick cobblestone streets, the iconic silhouette of Big Ben looms in the distance, its clock face a stark reminder of the relentless march of time. Dark clouds gather overhead, crackling with the promise of a storm brewing both in the skies and within Constantine himself.

Lightning flashes, illuminating the grimy alleyways and hidden corners of the city, casting eerie shadows that seem to reach out for him. But John Constantine is no stranger to the darkness; he is its master and its prisoner, a man caught between worlds, forever wandering the thin line between salvation and damnation. As he navigates the treacherous waters of London's supernatural underbelly, Constantine must confront his past, his demons, and the ghosts that haunt him. For in this city of ancient magic and modern malaise, the wandering son of England returns home, ready to face whatever horrors lie in wait. Join us on a journey through the twisted streets of London, where danger lurks in every shadow and salvation is but a fleeting dream. This is the saga of John Constantine, the man who walks with one foot in the light and one foot in the dark, a reluctant hero in a world that has long forgotten the meaning of the word.

[Workflow: A series of Tengr image prompts to get many elements in the same dark-colored painting format.   Composed these pieces of John, the street, trees, and background buildings into base image, then applied recoloring effects, rain layers, lightning with clouds, water splashes, and then the final layers of comic book branding.  All final edits, and source image clean-ups were done within Affinity Photo.]

Image list:

1. final TrUzApalOOza cardstock variant cover 
2. raw version of the painting (reduced resolution), my original version is too wide for the standard comic book layout so I had to crop out some of the right-hand street scenery
3. and a glance at my Affinity Photo layering panels with Fx filter
4. reference inspiration painting by Behshad Arjomandi
5. the original background image I worked out within Tengr
6. my base John image to merge into the scene, started within Tengr

Imagined DC Comic book cover

raw painted image before converted to a comic book cover

my basic background London before compositing

image that inspired me by Behshad Arjomandi

John Constantine (isolated image)

Affinity Layers Panel

Catwoman Thieving (Jewels for the Taking)

A few Nightcafe images I created of Catwoman collecting some jewelry, which I then cleaned up within Affinity for final posting.

John Constantine (The Trench Coat Magician)

A few Nightcafe and Tengr images I created of John Constantine which I then cleaned up within Affinity for final posting.

John Constantine's Eyes of Fire

My image of John Constantine absorbing a demonic entity was inspired by artist Davidé Fabbri's panel image I saw in Hellblazer #17 (2018).

Davidé Fabbri inspiration

John Constantine Maps Out the London Tube

My image of John Constantine taking a glance at the London subway map was inspired by artist Moritat's panel image I saw in Hellblazer #2 (2016).

John Constantine Plus Cigarette Plus Pentagram Equals Demonic Summoning

John Constantine takes a much-needed smoke break while fiddling with a pentagram in a dark London pub, nothing good can come from this.   My version was inspired by Elena Casagrande's image I saw on Instagram.