10 DC Graphic Novels You Must Read Before You Die

5. Hellblazer: Original Sins

John Constantine is probably the coolest British comics characters out there. A bisexual scouser with a penchant for the occult, the character was originally introduced in Alan Moore's seminal Swamp Thing series in 1984, but later found renewal in a comic of his own four years later.

Dubbed the Hellblazer, Jamie Delano's opening three years on the book are some of the best DC have ever had. Politically charged, witty and atmospheric above all else, Delano's story of an occult antihero pushing against supernatural forces is as timeless as it is classic - a centrepiece to the British Invasion as much as it is a hallmark of DC's Vertigo imprint.

It's just brilliant all around, and conveys in no small way just how pivotal a character he was during the late eighties.

Subsequent writers would take on the character, including industry bigwigs like Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis and fellow Liverpudlian Mike Carey, but Delano's stint on the book is certainly the most iconic Hellblazer we've ever gotten (just don't tell that to Keanu).