Hellblazer #243

Rome sets the stage for Andy Diggle's opening chapter, "The Mortification of the Flesh," as a haggard John Constantine — trench coat, loosened tie, and all — stares out from beneath the imposing silhouette of a black-clad priest bearing a rosary and cross. Lee Bermejo's cover bathes the whole scene in deep crimson, with St. Peter's Basilica and Roman landmarks rising ominously in the background alongside scattered skulls and crosses. It's a quietly unsettling image that promises Constantine well out of his comfort zone and squarely in the shadow of the Church.