Ian Rankin enters the dark side

Scottish crime megaseller, creator of John Rebus, Ian Rankin will both surprise and delight his fans with his latest project. Rankin has penned a John Constantine script for Vertigo comics new imprint, Vertigo Crime.

Vertigo Crime will release hard cover graphic novels in a black and white format written by some of the biggest names in both comics and crime writing.

Rankin, a long time comics fan, has recast John Constantine as a kind of London based Phillip Marlowe but the story contains all the demonic mayhem that fans of Constantine have come to expect. The author himself describes it as a satire of the media culture - the story is set on a reality TV show that Constantine has become involved in. Once scene even features a demon getting a blow job while watching TV - 'I wasn't sure Vertigo would let me keep that in the story." Rankin told Judge Dredd Magazine.

"Getting Ian Rankin and John Contantine together for the launch was a deliberate decision.' Executive editor Karan Berger said. "The book will say 'a John Constantine mystery' on the cover and have the Ian Rankin name in a large font. We're trying to reach out to people who don't usually read comics with the line."



Rebus doesn’t appear in Dark Entries. Ian Rankin has tackled a similarly cynical,wisecracking character here, one familiar to fans of the comic - The chain-smoking detective who dabbles in the occult, John Constantine. The plot involves Constantine hired by the producers of a hit reality show called Haunted Mansions because the set appears to be, well, haunted.

Newsrama has an interview with Executive editor, Karan Berger HERE