R.I.P. Hellblazer the Trailblazer

It's been a while, hasn't it?
The importance of this blog hasn't really been overt to me in quite a few months, it's sad that I haven't given as much attention to writing things down for the public arena, but also kind of great that life has marched on, helped me grow, given me a chance to reflect on my priorities, and allowed me to understand the importance of why I write, who I write for and what I want out of writing a piece of fiction.
The catalyst for returning really has to be The "death" of John Constantine, or at least the wrapping up of the series. He we have a momentous pop icon of a character, with a unique, almost uncannily real set of emotions, traits and experiences (up to a point anyway, but I'll get to that later). The book went on for 25 years, with the character ageing for every one of them. Sure the stories might have lagged at the end, with continuity taking centre stage over topical, scathing, paradigm shifting stories that cut to the heart of society. I just don't give a fuck about Constantine's bastard son or the latest monster of the week, you know?
I guess it was a little naive of me to assume that all of those bloody damn well written stories would be around forever, or at least long enough for me to get a shot at writing the old bastard before he passed on. Such is life though, you don't appreciate the good stuff 'til it's dead.
This all mean's that the Hellblazer continuity is all spelled out. Done-skies. Any story I do with him now won't be dated by any more canon from the published series. And that makes me a little depressed. There's something so rewarding, and challenging and dynamic about working within a world that could discount your every word immediately after you write it. I won't have that with a character I respect so much ever again, I expect.
The "death" of the anarchic, foul mouthed bastardry of Constantine, also speaks to me personally. My Dad's from the same generation (at the back end though), of the cynical, contemptuous of authority, smart mouthed, guts or glory, blue-collar punks. And this phasing out of Constantine's character strikes a chord with how I see that generation. They started of proud, did as much good as they could, and now after being unceremoniously forgotten, they're being phased out for a bland photocopy that doesn't have jack shit on them.
So, I'm not necessarily going to write nothing but Hellblazer stories, but I want to continue to uphold and fight for the spirit that the character represented: The secret to writing a good story, is any cunt can do it.
P.s. I also want to say that the recent death of Damian Wayne AKA Robin is another character that's affected me recently, however, I see the necessity and gravity of his death is appropriate to the story, a damn good one that i hope will illustrate some hard truths about Batman and his mythos. Plus, at least THIS character is sure to come back at some point.