4. John Constantine
Constantine’s return to the main DC universe in 2012 was patchy to say the least. Fans more used to the grittier, more matured Hellblazer series by Vertigo were aghast at how watered down the character became as DC sought to “superhero-fy” the character, making him the leader of the (still) awkwardly named Justice League Dark, turning him into a lovesick puppy in love with Zatanna, and even going so far as to put him in Shazam’s spandex suit for a couple of pages.
2014 was a better year for the erstwhile conman magician though. He got his own TV show, with Matt Ryan playing a much more convincing version of the character than Keanu Reeves ever did. In the comics, he played a pivotal part in Forever Evil by thwarting the Crime Society’s magicians from using world’s magicians as a battery of magic, though he eventually lost control of the JLD and the House of Mystery.
His solo series saw him in better form though, as he battled the Cult of The Cold Flame and came face to face with his Earth 2 counterpart. His best moment though? Planting a subliminal twitch in Sargon the sorceress while they were having sex. As Constantine himself says, “Shagging Sargon was strictly tactical, yeah?”.
