Executioners are always volunteers. They do it because they want to. 
Hellblazer #30 is an issue of the series Hellblazer (Volume 1) with a cover date of June, 1990.
Synopsis for "Fatality"
Early in the morning, the Family Man does 100 sit-ups before he goes out to murder John Constantine.
Meanwhile, John is taking advantage of his friend Chas' cousin Nora's services as a prostitute, feeling that he needed one last hurrah before facing death. By the time they are done, it is already five o'clock, and he quickly gets dressed, paying Norma her £100, and ordering her not to open her door for anyone for the next hour.
Sneaking out, John waits near the train tracks with a view of the street; waiting for the Family Man to arrive. When the Family Man steps out of his cab and hides in the bushes across the street from Nora's, John trains his revolver on him. The finality and suddenness of killing someone with a gun upsets John, and he feels uncomfortable at how little he seems to feel about the fact that he plans to take another life. Eventually, he gives in, and decides that he would rather know why the Family Man has killed all of the families he did than end his life abruptly. It needs to be more personal.
John returns to Nora's through the back, and comes out the front as his quarry expects. The Family Man knows that John will be taking the Victoria Station bus at 7AM, to go to Liverpool for his father's funeral. He is surprised when John wanders onto a construction site instead of taking the fastest route to the station. He realizes that John wants to be followed, and considers his options for killing his prey using the tools at his disposal. He is no fool, however, and he knows that something is up. He decides to let John catch his bus.
John, meanwhile, realizes that he's lost track of the Family Man, and thereby lost the upper hand. He now knows that the killer could come at any moment, from anywhere. Sticking to the streets and crowds, John takes the tube to Victoria Station. The killer gets there first, and heads into the men's room. As John walks by, the Family Man watches, having disguised himself with a beard. John attaches himself to a group of rowdy Liverpudlian football fans, and gets onto the bus. The bearded man follows.
John feels as though his fate has been sealed as a killer since the moment he bought the gun. He regrets it, and he can feel the Family Man's presence following him, as if attracted by the weapon.
Suddenly, one of the tires on the bus blows out, and the vehicle is forced to pull over for a while. John finds that he has to use the toilet, but he can't be bothered to walk across the lot to get to it, and decides to relieve himself on the blind side of the bus.
Suddenly, the bearded man approaches, revealing his blade, and slashing John's face. John rips off the beard to reveal the Family Man, and begins to run away, along the nearby train tracks. Suddenly, John turns and points his revolver at the man, demanding to know why the killer kills. Incredulously, the killer mocks John's hesitancy, claiming that he can't pull the trigger. Determined, but terrified, John fires the weapon.
The bullet merely grazes the killer's head, and he begins to see his life flashing before his eyes. Years ago, Samuel Morris' dog Samson had been dying, and his father had put it out of its misery. In order to spur manly behaviour in his son, Mr. Morris had made Samuel bury the dog himself.
Morris dares John to shoot him again; to finish the job. John's hesitancy proves that he is no killer - not in the same way that Morris is. Angrily, the man lunges at John with his knife.
Another memory of his mother Fleur Morris preparing to go out with his father. She assured him that they loved him, but that he needed to get used to staying home without them - and without Samson as company. His father was more harsh, and Samuel was embittered.
The Family Man challenges John to finish the job, if only to get the answer to the secret. He remembers his mother saying that while Samson's death was a shock to them all, he would get over it. She promised to be home by twelve at the latest. They had not come back by then. They were not back until four. By that point, he had already made his peace, and resigned himself to a life without them. Soon, he would bring their lives to their ends.
The man growls that John will have to kill him to find out why he killed all of those families. John lowers his gun, and sighs that he can't do it. Samuel Morris reaches up, grabbing John's hands, claiming that he doesn't want to see what happens next in his memories, and forces John to pull the trigger.
John is so disgusted by what he did that he vomits. He is taken aback by how little the world reacts to the death of one man at the hands of another. He wants to confess; to excuse himself. But there's no excuse. He drags the body into the open and leaves it there with the invitation to the serial killer's convention as evidence of his identity.
Appearing in "Fatality"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Norma
Antagonists:
- Family Man (Dies)
Other Characters:
- Fleur Morris (Flashback only)
Locations:
- England
- London
- Peckham
- Peckham Rye Station
- Westminster
- Victoria Station
- Peckham
- London
Items:
Vehicles:
See Also