Hellblazer: The Devil's confession - Part 1

[alicemacher]

Trigger warning for suicide. As well, the post mentions, but doesn't include scans of, attempted sexual assault.



Six pages of 45 from Hellblazer Special: Confessional (1993).

John Constantine spots a man, Phillip Tolly, who had atttempted to molest him in 1969 when John was a runaway teenage hitchhiker. He follows Tolly into a church, intending to get his revenge. Instead Tolly, who also recognizes John, offers to tell him "everything," because he knows God isn't listening. Constantine agrees to listen.


Tolly says that back in the sixties he was a priest who'd become increasingly bitter over young people deserting the Church for sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. So bitter that he started betraying the trust of the few youths who came to him for confession, telling their parents or the police what they'd done. The last straw was when a girl confessed she'd gotten so wasted at an orgy that she'd slept with her brother. Tolly snapped and began to beat her, only for the First of the Fallen to drop by.

After the girl escaped, the First revealed his identity to Tolly. He then had the frightened priest admit that several of the teenagers whose confidence he'd betrayed had come to harm of some sort. Worst of all was a boy who attempted suicide in prison but, as the Devil himself then informed him, had survived but was now permanently on life support.











Tolly, now completely mad, trashed the church and set it on fire, then spent the next few years wandering England and blissfully "saving" teenagers by killing them. However, his attempt to molest (and presumably afterward kill) John resulted in a severe wound to the face and incarceration in a mental hospital for nearly twenty-five years.











"...I'll hear the Devil's confession too."

So, does he? Let's find out...next time!

Comments

[nyadnar17]

I don't get why he killed himself. I mean even if he believed what the First told him wouldn't dying and going to the afterlife be the absolute worst thing that could happen to him?

[alicemacher]

That's a good question. I've thought about this and here's what I think may have been his reason:

Tolly figured he'd have to die and end up in Hell sometime. Plus, although he was now sane, he still felt his loss of faith, and distance from God, as keenly as ever. And because he was sane again, he could no longer lose himself in murder and sex-crime sprees. There was only one person left he felt he could destroy.

[md84]

That's what I took from the scene too. The First of the Fallen took away the madness that kept Tolly's despair at bay.

[bruinsfan]

I gather that the confession convinced him that life is meaningless and there's no salvation for anyone. Note the accusatory ranting directed at the image of Jesus.