Name : Gemma Masters
First Appearance : Hellblazer #4, Waiting For The Man
Last Appearance : Hellblazer #180, Red Sepulchre
Who is she ?
Born to Cheryl and Tony Masters in 1978, Gemma Masters has the (un)fortunate distinction of being John
Constantine's only niece. Whereas her mother has so far managed to remain relatively unscathed by the
magical weirdness that her family line tends to attract, Gemma has been rather less fortunate.
Having said that, Gemma's first encounter with the world of the occult was very
much a family affair. After Tony joined the Resurrection Crusade (a religious cult aligned with the forces
of heaven) , the Master's family moved to Liverpool. It was here that a lonely Gemma, struggling to come
to terms with her father's new found religious streak, almost fell victim to The Man, an agent of the
Resurrection Crusade's mortal enemies, the Damnation Army. The timely arrival of her uncle saved Gemma
from a grizzly death by strangulation. (#4)
Shortly after her grandfather's death at the hands of the Family Man, Gemma once again found her life
taking an unexpeted turn for the strange. Thanks to a curse placed on him by a young John Constantine,
her dead grandfather's soul was bound to the remains of a dead cat preserved in formaldehyde and thus
unable to pass on from this world to the next. So it was that Gemma found herself being haunted by her
grandfather's ghost. When Gemma turns to her uncle for help, John remembers the curse he placed on his
father so many years before and quickly sets about undoing it, freeing his niece from the unwanted
attentions of her grandfather's ghost. (#31)
After a close friend stole her boyfriend, Gemma took her first conscious steps into the world of magic.
When her mother discovers a wooden board marked with strange sigils in Gemma's room, complete with a
photograph of the friend who stole Gemma's boyfriend with nails through it, she immediately suspects John
of getting his niece involved in the occult. Constantine is actually horrified to learn that his niece has
become involved in the world of magic and quickly sets about putting the person responsible firmly in his place.
Kit Ryan, John's girlfriend at the time, explained the less than appealing side of magic to Gemma and convinced
her that there were better ways of solving her problems than choosing to walk down the same dark path that her uncle
had chosen to follow. (#62)
With his life falling apart around him (during
the course of the How To Play With Fire story
arc), John found himself being stonewalled by his sister who refused to meet or even speak with
him on the phone. Gemma tracks down her uncle and explains that her family have all been plagued with nightmares of the
dead Thomas Constantine blaming John for his being condemned to hell. A tearful Gemma suggests
that Constantine should keep his distance for now. (#126).
After hitting her early twenties, Gemma proved to be more Constantine than Masters when she found
herself being bitten by the proverbial “magic” bug. Eager to follow in the footsteps of her Uncle John, she
tricked her parents into believing that she was in France working as a teaching assistant when in reality she
was in London, trying to induct herself in the world of the magi. Gemma fell under the sway of a
powerful figure in the English magic scene, Domine Fredericks, who convinced her that she was magically
adept but in need of training to reach her true potential.
Fredericks actually intended to use Gemma to help him find the Red Sepulchre, a magical weapon with ties
to the Constantine clan, but when she proved to be rather ineffectual in his search for same, he used her as a
hostage to manipulate her uncle John. Constantine, with the aid of Map and Clarice, later managed to
outwit Domine and rescue his niece. (#177, #179)
Gemma and John did not part on good terms. (#180)
Related Links
Hellblazer #4 - Gemma Masters first appearance.
Hellblazer #31 - Tormented by the ghost of her dead grandfather, Gemma turns to her uncle John for help.
Hellblazer #62 - Unlucky in love, Gemma's efforts at revenge lead to an angry confrontation between her mother and uncle.
Hellblazer #126 - Thomas Constantine haunts the dreams of his surviving relatives, cutting John off from his family.
Hellblazer #177 - John receives a video that shows his niece in some ugly company.
Hellblazer #179 - Gemma refuses to heed her uncle's warning about her new found friends and the pair exchange harsh words.
Hellblazer #180 - Constantine's warnings prove well founded as Gemma finds herself at the mercy of the man she thought her mentor.
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Gemma Masters at the mercy of The Man.
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A young Gemma is haunted by the spirit of her dead grandfather.
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Kit Ryan sets Gemma straight.
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Wonder where she got that habit from.
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A family business ?
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