''Heartland'' is a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

published by the

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

in March 1997. It was written by

Garth Ennis Garth Ennis (born January 16, 1970) is a Northern Irish–American comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series ''Preacher'' with artist Steve Dillon, his nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise, and '' The Boys'' with artist Dari ...

and illustrated by

Steve Dillon Steve Dillon (22 March 1962 – 22 October 2016) was a British comic book artist, best known for his work with writer Garth Ennis on ''Hellblazer'', ''Preacher'' and ''The Punisher''. Early life Dillon was born in London in 1962 and raised i ...

. It is a spin-off from the ''

Hellblazer ''John Constantine, Hellblazer'' is an American contemporary Horror fiction, horror comic-book series published by DC Comics since January 1988, and subsequently by its Vertigo Comics, Vertigo imprint since March 1993, when the imprint was introd ...

'' comic book series, and features the character of Kit Ryan, a longtime supporting character in that series. Although ''Heartland'' is technically a spin-off of ''Hellblazer'', the central character of that series,

John Constantine John Constantine () is a fictional character who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Constantine first appeared in ''Swamp Thing'' #37 (June 1985), and was created by Alan Moore, Stephen R. Bissette, Rick Veitch, and John ...

, makes no appearance.

Plot

Kit Ryan is a girl from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

who was once romantically linked with the sorcerer and "occult detective"

. In the aftermath of her breakup with Constantine, and upon hearing that her father has died, Kit returns home to

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

. It is soon revealed that her father had been an alcoholic who was both physically and mentally abusive, and whose passing has stirred up a host of family dramas into which Kit finds herself thrust once more. When the boyfriend of Kit's sister Bernadette makes an unsubtle pass at Kit, even more sibling rivalry and

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

-esque tensions come to the surface. Although a ''

'' spin-off, there is no hint of magic or the occult in ''Heartland''. These minor but comparatively realistic family dramas are played out against the background of regular city life in 1990s Belfast.

Other version

''Heartland'' was also the title of the story published in issue #70 of the ''

'' comic, again written by Garth Ennis with art by Steve Dillon. Like the later one-shot, the story features Kit Ryan, returning home to Northern Ireland after her break-up with John Constantine. As such, it serves as something of a prequel to the later ''Heartland'' one-shot. The issue was published in collected form in the ''Tainted Love'' collection.

Collected editions

''Heartland'' is collected along with issues 78 to 83 of ''

'' as ''Rake at the Gates of Hell'' ().

Awards

''Heartland'' was nominated for the 1997

Haxtur Award The Haxtur Award (''Premios Haxtur'') is a Spanish award for comics published in Spain. It is awarded annually at the Salón Internacional del Cómic del Principado de Asturias (International Comics Convention of the Principality of Asturias). It ...

for "Best Short Comic Strip".

Notes

References

''Heartland''
at the

Big Comic Book DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated featu ...

* * {{Garth Ennis 1997 comics debuts Fantasy comics Hellblazer