"Shoot" is a controversial comic that was scheduled to appear in the 141st issue of the American horrorcomic bookHellblazer in 1999, published by DC Comics under their Vertigoimprint. Written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, "Shoot" follows a female researcher who searches for the cause of school shootings; she eventually discovers that John Constantine, the protagonist of Hellblazer, was present at several massacres. Ellis wrote the story after he finished the six-part storyline "Haunted", his first Hellblazer story arc. The story was acclaimed by Vertigo's staff, who began to prepare for its publication. However, the Columbine High School massacre occurred shortly before "Shoot" was planned to release, and DC's executive Paul Levitz learned of the story. Enraged, he refused to publish "Shoot" as it was written and demanded that the story be altered; Ellis refused, which led to the story's cancellation. Ellis was intended to become a regular writer for Hellblazer, but quit the title after the "Shoot" debacle. The story was leaked online in 2000 but was not officially published until October 2010, as part of the special Vertigo Resurrected #1. "Shoot" has been reviewed very favourably; journalists praised its message and felt that DC made a mistake in cancelling it.
Creation and cancellation
After Paul Jenkins finished his four-year run onHellblazer in December 1998, DC Comics chose Warren Ellis as Jenkins' successor. Ellis began his run on the title with "Haunted", a six-issue story arc that followed John Constantine as he searches for the person who murdered his friend. "Haunted" was more political than previous Hellblazer stories, and Ellis's outlook was to show the flaws in English society as the 20th century came to a close. This intent led him to begin writing "Shoot", which would explore the phenomenon of school shootings and why they happen. The story was illustrated by Phil Jimenez. After the tale was finished, Ellis presented it to the Vertigo staff, who reacted very enthusiastically; according to Ellis, "The PR-person at the time went crazy over it". The team wanted the story to reach as many people as possible, and felt so strongly about it that they began to prepare photocopied versions of the story to send to media organizations. However, in April 1999, between two and three weeks before it was intended to appear in issue #141 of Hellblazer, Eric Harris and Dylan Kleboldkilled thirteen people at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado. In the wake of the massacre, DC's publisher Paul Levitz learned of the story, and "hit the roof". Levitz refused to publish "Shoot" in its original form, reasoning that the story's subject matter was too disturbing in light of the Columbine massacre. Ellis and Vertigo's head Karen Berger pushed for the story to still be published as it was written, but after weeks of heated arguments and negotiations, were unsuccessful. Ellis compared Levitz's requested edits to that of an episode of Scooby-Doo, and told DC to either publish the story in its original form or publish it edited without Ellis's name on it. "Shoot" was cancelled as a result, and Ellis was so enraged he resigned from writing Hellblazer.
Plot and analysis
A female researcher named Penny Carnes is looking for patterns among an increasing amount of mass shootings involving children, and is planning to present her findings to a Senate subcommittee. She does not get very far, constantly going in circles and is mentally exhausted. However, she notices that, in much of the photos and video footage of the incidents, John Constantine is present. She is soon visited by Constantine himself, who tells her that she does not have the "faintest fucking idea" at what she sees in the incidents and that the shooters, and those they killed, are victims of society and culture. According to Adam Smith of Bleeding Cool, in the story, Ellis uses Constantine to represent the perspective of an outsider who "is willing and able to forcefully confront the American public with the hard truth" that everyone involved in a shooting is equally responsible. Chad Nevett of Comic Book Resources observed that "Shoot" is "less of a story and more of a rant". To him, the character of Penny represents a foolish person who believes there is a "magic ingredient" that will solve the problem of school shootings, and Constantine serves to ruin that notion and prove there is no easy answer to the epidemic.
Aftermath
Ellis was supposed to become a full-time writer on Hellblazer, but his tenure was cut short by his resignation. The published version of issue #141 featured "The Crib" instead of "Shoot", and the remainder of Ellis's run was filled with single-issue stories, later collected as Setting Sun. Darko Macan filled in for a couple of issues after Ellis' departure, followed by Brian Azzarello. A black-and-white JPEG version of "Shoot" was leaked online in August 2000, to a favourable response. The story remained officially unpublished until 20 October 2010, when it was officially released as part of the 96-page anthology Vertigo Resurrected #1. Released as part of an initiative started by DC to revive material long out of print, the version of "Shoot" included in Vertigo Resurrected features colouring done by James Sinclair. When he learned that the story was finally being published, Ellis was surprised, saying it "never occurred to " that DC would change its stance about the story, despite Levitz's departure. A collected edition was published in 2014, featuring "Shoot" and five other Hellblazer stories.
Reception
Since its publication, "Shoot" has received praise from comic book journalists. Smith praised Ellis' use of Constantine as someone who is not afraid to confront the hard truths of society, and called putting the story in Hellblazer "pure genius". He gave it a perfect score, feeling DC's decision to not publish it was a mistake and that its message was still relevant in the modern day. Nevett called its conclusion powerful and unsettling, and considered it the main selling point of Vertigo Resurrected. Nevett wrote that, although it had been available online for years, reading "Shoot" in print was a more satisfying experience, particularly for its art. Writing for ComicsAlliance, John R. Parker criticised the decision to cancel "Shoot", saying that, not only was it written well before the Columbine massacre, but it would have been "the perfect time to have something that dealt with ".
