Cheryl Masters

CHERYL MASTERS

Real Name: Cheryl Masters (nee Constantine)

Class: Human

Occupation: Housewife

Group Affiliation: formerly Resurrection Crusade

Known Relatives: Dolly (aunt), Harry (uncle), Alice Constantine (grandmother), Epiphany Constantine (sister-in-law), Harry Constantine (ancestor, deceased), James Constantine (ancestor, deceased), Jean Constantine (aunt), John Constantine (brother), Lady Johanna Constantine (ancestor, deceased), Mary Anne Constantine (mother, deceased), Roy Constantine (uncle), Thomas Constantine (father, deceased), William Constantine (grandfather), Pyotr Konstantin (great-great-great-great-grand-uncle, deceased), Kon-Sten-Tyn (ancestor, deceased), Gemma Masters (daughter), Tony Masters (husband), Aloysius Quinn (ancestor)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Liverpool, England

First Appearance: Hellblazer I #4 (April, 1988)

Powers: None.

History: (Hellblazer I #13 (fb)) - Cheryl and her brother John spent their summers as children at their aunt Beatty’s beachfront home, accompanied by their father. Those magical summers of exploration were some of John’s only happy childhood memories.

(Hellblazer I #35 (fb)) - Thomas Constantine was sent to prison for nicking women’s knickers, so Cheryl and John were sent to live with their aunt Dolly and uncle Harry. Cheryl met a boy named Ron she was enamored with, and when the grown-ups were out she convinced John to get lost so she could have the boy over. After Ron left, but before John returned, Cheryl told her uncle John left without permission, and he was thrashed when he arrived home. Cheryl apologized to John, saying she was worried Harry had unnatural interests in her. John made her run off by saying he’d claim she did things with Ron for money, and when she said she hated him, he replied that everyone did.

(Hellblazer I #4 (fb, BTS)) - John Constantine grew up to be an infamous magician. She married her beau Tony Masters, and gave birth to a daughter, Gemma.

(Hellblazer I #273) - <July, 1979> Tony began acting erratically, and Cheryl took one year old Gemma and left the house. She found John, and asked to stay with him for a few nights. He said he had other things going on, and offered her some money, infuriating her. John's friend Epiphany told John he had to help family, and he told her to butt out. Cheryl told Epiphany that she'd better watch herself around John, because he had a track record of letting down people who cared about him.

(Hellblazer I #4) - Cheryl and Tony joined the fundamentalist Resurrection Crusade, who convinced them that their lives were sinful, and made them move to Liverpool. Tony was completely obsessed, and Gemma felt neglected. She also thought it was unfair that she had to leave her old home, full of memories, and her friends behind. She stayed out late one night and met three girls who told her they could do whatever they wanted because they were the child brides of the Man. They convinced her how wonderful it would be to be married and have no rules, and lured her back to the Man's cabin in the woods. Cheryl was worried about her daughter staying out late, and Tony called the Crusade, who blamed anything bad that happened to her on her sins. Cheryl was infuriated and struck a Crusade member, but Tony assured her they were right. Gemma noticed that they all had ligature marks around their necks, and they assured her it was just part of the wedding rite. In truth the Man was part of the Damnation Army, and killed his brides, confining their spirits to his home. The Man had Gemma dress up in a bridal dress, and prepared to garrote her. Fortunately she'd been reported missing, and Constantine rescued her in the nick of time. Gemma had a tearful reunion with her mother, and Tony and the Crusade burned the Man's house to the ground.

(Hellblazer I #31) - Cheryl’s father, and Gemma’s grandfather Thomas was murdered by the serial killer the Family Man, and the Masters family prepared for the funeral. Cheryl was stressed enough to self-medicate to get to sleep, and Gemma was haunted by her grandfather, who visited her in the middle of the night and sat at the edge of her bed, refusing to leave. Gemma tried to talk to her parents, but Tony thought she needed serious psychiatric help, and Cheryl thought she was disturbed because her grandfather abused her, even though Gemma vehemently denied the claim. Gemma realized she was stressing out her already frayed parents, so she dropped the subject. The Masters attended the funeral, and Gemma hoped Thomas would leave the waking world, but he continued to haunt her after her cremation. John visited the Masters, and Cheryl told him about Gemma’s “nightmares.” She admitted that Tony wasn’t helping, he’d been despondent ever since the Resurrection Crusade crumbled. John talked to Gemma, and helped her solve her ghost problem.

(Hellblazer I #44) - John was trying to save his soul from the First of the Fallen, and he knew he might be doomed, so he spent some time with Cheryl. Cheryl told him Gemma needed her uncle, and John quipped that it was because her father was high on valium all the time. He told her he had to leave forever, and she realized it was the magic he was always involved in that was to blame. She scolded him for his life choices, but she was heartbroken. He told her magic was garbage, and that he needed her to say goodbye to Gemma for him because he was a coward.

(Hellblazer I #175, 176) - John returned to England, and visited Cheryl at her new flat in Elster Tower, where one of the residents had just hung himself. Cheryl hit him for letting her think he was dead again, and not contacting her for 18 months. She said Gemma was inconsolable when John stopped coming around, and moved to France. They caught up, and John later went to a diner where he met waitress Angie Spatchcock, who dabbled in magic. He shared his worry about Elster being a beacon of evil. She recommended he look at the Council's list of residents, and said she'd do her own snooping. John visited new resident Gladys Wren, who had mystic symbols on her door. Her son Nigel chased him away, but John knew something was up. He had dinner with Cheryl and Tony, who blamed John for Cheryl's new dependence on alcohol and pills. Cheryl was getting sick of both of them, and just wished Gemma would get in touch with her soon. After a heated argument they were on their way home when they found Spatchcock on their front lawn, slashed by hooligans. John, Cheryl and Tony took her to the hospital, and John learned that her wounds matched those from a number of unsolved murders committed by the "Striptease Killer." John realized the killer was actually Gladys and her family, who were using magic to relive the memories of the dead girls. He told Cheryl he was taking care of it, and told her to tell her husband he'd be taking his leave of them.

Comments: Created by Jamie Delano & John Ridgway.