History: (Hellblazer I #273) - <July, 1979> Gemma was the daughter of Cheryl and Tony Masters. Tony began acting erratically, and Cheryl took one year old Gemma and left the house. She found her brother 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) - John Constantine became a noted magician, and ten year old Gemma had many good memories of her wondrous uncle. Gemma's parents, John's sister 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. 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. She desperately needed her uncle John, and when he arrived at the Masters house she asked if they could go for a walk. John suddenly realized he’d bound his father’s soul to Earth when he cast a spell of slow death in his youth, tying Thomas to a dead cat that was preserved in formaldehyde. John unearthed the cat, and burned it, and he and Gemma said goodbye to Thomas together.

(Hellblazer I #177-180) - Gemma was inconsolable after John disappeared once again, and left home. She was taken by the members of the magician's Tate Club, and handed over to crimelord Domine Fredericks. Fredericks had the Red Sepulchre, but needed a skilled magician to identify it from a group of other stolen mystic items. He sent a tape to John, who was looking for Gemma, showing her with two large goons standing behind her, saying she'd met new friends. Domine met with John, who only agreed to help him because he threatened Gemma's life. John got a chance to talk to Gemma, and she had no idea she was a hostage. She lied to her parents about getting a job in France so she could pursue the family tradition of magic in London, and thought Fredericks wanted her around as a pupil. When John tried to get her to open her eyes she said he couldn't stand the idea of her as competition and ran off. She came to her senses and realized Frederick's had played her, but she was still under his control thanks to a spell. John's friend Clarice Sackville broke the spell, and John identified the Red Sepulchre as a drawstring that served as the holy knot used to kill men for Kali. John had one of Frederick's men pick it up, and he was possessed by Kali, killing Fredericks and all his men. John dispelled the goddess, burned the rope, and the whole mess was over, although Gemma still hated her uncle.

(Hellblazer I #187, 188) - Gemma refused to return home, seeing it as a sign of defeat, and lodged in a fleabag flat. The flat was full of prostitutes, and Gemma was swept up in a sting. After making some small talk with working girl Delilah she was bailed out by the magician Ghant, who needed her help, but refused to give her details. He knew she was desperate for money, so she needed him. They drove to a town near the island of Gruinard, where no locals ever tred. Ghant went to meet his ally Roger Bentham, and Gemma read his diary, learning that he, Roger and uncle John were on Gruinard in 1984 investigating murders caused by the children of a vampire and a succubus. Roger had shot one of the children before Ghant and John bound them to the island with astragalomancy, bone magic. Ghant used a spell to de-age her, because the children only preyed on adults, and sent her to dig up some bone fragments he needed for his bone abacus. Gemma met the children, who were starving and horrified by their own existence, which demanded preying on others. They had been preying on their oldest members once they'd hit puberty. Gemma dug up the bones, and knew that she could take the sheep bone from Ghant's abacus to free them, so after a struggle she made him drop it. The freed children killed Roger, but Ghant escaped. They told Gemma they were leaving for their mother's home, but if she ever needed them they'd come. She wondered if uncle John would be proud of her.

(Hellblazer I #274, 275) - John set the wedding date for his marriage to Epiphany, and sent Gemma an invitation. Gemma talked to her psychologist, happy that she'd finally rid herself of her interests in the occult, and he advised against her going to the wedding. Gemma struggled with the decision, but eventually decided to go. The Demon Constantine took John's place at the wedding, and although Gemma clearly knew something was wrong she couldn't put her finger on it. She went to the restroom after the ceremony to calm down, and was cornered by the Demon Constantine, who raped her. She fled the scene, and was determined to make John pay, not knowing it was his doppelganger who assaulted her.

(Hellblazer I #277-279) - Gemma considered suicide, but decided she needed to live to make Constantine poay. She visited Tamsin and her coven of witches, anking them to summon a creature to hurt John like she thought he'd hurt her. Tamsin said she should hurt Epiphany too, in order to really torture John. Gemma found Epiphany at home, and after slugging her she stole John's trenchcoat. Tamsin took lint from the pockets, but said the trenchcoat itself was too powerful a totem. Gemma considered burning it, but decided to sell it on the internet to someone who'd mistreat it. Tamsin helped her summon her demon, and then abandoned Gemma to deal with it herself. Gemma called John, telling him she was in trouble.

(Hellblazer I #280, 281) - John told Gemma not to make any deals with the demon, and was on his way. Gemma remembered how John comforted her when she was young, how he told her Constantines weren't afraid of monsters. The demon asked if she'd like to be blood sisters, and threatened her, but she ordered it to stop. John arrived, and Gemma tried to hit him with a brick. He disarmed her, and she was angered that he had no idea why she wanted to harm him. The demon attacked John, and Gemma left him to his fate. She blamed her failings in life on trying to be like her uncle, and felt pleased that she was back to feeling like a Masters. John tried to talk down the demon, claiming he could get Nergal to mentor her. She said she hated Nergal, and thought John did not live up to his reputation. John felt real terror at the idea of dying and not seeing Epiphany again, and used a Persian binding spell to put the demon between life and death. Gemma went to Epiphany and told her everything she'd done, and why. Epiphany revealed to her that it was the Demon Constantine that assaulted her, not her uncle, and after Epiphany cooked up an elixir of putrescence using the last distillation of Lady Lazarus they went to help John. The elixir caused the demon to grow ill, and John choked it to death with Tom Mott's thumb. Epiphany told John why Gemma thought he'd destroyed her life. He tried to embrace her, but she pushed him off, still blaming him for allowing the Demon Constantine at his wedding.

(Hellblazer I #283) - Tamsin tracked down Gemma, demanding she join her coven for the services she'd provided. She told Gemma she had to commit murder as an initiation rite, and Gemma called her crazy, running away. Gemma explained to John that she'd auctioned off his trenchcoat and still didn't want to see him, telling him he could have saved her mother's life if he'd tried. Tamsin continued to torment Gemma, running her over with a car, and she considered to go to her uncle for help, but decided against it.

(Hellblazer I #284) - Tamsin left an address and a knife for Gemma, who was finding the pressure of the coven unbearable. The address that of Tasmin's grandfather, and Gemma slashed the old man's hand with the knife, but couldn't bring herself to harm him further. She ran away, and encountered Epiphany, who quickly disarmed her. Gemma revealed her fear of the coven, but Epiphany said she wasn't raising a finger to help until Gemma aided her getting John's trenchcoat back, because its' loss had led to John being unable to control his magic.

(Hellblazer I #285) - John met up with Epiphany and Gemma, and got caught up on Gemma's problem. John put a protective ward around her in his flat, and she said Tamsin used the Book of Demons, which John was familiar with, but was last seen with Marc Bolan in the '70s. Constantine talked to Rick, a record producer he used to know, and convinced him to tell him what Bolan had done with the book by smashing one of Rick's prized guitars that once belonged to Jimi Hendrix. The book had been sold to Donald Wembley, and John found him dead at home. He briefly revived Wembley, who told him Tamsin was his granddaughter, and the mentally ill girl had summoned a demon that'd killed him. Tamsin sent a demon after Epiphany and Gemma, but the ward did its' job, even though they were scared witless.

Comments: Created by Jamie Delano & John Ridgway.

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