Newcastle Crew

The Newcastle Crew is a fictional group of amateur occultists featured in comic books published by DC Comics. They first appeared in Hellblazer #11 in November, 1988.

History
In 1978, former musician John Constantine gathered together several amateur occultists to form what would become informally known as the Newcastle Crew. They learned of a purported demonic possession taking place at the Casanova Club in the borough of Newcastle and sought to lend their services.

The owner of the club, Alex Logue revealed that his daughter Astra had been found thrashing about in the lower dungeons of the club. The occultists quickly determined that a powerful fear elemental had taken possession of her, and they committed themselves towards performing the rites of exorcism. The elemental's presence proved too strong however, and desperate measures were required. John Constantine determined that the only to free Astra's soul was with a more powerful demon. The crew pooled their resources and invoked the spirit of a demon known as Nergal. However, John mis-spoke the words to the incantation, and Nergal was no longer under his control. He ravaged Astra's soul, consigning it to Hell.

Nearly all of the members of the Newcastle Crew escaped from the club, but all of them suffered tremendous trauma for their experiences. Constantine himself was admitted to the Ravenscar mental hospital for over two years. As time went on, the remaining exorcists lost track of one another.

In 1987, another powerful entity known as an Invunche began stalking any and all of Constantine's old acquaintances. It slew Sister Anne-Marie, Frank North, Benjamin Cox and Ritchie Simpson. Not long after these harrowing events, a hunger demon known as Mnemoth caused the death of John's oldest friend, Gary Lester.

To date, John Constantine is the only member of the erstwhile Newcastle Crew still alive.