Kit Ryan

Kit Ryan

Aliases

Kit, Kathy (to her siblings)

Species

Human

Country

Northern Ireland

Occupation

Artist

Abilities and skills

Talented artist, handy in a fight

Lovers

John Constantine, Brendan Finn

Family

Paul Ryan (father, deceased), Concepta Ryan (mother, deceased), Ann (elder sister), Sean (brother-in-law; Ann's husband), Peter Ryan (younger brother), Claire Ryan (younger sister), Bernadette Ryan (youngest sister)

Relationship to John

Ex-girlfriend

Affiliation

Status

Alive

Creators

Garth Ennis (w), Will Simpson (a)

First appearance

Hellblazer issue 42 (1991)

Last appearance

Hellblazer issue 275 (2011)

Kathryn "Kit" Ryan (born 1962) is a Belfast-born artist who became one of John Constantine's most notable girlfriends. Her first appearance was in Hellblazer issue 42 as a picture in a photograph; she first appeared in person in issue 46.

Appearance and personality

Kit is a beautiful woman with black hair (usually coloured grey for visibility on the page and sometimes shown to be light brown suggesting she sometimes colours it), a good sense of humour and a very sharp tongue. She is generally shown to be the kind of person who won't take nonsense from anyone and her relationships with both Constantine and previous boyfriend Brendan Finn show her taking the piss out of them frequently. She was shown to be patient with both of them despite their foibles, but is too self-respecting to let people push her around and will retort with sharp words or outright violence if she feels that she is being mistreated or even threatened.

Despite dating John and Brendan, and occasionally dabbling in tarot cards, Kit sees right through the glamour and mystique of the occult and knows exactly how high the price can be for those who experiment with it. Consequently she refuses to have anything to do with it - a condition that would ultimately cause her and Constantine to split up.

Fictional biography

Kit first met John in 1980 at the house of then-boyfriend Brendan Finn, when she was just 18. John developed a crush on her almost immediately and even began to develop feelings of love for her over the years, but never made a move because he respected both her and Brendan too much. (Hellblazer issue 75, 1994)

John's last encounter with Kit was in 1983. They met again in eight years later, in 1991, after Brendan had died and John had managed to trick The First of the Fallen into curing his lung cancer. They immediately reconnected and soon slipped into a relationship that became official on Christmas Eve. (Hellblazer issue 46-Hellblazer issue 49, 1991-1992)

Eventually the pair decided to move in together, though Kit made John promise that he would leave all the dangerous stuff that surrounds him outside their front door. (Hellblazer issue 52, 1992)

After John's niece, Gemma Masters, began dabbling in the occult Kit and John staged a miniature intervention. John scared off the boy who'd gotten Gemma into the scene while Kit explained to her just how dangerous the occult could be. (Hellblazer issue 62, 1993)

Unfortunately, despite his best efforts John was unable to stop the more dangerous elements of his life reaching out towards Kit. In July 1993, after John crossed white supremacist Charlie Patterson, Kit became a target for Charlie's goons. Attacked in her own kitchen, she was able to defend herself by clawing one attacker's face and stabbing another in the groin before fleeing, but the damage was done. She left John, leaving him spiralling into depression and drink. (Hellblazer issue 64-67, 1993)

Giving up London Kit moved back home to Belfast, where she reconnected with her family - brother Peter and sister Claire - and old friends as she began to put her life back together. (Hellblazer issue 70, 1994)

John and Kit didn't meet again for over 15 years, until the day before John's wedding to Epiphany Greaves. They had a frank conversation in which John explained that he loved Epiphany more because she was able to accept the dangerous aspects of his life. Nevertheless, the two were able to part on good terms. Kit later attended the wedding and reception, where she met up with Gemma once more as well as another of John's exes, Angie Spatchcock. (Hellblazer issue 275, 2011)

Notes

• Kit appeared in Hellblazer issue 200 in which she bore him a son, Adam. However, she was actually the demon Rosacarnis in disguise.