Ritchie Simpson

Richard "Ritchie" Simpson is a fictional techno-mage and a minor character featured in the comic book series Hellblazer, published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Hellblazer #7 in July, 1988. A version of Ritchie Simpson also appeared in the Constantine television series in 2014. He first appeared in a flashback scene in the pilot episode, "Non Est Asylum" where he was played by actor Jeremy Davies. He also appeared in episode 1x11, "A Whole World Out There".

Biography
Ritchie was one of several amateur mages who joined with John Constantine as part of the colloquially named Newcastle Crew. In 1978, 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 exorcism failed terribly, and the crew disbanded shortly thereafter.

Ritchie continued to enhance his knowledge of the occult and became an adept techno-mage. He learned that a virtual plane of reality existed within the electrical field of computers, which he dubbed the Fifth Dimension. Ritchie developed a device that enabled him to download his consciousness directly into a computer's hardware, from which he could travel throughout the virtual network, hacking into nearly any computer system he encountered.

In 1988, Ritchie was reunited with John Constantine, who had since become a mage of ill repute. John asked Ritchie to look into an organization known as the Resurrection Crusade, and Ritchie plugged himself in to his system to see what he could find out. By tracing the Crusaders' computer networks, Ritchie discovered a splinter group known as the Tongues of Fire. He attempted to hack deeper into the Tongues' computer files, but an electrical backlash surged across the system causing Ritchie's physical body to burst into flame. Constantine was horrified as he watched his friend's body burn to a crisp within seconds. Ritchie's consciousness however was still trapped inside of the computer. Realizing that there was no way to truly save him, John elected upon a mercy killing and pulled the plug on Ritchie's computer. Ritchie died, but his spirit rose from the grave and joined the ghosts of the other late members of the Newcastle Crew - all of whom had died strange and violent deaths over the past several years.

John Constantine later called upon Ritchie's spirit in order to search the global computer banks for information concerning the D.D.I.

Notes & Trivia



 * Ritchie Simpson received a profile under the Newcastle entry in the Vertigo Secret Files: Hellblazer one-shot published in August, 2000.

Abilities

 * Technopathy: Through the study of magic, Ritchie Simpson developed the ability to communicate directly with computer systems. He could insert his consciousness into a computer's hardware and explore the undiscovered realm of cyber-space, which he referred to as the Fifth Dimension.
 * Computer hacking: Ritchie Simpson was an expert computer hacker.
 * Occultism: Ritchie Simpson was moderately versed in the occult, including demonology.

Appearances
DC Universe Constantine
 * Hellblazer 7
 * Hellblazer 8
 * Hellblazer 11
 * Hellblazer 12
 * Hellblazer 77
 * Hellblazer 114
 * Swamp Thing Vol 2 84
 * Constantine: Non Est Asylum
 * Constantine: A Whole World Out There