Ian Rankin's break out work would be his Inspector Rebus novels, in which he is world famous for as a crime-writer.

One of DC Comics Vertigo's senior editors Will Dennis was the one who got in contact with Ian Rankin about writing comics. Rankin loved the idea this. He wanted to write John Constantine and it was rumored around the time of Denise Mina's run that he would someday have a run on Hellblazer.

Ian Rankin never wrote an issue for Hellblazer as of yet. He did do an introduction in the Hellblazer: Empathy is the Enemy trade Paperback. He would fulfill his dream to write John Constantine in his Original Graphic Novel Dark Entries, which was one of the launch titles of the imprint "Vertigo Crime" line of books.

He would also write an introduction for The Losers: Book Two movie tie-in trade paperback, released in 2010.