1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dc_vertigo.png]] |
2 | |
3 | Vertigo (briefly rebranded "DC Vertigo" in 2018) was an imprint of Creator/DCComics, founded by Karen Berger in 1993. |
4 | |
5 | As the MediaNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks moved on, Creator/DCComics noticed they were publishing several series with the label “Suggested for mature audiences", that weren't just ''dark,'' they were ''mature'' -- with complex, thinky, often philosophical stories and deep, complicated characters, by names like Creator/AlanMoore, Creator/GrantMorrison, and Creator/NeilGaiman. Thus, to separate these from the "normal" [[Franchise/TheDCU DCU]] fare, they created the Vertigo Comics imprint. |
6 | |
7 | Many of these were remakes of old DCU properties, given new life through clever writing. ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'', ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'', ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'', ''ComicBook/ShadeTheChangingMan'' and ''ComicBook/SwampThing'' are probably the exemplars here. It seemed the rule was "The more obscure, the better"; series like ''ComicBook/BrotherPowerTheGeek'', a two-issue TotallyRadical attempt from the '60s to appeal to the "hippie" market, were brought back as [[DarkerAndEdgier dark, edgy romps]]. |
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9 | This had the knock-on effect of pretty much excising certain characters from the main DCU, for fear that a John Constantine and Franchise/{{Batman}} crossover [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids would encourage little kids to pick up]] ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}''. This meant that certain comics, though still technically part of the DCU, were [[ExiledFromContinuity unable to do "proper" crossovers]] or acknowledge that connection directly. This was relaxed occasionally for one-panel cameos (Constantine in ''ComicBook/{{Hitman|1993}}''), characters whose comics had ended (Daniel from ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'' appeared in ''JLA'', while ComicBook/AnimalMan and the ComicBook/DoomPatrol came back to Franchise/TheDCU full-time) and characters who had always straddled the divide between the two (ComicBook/{{the Phantom Stranger}}, ComicBook/{{Zatanna}}, et al). DC's 2011 partial ContinuityReboot brought several characters like Constantine and Swamp Thing back into the main DC continuity fold. The Vertigo-only ''Hellblazer'' continued to be published separately until issue 300 in 2013, when it was replaced by a main-DC-universe ''Constantine'' title. This left Vertigo proper no longer publishing any ongoing title featuring characters originating in the DC universe. |
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11 | Over the 2000s, however, the focus of the imprint had gradually shifted from its original shared-universe titles to creator-owned original works. These were still often in the horror/fantasy genre. 2009-11 saw an unsuccessful attempt at genre diversification with a series of "Vertigo Crime" graphic novels, although a number of the published titles retained supernatural elements and one of the first to be published was a ''Hellblazer'' special. In the second half of the 2010s, DC launched two separate new imprints, Creator/YoungAnimal and Creator/DCBlackLabel, which in many ways revived the old Vertigo concept of stories set in the main DC universe but with more "adult" subject matter and a more experimental artistic approach. |
12 | |
13 | The Vertigo line was edited by Karen Berger from its inception in 1993, until she stepped down in 2013. It was Berger who edited Alan Moore's ''ComicBook/SwampThing'', and brought Creator/NeilGaiman to prominence on ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'', the series that led to the formation of the imprint. |
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15 | In 2019, Vertigo was announced to be [[EndOfAnAge shutting down]], with various reports being that the edgier subject matter being more socially accepted today, or that the 2018 relaunch (which ended up being mired in controversy after the announced ''ComicBook/SecondComing'' was dropped following pre-emptive protests from fundamentalist Christians over its subject matter, and the well-reviewed ''Border Town'' had to be cancelled after four issues following credible accusations of sexual assault against its writer that caused the artist to withdraw from the project) proved a CreatorKiller. In either case, the titles moved elsewhere in DC. Ironically, the closing of Vertigo coincided with the release of ''The Kitchen'', a film adaptation of their comic of the same name, which prominently featured the (short-lived) DC Vertigo logo in its marketing and opening titles. |
16 | |
17 | Compare Marvel's various adult imprints, Creator/MarvelMAX for DarkerAndEdgier versions of Marvel Universe titles, and first Creator/EpicComics and later Creator/IconComics for mostly creator-owned stand-alone works. |
18 | |
19 | '''Some of the best-known series published by Vertigo include:''' |
20 | [[index]] |
21 | * ''ComicBook/OneHundredBullets'' |
22 | * ''ComicBook/AmericanSplendor'' (2006-2008) |
23 | * ''ComicBook/AmericanVampire'' |
24 | * ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' |
25 | * ''ComicBook/ArtOps'' |
26 | * ''ComicBook/TheBooksOfMagic'' |
27 | * ''ComicBook/{{The Childrens Crusade|Vertigo}}'' |
28 | * ''ComicBook/CleanRoom'' |
29 | * ''ComicBook/CrossingMidnight'' |
30 | * ''ComicBook/{{Daytripper}}'' |
31 | * ''ComicBook/TheDeadBoyDetectives'' |
32 | * ''ComicBook/{{DMZ}}'' |
33 | * ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'' |
34 | * ''ComicBook/{{Enigma}}'' |
35 | * ''ComicBook/EverafterFromThePagesOfFables'' |
36 | * ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'' |
37 | * ''ComicBook/TheFilth'' |
38 | * ''ComicBook/FlexMentallo'' |
39 | * ''ComicBook/GoddessMode'' |
40 | * ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'' |
41 | * ''ComicBook/HexWives'' |
42 | * ''ComicBook/HouseOfMystery'' |
43 | * ''ComicBook/{{Incognegro}}'' |
44 | * ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' |
45 | * ''ComicBook/IZombie'' |
46 | * ''ComicBook/TheLosers'' |
47 | * ''ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}'' |
48 | * ''ComicBook/MadameXanadu'' |
49 | * ''ComicBook/MuktukWolfsbreathHardBoiledShaman'' |
50 | * ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'' |
51 | * ''ComicBook/PrideOfBaghdad'' |
52 | * ''ComicBook/PunkRockJesus'' |
53 | * ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'' |
54 | * ''ComicBook/SaucerCountry'' (subsequently moved to Creator/IDWPublishing) |
55 | * ''ComicBook/{{Scalped}}'' |
56 | * ''ComicBook/{{Seaguy}}'' |
57 | * ''ComicBook/ShadeTheChangingMan'' |
58 | * ''ComicBook/SheriffOfBaghdad'' |
59 | * ''ComicBook/SwampThing'' |
60 | * ''ComicBook/SweetTooth'' |
61 | * ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'' |
62 | * ''ComicBook/UnknownSoldier'' |
63 | * ''ComicBook/TheUnwritten'' |
64 | * ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'' |
65 | * ''ComicBook/We3'' |
66 | * ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' |
67 | * ''ComicBook/YouAreHere'' |
68 | |
69 | ---- |
70 | |
71 | Some Vertigo series are technically part of Franchise/TheDCU, due to using DCU characters, and WordOfGod says the [[TheVerse shared universe]] titles like ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'' and ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'' ARE part of the mainstream [[Franchise/TheDCU DCU]]. However, not all of them are always {{canon}} for the DCU characters, and some of them effectively take place in a world of their own. These include: |
72 | |
73 | * ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' |
74 | * ''ComicBook/AngelAndTheApe'' |
75 | * ''ComicBook/BlackOrchid'' |
76 | * ''ComicBook/TheBooksOfMagic'' and spin-offs |
77 | * ''ComicBook/BrotherPowerTheGeek'' |
78 | * ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'' and spin-offs |
79 | * ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'' and spin-offs |
80 | * ''ComicBook/SwampThing'' and spin-offs |
81 | * ''ComicBook/CongoBill'' |
82 | * ''ComicBook/ElDiablo'' |
83 | * Some of the stories in the anthology ''ComicBook/{{Gangland}}'' |
84 | * ''ComicBook/{{Heartland}}'' |
85 | * Three ''ComicBook/JonahHex'' miniseries |
86 | * ''ComicBook/KidEternity'' |
87 | * ''ComicBook/MadameXanadu'' |
88 | * ''ComicBook/{{Scarab}}'' |
89 | * ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'' and spin-offs |
90 | ** ''ComicBook/DeathTheHighCostOfLiving'' |
91 | ** ''ComicBook/DeathTheTimeOfYourLife'' |
92 | ** ''ComicBook/TheSandmanEndlessNights'' |
93 | ** ''ComicBook/TheSandmanOverture'' |
94 | * ''ComicBook/SandmanMysteryTheatre'' |
95 | * ''ComicBook/SgtRock: Between Hell and a Hard Place'' |
96 | * ''ComicBook/SkinGraft: The Adventures of a Tattooed Man'' |
97 | * ''ComicBook/TheThessaliad'' |
98 | * ''ComicBook/ThessalyWitchForHire'' |
99 | * ''Vertigo Visions: ComicBook/{{Tomahawk}}'' |
100 | * ''ComicBook/TheTrenchcoatBrigade'' |
101 | * ''ComicBook/{{Totems}}'' |
102 | * ''ComicBook/UnknownSoldier'' |
103 | * ''ComicBook/ZatannaEverydayMagic'' |
104 | |
105 | Many other Vertigo series feature re-imagined DCU characters and concepts in a context outside the DC Universe itself. These include: |
106 | * ''ComicBook/BewareTheCreeper'' |
107 | * ''ComicBook/{{Deadman}}'' |
108 | * ''ComicBook/HouseOfSecrets'' |
109 | * ''ComicBook/HumanTarget'' |
110 | * ''ComicBook/TheLosers'' |
111 | * ''ComicBook/UncleSam'' |
112 | * ''ComicBook/VertigoVisions'', a series of one-shots, each re-imagining a different character. |
113 | * ''ComicBook/TheWitchingHour'' |
114 | |
115 | Vertigo comics which are not associated with the DC Universe at all include: |
116 | * ''ComicBook/OneHundredBullets'' |
117 | * ''ComicBook/AmericanCentury'' |
118 | * ''ComicBook/AmericanSplendor'' |
119 | * ''ComicBook/AmericanVampire'' |
120 | * ''ComicBook/AmericanVirgin'' |
121 | * ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' |
122 | * ''ComicBook/Bodies2014'' |
123 | * ''ComicBook/CoffinHill'' |
124 | * ''ComicBook/{{Daytripper}}'' |
125 | * ''ComicBook/{{DMZ}}'' |
126 | * ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'' |
127 | ** ''Fables'' spawned two spin-offs: ''Jack of Fables'' featuring the title character, and ''Fairest'', a series of side stories centering around female characters. |
128 | * ''ComicBook/FBPTheFederalBureauOfPhysics'' |
129 | * ''ComicBook/TheFilth'' |
130 | * ''ComicBook/GetJiro'' |
131 | ** ''ComicBook/GetJiroBloodAndSushi'' |
132 | * ''ComicBook/HardTime'' |
133 | * ''ComicBook/HexWives'' |
134 | * ''ComicBook/{{Hinterkind}}'' |
135 | * ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' |
136 | * ''ComicBook/JoeTheBarbarian'' |
137 | * ''ComicBook/{{Lovecraft}}'' |
138 | * ''ComicBook/{{Loveless}}'' |
139 | * ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'' |
140 | * ''ComicBook/{{Northlanders}}'' |
141 | * ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'' |
142 | * ''ComicBook/PrideOfBaghdad'' |
143 | * ''ComicBook/PunkRockJesus'' |
144 | * ''ComicBook/{{Revolver|2010}}'' |
145 | * ''ComicBook/TheRoyalsMastersOfWar'' |
146 | * ''ComicBook/SaucerCountry'' |
147 | * ''ComicBook/{{Scalped}}'' |
148 | * ''ComicBook/{{Seaguy}}'' |
149 | * ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'' (not published originally under the Vertigo name, but later collected editions are) |
150 | * ''ComicBook/TheUnwritten'' |
151 | * ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'' |
152 | * ''ComicBook/TheWake'' |
153 | * ''ComicBook/We3'' |
154 | * ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' |
155 | [[/index]] |
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