Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Creator / VertigoComics

Go To

1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dc_vertigo.png]]
2
3Vertigo (briefly rebranded "DC Vertigo" in 2018) was an imprint of Creator/DCComics, founded by Karen Berger in 1993.
4
5As 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
7Many of these were remakes of old DCU properties, given new life through clever writing. ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'', ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'', ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'', ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'', 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]].
8
9This 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}}''), characters whose comics have ended (Daniel from ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'' appeared in ''JLA'', while ComicBook/AnimalMan and the ComicBook/DoomPatrol have come back to Franchise/TheDCU full-time) and characters who have 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.
10
11Over 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
13The 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.
14
15In 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
17Compare 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
68----
69
70Some 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:
71
72* ''ComicBook/AnimalMan''
73* ''ComicBook/AngelAndTheApe''
74* ''ComicBook/BlackOrchid''
75* ''ComicBook/TheBooksOfMagic'' and spin-offs
76* ''ComicBook/BrotherPowerTheGeek''
77* ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'' and spin-offs
78* ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'' and spin-offs
79* ''ComicBook/SwampThing'' and spin-offs
80* ''ComicBook/CongoBill''
81* ''ComicBook/ElDiablo''
82* Some of the stories in the anthology ''ComicBook/{{Gangland}}''
83* ''ComicBook/{{Heartland}}''
84* Three ''ComicBook/JonahHex'' miniseries
85* ''ComicBook/KidEternity''
86* ''ComicBook/MadameXanadu''
87* ''ComicBook/{{Scarab}}''
88* ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'' and spin-offs
89** ''ComicBook/DeathTheHighCostOfLiving''
90** ''ComicBook/DeathTheTimeOfYourLife''
91** ''ComicBook/TheSandmanEndlessNights''
92** ''ComicBook/TheSandmanOverture''
93* ''ComicBook/SandmanMysteryTheatre''
94* ''ComicBook/SgtRock: Between Hell and a Hard Place''
95* ''ComicBook/SkinGraft: The Adventures of a Tattooed Man''
96* ''ComicBook/TheThessaliad''
97* ''ComicBook/ThessalyWitchForHire''
98* ''Vertigo Visions: ComicBook/{{Tomahawk}}''
99* ''ComicBook/TheTrenchcoatBrigade''
100* ''ComicBook/{{Totems}}''
101* ''ComicBook/UnknownSoldier''
102* ''ComicBook/ZatannaEverydayMagic''
103
104Many other Vertigo series feature re-imagined DCU characters and concepts in a context outside the DC Universe itself. These include:
105* ''ComicBook/BewareTheCreeper''
106* ''ComicBook/{{Deadman}}''
107* ''ComicBook/HouseOfSecrets''
108* ''ComicBook/HumanTarget''
109* ''ComicBook/TheLosers''
110* ''ComicBook/UncleSam''
111* ''ComicBook/VertigoVisions'', a series of one-shots, each re-imagining a different character.
112* ''ComicBook/TheWitchingHour''
113
114Vertigo comics which are not associated with the DC Universe at all include:
115* ''ComicBook/OneHundredBullets''
116* ''ComicBook/AmericanCentury''
117* ''ComicBook/AmericanSplendor''
118* ''ComicBook/AmericanVampire''
119* ''ComicBook/AmericanVirgin''
120* ''ComicBook/AstroCity''
121* ''ComicBook/Bodies2014''
122* ''ComicBook/CoffinHill''
123* ''ComicBook/{{Daytripper}}''
124* ''ComicBook/{{DMZ}}''
125* ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}''
126** ''Fables'' spawned two spin-offs: ''Jack of Fables'' featuring the title character, and ''Fairest'', a series of side stories centering around female characters.
127* ''ComicBook/FBPTheFederalBureauOfPhysics''
128* ''ComicBook/TheFilth''
129* ''ComicBook/GetJiro''
130** ''ComicBook/GetJiroBloodAndSushi''
131* ''ComicBook/HardTime''
132* ''ComicBook/HexWives''
133* ''ComicBook/{{Hinterkind}}''
134* ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles''
135* ''ComicBook/JoeTheBarbarian''
136* ''ComicBook/{{Lovecraft}}''
137* ''ComicBook/{{Loveless}}''
138* ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}''
139* ''ComicBook/{{Northlanders}}''
140* ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}''
141* ''ComicBook/PrideOfBaghdad''
142* ''ComicBook/PunkRockJesus''
143* ''ComicBook/{{Revolver|2010}}''
144* ''ComicBook/TheRoyalsMastersOfWar''
145* ''ComicBook/SaucerCountry''
146* ''ComicBook/{{Scalped}}''
147* ''ComicBook/{{Seaguy}}''
148* ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'' (not published originally under the Vertigo name, but later collected editions are)
149* ''ComicBook/TheUnwritten''
150* ''ComicBook/VForVendetta''
151* ''ComicBook/TheWake''
152* ''ComicBook/We3''
153* ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan''
154[[/index]]

Top