Retro Vertigo

A couple months back, I was discussing with a friend that Vertigo was slowly being dissolved. Anyone keeping up knows that there have been a couple recent announcements that show that the end may indeed be near. And while I believe that most peoples's "best of" lists would (and rightfully should) be composed at least 50% with Vertigo titles, the imprint is becoming more and more archaic. Maybe it's run its course.

The most recent news is that founding Executive Editor Karen Berger will be stepping down after two decades. This could be to get some new blood for the waning imprint. Currently there are only four ongoing series, and with no big news on upcoming projects, an expansion seems doubtful.

The even bigger news that enraged bloggers a few weeks back was the cancellation of Hellblazer at issue 300. But honestly that's well past due. Don't get me wrong. It's a solid series that I've jumped on and off throughout the past 20 years, but is anyone really going to miss this? For years, it's felt like this book kept going just to keep going.

Which brings up everybody's next favorite complaint: They're using all the Vertigo characters in the DCU. Well, good. Because they're using them. When was the last time we saw Animal Man in Vertigo? 17 years ago. Swamp Thing hasn't even been used since 2006.

When Vertigo first started, it was used to distinguish some of DC's preexisting fringe books from straight-up tights and capes stuff. A group of British writers were onto something with new approaches to some obscure characters (the most famous being Sandman) and DC really wanted to take it to the next level. But a lot of people forget that for a while, these books were still part of DC continuity. Batman could show up in Swamp Thing or Vice Versa.

There were some stand-alone titles, but it didn't really change until Preacher. After that, Vertigo shifted to creator-owned books like Transmetropolitan or 100 Bullets. So bringing the old superhero characters back to the DCU makes sense, because that's where they belong. And the books aren't that different from their pre-Vertigo days. They're a little safer now, but at this point Warner Bros is more interested in comics to keep licenses for movies.

Currently, there are a lot of publishers putting out high quality creator-owned books. Image (who have come a long way since Vertigo's inception) has been setting all kinds of records with Walking Dead.  A lot creators that have been associated with Vertigo for years are moving to Image and other independent publishers, and  Vertigo is no longer is needed to fill the niche of make prestigious original titles anymore.

So it's sad, but their heyday is likely long over. And unless they produce a hit movie or TV series I can't imagine Vertigo lasting much longer. But even if the end is nigh they have a great run and will leave a legacy one of comics' most outstanding back-catalogs.