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.

Book of the Week

I read some comics today, and there were a few that I really liked.  I'm bringing this column back for some quick reviews.

8-25-10
Fantastic Four 582
Marvel
No.  I won't shut up about this book.  It keeps getting better and better.

(

9-1-10
Scarlet 2
Icon/Marvel
I also talked about this book last month.  The second issue didn't disappoint.

9-9-10
American Vampire 6
Vertigo/DC
I'm really glad with the way this issue turned out.  Even though there's no doubt that the Stephen King story greatly increased sales, I think it really hurt the book's pacing.  It was tough to get into this series with each issue split into two 16-page stories.  I really liked this issue.

r

runner up
Booster Gold 36
DC
I really love the direction this book is going in.  It's the only DC-proper title that I'm reading.  I hate what they've done with the DCU in recent years.  So it really surprises me that even though Booster deals with these plot lines, it does so in a funny and sad self-aware kind of a way that's really amazing.

Book of the Week

5-19-10

I mentioned Joe the Barbarian a few months ago when it first started.  We've just passed the halfway point with issue 5, and while I don't want to talk too much about the story, I will say that this comic is still amazing.  Morrison and Murphy work terrifically together.  The story is mostly told through beautiful artwork.  You really should be reading this.

Mustard

So, over a month ago, I said I would try to catch up on this page.  Obviously, I haven't.  I'm going to attempt this again.  A lot of the stuff I had planned is going to be irrelevant now, so I'm going to condense everything I had planned over the last month in this one post.  Here we go:

• First off, I've been working on Chunklet's upcoming book, and am now writing for their website.
• Isis is disbanding.  You can read about it and download some live stuff on www.chunklet.com (damn, I'm smooth).
• Da Blackhawks are still awesome.  More on that in a couple weeks. 
• LOST ended.  I liked it.
• Ronnie James Dio died last week.  That sucks.  Go find some videos on www.youtube.com.
• Iron Man 2 is really good.  Although the first was a lot better, and Terrance Howard was a much better Rhodey.
• Shade the Changing Man is going to be in upcoming issues of Hellblazer.  Shade is one of my favorite Vertigo series, and I'm excited to see Peter Milligan writing the character again for the first time in seven years (there was a short story in the Vertigo tenth anniversary book).
• Free Comic Book Day sucks.  I know it's basically advertisements disguised as free comics, but can't anyone put out something worth reading?  I give Image credit for putting out Savage Dragon 146 last year.  It's something comic readers would want.  And Marvel prints out books with smaller dimensions.  You're owned by Disney and you can't put out a full-sized comic book like everyone else (including tiny indie companies)?  Fuck you!
• Lastly, I have a stack of books that I picked to write about as Book of the Weeks.  I'm just going to list them.  They're all good.  Look at the companies' websites if you want synopses.  I should be getting the past couple of weeks' books soon, and will write full reviews on them:

3-24-10: Hellblazer 265 (DC/Vertigo)
3-31-10: Punisher 15 (Marvel)
4-07-10: S.H.I.E.L.D. 1 (Marvel)
4-14-10: Punishermax 6 (Marvel/Max)
4-21-10: American Vampire 2 (DC/Vertigo)
4-28-10: Fantastic Four 578 (Marvel)
5-01-10: Iron Man Thor (Marvel)
5-05-10: Hellboy in Mexico (Dark Horse)

Book of the Week

1-20-10

I haven't loved everything I've read by Grant Morrison. In fact I think most of his recent mainstream work has been below par (apart from All-Star Superman, which I think is probably not only the best Superman comic ever made, but also the best comic of the past decade). I do, however, love everything that he's written for Vertigo.
His first new project since 2005's Viminarama is an eight issue miniseries entitled Joe the Barbarian.

The first issue is a brief introduction of charcters and hints at the story's direction near the end. It's about a disconnected adolescent boy that travels between reality and imagination. It remains to be seen whether this is literal or figurative, but I'm thinking literal.

Morrison is accompanied artist Sean Murphy. Much of the story is told through the art, and the book is filled with gorgeous (sometimes two-page) splashes.

Also, there are several surprise cameos in one of these splashes. One of which is an all time favorite of mine: The Main Man, Lobo. Are you still reading this? Go get it.