Vertigo Comics
Vertigo is an imprint of DC Comics and operates under the Vertigo name in order to separate itself from the more mainstream, family-friendly DC Comics. Vertigo publishes stories aimed at a more mature audience. Many of the comics published by Vertigo contain mature themes, including violence (more realistic than is found in conventional comics), frank presentations of substance abuse, and other controversial topics. Karen Berger is the executive editor of the imprint.
History
Vertigo was founded in the wake of DC's successful "mature" comics of the late 1980s, beginning with Saga of the Swamp Thing and continuing with Hellblazer, The Sandman, and Moonshadow. In 1993, Karen Berger and DC officially founded the Vertigo line to attract writers who wanted to publish "mature" comics of this sort, without having to worry about offending parents and young children. In an era when almost all of the big names in comics were artists, and most companies were pushing the art over story (such as the well known Image Comics), Vertigo was unique in pushing writers to the forefront.
Although many of the initial Vertigo publications were set in the DC Universe (Hellblazer, Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol, Animal Man, The Books of Magic, The Sandman, etc.), progressively they have been disconnected from the DCU, leaving the "superheroes" out. Because of this, the continuity with the regular DC titles is unclear, and sometimes contradictory. In addition to these older titles that were set under this print, a plethora of new titles was introduced without any constraints as to when or where the plot happens.
Vertigo has proven influential on the comic book industry, particularly because of its success with sales of trade paperbacks and graphic novels. Collections of Sandman continued to sell on a regular basis long after the original issues had become scarce, prompting Vertigo to reprint more and more of its library in the paperback format. This had the additional effect of penetrating the bookstore market and extended the "shelf life" of these comics from one month to virtual infinity. Some series, such as Transmetropolitan, did not always sell well as serialized monthly issues but continued to be published because DC/Vertigo was confident that trade paperback sales would be strong. Due partially to Vertigo's success with the format, by the mid-2000s nearly every publisher was collecting the majority of its serialized comics into trade paperbacks.
Since its inception, Vertigo has retroactively claimed many mature DC books that were published before its founding in 1993, such as Swamp Thing, Animal Man, and V for Vendetta. Transmetropolitan was initially launched under DC's short-lived Helix imprint but soon switched to Vertigo. Even a collection of the best of House of Mystery appeared under the Vertigo imprint.
In 2005, Vertigo expanded its label to include the cinema with the release of the movie Constantine, loosely based on the long-running comic Hellblazer. A History of Violence (originally a Paradox Press title) came out on September 23 2005. A movie adaptation of V for Vendetta was released on March 17 2006.
As of 2007, Hellblazer is the only Vertigo published book that has run continuously since the inception of the imprint.
Notable authors
Many notable comic book authors have written for Vertigo at one point or another, including such prominent names as:
- Brian Azzarello
- Kyle Baker
- Ed Brubaker
- Mike Carey
- Howard Chaykin
- Nancy A. Collins
- Jamie Delano
- J. M. DeMatteis
- Paul Dini
- Warren Ellis
- Garth Ennis
- Christopher Fowler
- Neil Gaiman
- Steve Gerber
- Alan Grant
- Devin Grayson
- Gilbert Hernandez
- Dylan Horrocks
- James D. Hudnall
- Peter Kuper
- Terry LaBan
- Joe R. Lansdale
- Mark Millar
- Peter Milligan
- Alan Moore
- Grant Morrison
- Rachel Pollack
- Paul Pope
- James Robinson
- Brian K. Vaughan
- Matt Wagner
- Bill Willingham
- Judd Winick
- Brian Wood
Notable series
Notable comic book series published under the Vertigo line have included:
- 100 Bullets
- American Virgin
- Angel and the Ape
- Animal Man
- The Books of Magic
- Congo Bill
- Deadman
- Death: At Death's Door
- Death: The High Cost of Living
- Death: The Time of Your Life
- DMZ
- Doom Patrol
- The Dreaming
- Enigma
- The Exterminators
- Fables
- The Filth
- Finals
- Flinch
- Hellblazer
- A History of Violence
- The Invisibles
- The Losers
- Loveless
- Lucifer
- Nevada
- Preacher
- Pride of Baghdad
- The Sandman
- Shade, the Changing Man
- Swamp Thing
- Testament
- Transmetropolitan
- We3
- V for Vendetta
- Y: The Last Man
Vertigo comics in other media
Film
- Constantine, based on Hellblazer
- A History of Violence
- V for Vendetta
- Stardust, based on Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess' Stardust
- The Fountain, which was developed alongside the graphic novel by writer/director Darren Aronofsky
Additionally, an adaptation of Y: The Last Man is in development and a movie version of The Losers is in production. An adaptation of We3 is also being developed, with author Grant Morrison in negotiations to write the screenplay.
TV
A television adaptation of Preacher is in development for HBO.
Computer Games
- 100 Bullets was optioned and partly developed as a game, but cancelled. The licence has been bought and an unconnected game is in development
- Constantine, a spinoff based on the movie of the same name
See also
- Vertigo comic series - The complete list of comics published under the Vertigo banner.
- DC Universe
External links
- Vertigo home page
- Vertigo 10th Anniversary minisite
- Vertigo Chronology
- List of every Vertigo title ever published
- List of every Vertigo trade/OGN/manga digest ever published
- Roots of the Swamp Thing - An extremely detailed timiline chronicling all the events of Swamp Thing, Hellblazer and related titles in chronological order, spanning millions of years of DC/Vertigo history