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The Vertigo Thread
sportzboytjw
squeeeeeezzeeeesome more tax breaks outRegistered User regular
squeeeeeezzeeeesome more tax breaks outRegistered User regular
I've been reading a ton of Vertigo stuff lately, not because it's super-amazing (although some of it is ofc) but because the library apparently has infy Vertigo trades. Anyway, Vertigo is basically DC Comic's adult line; think MAX from Marvel or Epic from Marvel (or did Marvel buy out Epic?), but I think Vertigo has actually been around longer than either of those. Vertigo isn't (always) totally cut off from the DC Universe too, which makes for interesting occasional crossovers.
Some of these comics suck; but the majority are pretty high quality. The imprint (I guess that's what it is called) started off by stealing some existing DC Comics that were generally not typical superhero comics - Swamp Thing, Animal Man (I must be the only person who thought this book sucked), Doom Patrol, Sandman, and Shade, the Changing Man.
Current Titles:
Hellblazer
Fables
Scalped
The Unwritten
Sweet Tooth
American Vampire
iZombie
Fairest
Saucer Country
The New Deadwardians
Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child
Much of Vertigo's characters and settings overlap, but they don't always seem to necessarily overlap. Hellblazer, Sandman (and the Dreaming and Cain/Abel) and the Swamp Thing are pretty much in the same earth (and it appears to MOSTLY be the DC earth), but this isn't always true. Vertigo's stories tend towards fantasy-horror stuff, but sometimes it's just plain ol' adventure (The Books of Magic is basically a sweet Harry Potter book 10 years before Potter came out), or political commentary (AND HUMOR!) like Transmetropolitan, or just a cashing in on the current hotness (a.e. American Vampire, which I like alright).
I've been reading The Unwritten, and it's pretty interesting, although I hate the Whale nonsense; I mean, I get it, but it took about twice as long as necessary to explain.
Much of Vertigo's universe and tone are shaped by Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, and Grant Morrison, so you know it can't be that bad! I personally highly dislike the "meta-fiction" titles (wikipedia's word for it) of Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Shade, the Changing Man, The Invisibles, but a lot of people adore them, so while I'd totally make a bitching post about how they suck, they don't REALLY suck.
So... anyone else reading some Vertigo?
Some of these comics suck; but the majority are pretty high quality. The imprint (I guess that's what it is called) started off by stealing some existing DC Comics that were generally not typical superhero comics - Swamp Thing, Animal Man (I must be the only person who thought this book sucked), Doom Patrol, Sandman, and Shade, the Changing Man.
Current Titles:
Hellblazer
Fables
Scalped
The Unwritten
Sweet Tooth
American Vampire
iZombie
Fairest
Saucer Country
The New Deadwardians
Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child
Much of Vertigo's characters and settings overlap, but they don't always seem to necessarily overlap. Hellblazer, Sandman (and the Dreaming and Cain/Abel) and the Swamp Thing are pretty much in the same earth (and it appears to MOSTLY be the DC earth), but this isn't always true. Vertigo's stories tend towards fantasy-horror stuff, but sometimes it's just plain ol' adventure (The Books of Magic is basically a sweet Harry Potter book 10 years before Potter came out), or political commentary (AND HUMOR!) like Transmetropolitan, or just a cashing in on the current hotness (a.e. American Vampire, which I like alright).
I've been reading The Unwritten, and it's pretty interesting, although I hate the Whale nonsense; I mean, I get it, but it took about twice as long as necessary to explain.
Much of Vertigo's universe and tone are shaped by Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, and Grant Morrison, so you know it can't be that bad! I personally highly dislike the "meta-fiction" titles (wikipedia's word for it) of Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Shade, the Changing Man, The Invisibles, but a lot of people adore them, so while I'd totally make a bitching post about how they suck, they don't REALLY suck.
So... anyone else reading some Vertigo?
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Fairest has done a good job being the companion book, and is doing a nice retcon to the Ice Queen, but in usual Phil Jiminez style he was only able to go three issues (with lots of inkers) before needing some fill-in help on the 4th issue. He's going to need to do more if he wants to be as synonymous with the brand as Mark Buckingham is.
Unwritten and American Vampire I trade wait on now, and for whatever reason my need to go digital doesn't apply to Vertigo, I like reading them still in trade form on the old non-glossy paper stock.
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That book took Wesley Dodds from being kind of an "oh yeah, him" member of the JSA to one of my favorites.
Right now I read Scalped, Fables, American Vampire, and The Unwritten.
in other news, that Sandman Mystery Theater thing... Are the stories as dark and fucked as the first one? With the mother and son and father and daughter torture murder incest thing?
Ah sorry, I was actually talking about the same series you mention there. Only one so far, to my knowledge.
And yeah, there's a lot of twisted in that book.
There's a lot of messed up stuff... although the whole incest thing isn't like all over the place. IIRC that's a one-of (that I could have done without, but whatever I guess).
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I'm sure most people have heard of Fables. It's been running for several years now and has had a few spin-off books including Jack of Fables, Cinderella, and Fairest.
Lucifer is pretty much the continuation of the story of Lucifer from the Sandman series. It starts off with him running a piano bar named LUX in LA. It runs for the same amount of issues at Sandman and is written by Mike Carey, who is currently doing Unwritten with Peter Gross who was the dominant artist on the Lucifer series too.
Preacher is the story of a Texas preacher who becomes blessed/cursed with the "voice of God." Meaning, when he tells people to do stuff they have to do it. Literally. Imagine being told to go fuck yourself and you have to perform the literal act. Fun, right? He's joined by his girlfriend and an Irish vampire on his quest to hunt down God and make him answer for the fucked up world we live on.
There's lots of other fun stuff from Vertigo like Transmetropolitan, which is some fun future dystopian shit from the perspective of a crazy journalist. Awesome stuff and definitely a must read.
Preacher, I loathed
Fables has gone downhill, I think.
I was a huge fan of the continued Books of Magic. I wish it would come back, but I think it takes a pretty special author.
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I would not want his art everywhere all the time though.
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I feel like Fables has lost the plot a bit since the Empire has fallen and Mister Black has been defeated. I guess the focus on the young wolves is somewhat interesting. I think Fairest has some potential to be pretty neat.
Dillon's art definitely doesn't belong everywhere. I think it fit well in Preacher and it did well when he was on Wolverine Origins too. I still love covers that Glenn Fabry did for Preacher.
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All of the graphic novels are available on Amazon.
Man, that was a weird, depressing book. It stars an assortment of Westerners, including a B-list actor and his socially-conscious girlfriend, a sex tourist, and a British pedophile, as well as a transgendered cage-fighter, two sibling sex-slaves, a ruthless mobster, and some hired muscle.
Oh, and there's an elephant.
I picked it up because it was only a couple bucks, had some striking covers, and Giuseppe Camuncoli was drawing it, but found myself surprisingly engrossed in it.
But at its core, it's just about these weird, fucked up people, and the way they try to cope with being in a weird, fucked up place. The B-list actor cheated on his girlfriend, but still loves and risks his life for her.
The girlfriend's angry at her boyfriend, but won't break up with him, more content to waste the little money he has, fighting her various well-intentioned, but poorly-planned social crusades.
The sex tourist says he loves the prostitute he visits, and even shows heroism on her behalf, though he goes into rages when it's obvious she only pretends to feel anything for him but disdain.
The prostitute is torn between a life where she's a sexual commodity, but has access to civilization and money, and one where she'll toil all day as a farmer, and still be a second-class citizen.
The pedophile is a pedophile, but he's also the only one who's completely open and honest about his motives. In a place that is utterly insane, he thrives, simply going along for the ride, and playing the system as best he can.
All these characters and more eventually find themselves colliding in a clusterfuck of epic proportions. Some live, some die, and a lucky few just have their entire worldviews shattered.
If you're a fan of crime stories, or just general, reality-based weirdness, try to track it down.
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...uhh, not at all what I expected, but still very good.
Also, I've been reading Saucer Country and New Deadwardians when I'm at the shop, and I'll probably pick them up in trade or digital at some point down the line.
Interesting, really. She's basically a superhero, in the story. She's the least morally compromised, physically more powerful than the main "tough guy" character in the book, and goes out of her way to help those she doesn't have to. And she has a secret identity, kind of.
That said, she's also depicted as an oddity, but in a way that feels true to the environment the story takes place in. She fights men while acting in a really outlandish, flamboyant fashion, wears dresses that are a little too small for her large frame, and has bright, bottle-blonde hair.
It's a series I really want to do a whole Rokkin-style rundown of, when I have more time.
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This reminds me I need to preorder that invisibles omnibus from work.
And someday down the line get Sweet Tooth and iZombie on a comixology sale.
hrmmm
sounds like one of the least bad transwomen i've heard about in fiction, actually sounds pretty good all things considered
It's the story of a God, his sole worshiper, her best friend, and the boy that will tear them all apart. It's a great little story, and Sonny Liew's art is really reminiscent of Skottie Young's new, grittier stuff. It's also written by Mike Carey, who did Lucifer, and has a really good hit-to-miss ratio.
Plus, it's four issues of content, for just eight bucks, which is a pretty good deal.
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But more recently I bought a Vertigo "sampler" package of sorts with Animal Man Vol. 1, Doom Patrol Vol. 1, and Saga of Swamp Thing Vol. 1. Out of them, I loved Animal Man right away. Doom Patrol and Swamp Thing took a while to pick up, but both paid off pretty well. I definetly see the potential for crazy stories from DP tho, and I am excited to continue with it and Animal Man. Swamp Thing I'm not too sure of, Alan Moore's writing has always been, i dunno, kinda dense for me. Like I know that it's all filled with hidden meaning or whatever but I'm just too thick to really take anything from it even though I know I should be haha.
pretty much, along with them pushing the Books of Magic into the DCU now with JL Dark. And the rumor that Jim Lee will reboot WildCATS after he finishes his Justice League run, it's a common thing.
I just really don't like prequels.
INVASION 2 (bring back MacFarlane and Bart Sears!)
The plot is that some super media conglomerate is going to clone Jesus Christ and televise it, and this ex-IRA now anti-terrorist Punisher Robocop guy is the security detail for the whole thing. And he's got a hipster tech savy black guy as his partner who doesn't take shit from anyone, because he's wears a Batman shirt, you hear? There's a twist at the end, but it's ruined by making the head of this conglomerate so over the top evil and cold hearted I went "yeah, I'm going to go read Little League."
Very little action outside of the first few pages, and as mentioned it's all in B&W which makes some of the rougher sketches hard to follow, but on the whole it's a very pretty book, just a really bad story.
Books of Magic has (more or less) always been DCU, just that weird Vertigo-DCU fringe; Tims hangs out with Constantine a time or two, who has palled around with Swamp Thing, they all know Zatanna, and once in a while Supes/Bats/whatever shows up. I'm okay with Tim going mainstream I guess.
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I haven't read this because I know I wouldn't be able to get through the Cloning Jesus stuff without thinking about the Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling sketch on the subject.
"Don't you think, that if you clone Christ, He will in some way want to remonstrate with you as soon as he can?"
"Well, that's up to him, but he'll be pretty lost without the batteries."
EVERYBODY WANTS TO SIT IN THE BIG CHAIR, MEG!