Booster Gold #3
RUNAWAYS #28
SIMON DARK #1
X-Factor #24

Will

You know, it seems like most of the real heavyweight writers in the industry have a “signature” longform yet finite piece with Vertigo.

Ellis – Transmetropolitan
Ennis – Preacher
Gaiman – The Sandman
Vaughan – Y The Last Man
Morrison – The Invisibles
Moore – Swamp Thing

I’d love to see them offer a book to some of the promising up and comers in the market to just go crazy with. Maybe Matt Fraction or Christos Gage. Maybe even Brubaker, though I know he did some work for them already, and Criminal already feels like his personal, defining work.

Will

Which, admittedly, was done once before with Quicksilver (by Peter David, I think), but I wouldn’t expect that Garth Ennis neccessarily read that.

Hooray! That makes me happy in my tum.

(Then again, I also think BKV is possibly the most overrated writer of the past decade and the only stuff I’ve actually liked from him was The Hood and Doctor Strange: The Oath. I was profoundly unimpressed with everything after the first year of Y, and at this point I can’t even bring myself to care about the series is going to end.)

But isn’t that the opposite of what made Vertigo what it was? As I recall, I’d barely heard of the writers on the first Vertigo books. I was more of a straight-up superhero guy, so I was more like, “isn’t he that British guy who used to write Black Orchid or Demon or something?”

And I remember that most of the Vertigo titles featured characters whose morals were, if not repugnant, certainly questionable, and way out of the superhero norm. I recall finding Preacher quite repugnant, and not just morally, at the time, and I’m fairly twisted myself. A lot of people had the same reaction you’re having to the current crop. Vertigo was never about “And now here’s something you’re sure to enjoy.”

It’s not like the covers of the early Vertigo comics were emblazoned with things like “From the writer of JLA!”[/quote]

very good points.
i have like most of what vertigo had put out over the nearly 15 or so years it has been in action. i love repugnant characters, but with flaws that are endearing and not just stereotypes and stand ins for a specific point of view. the vertigo of today seems to be lacking real flawed characters that is so championed for so many years.

as for brining back the big guns as being antithetical to the basis of vertigo’s existence, i dare say you are extremely correct. something that made me do some serious thinking after reading your post. but i dare say that vertigo’s model of relying tpb sales is no longer special in today’s market. and as the mega bookstores graphic fiction sections grow and grow vertigo is going to take a larger and larger hit, as both marvel and dc throw every storyline into tpb.

so i want vertigo to grab some traction and established writers to shake up the comic book stores, generate buzz etc. and with next year being the 15th ann of the imprint (and god i feel old typing that) it seems like the perfect spot to make some noise and prepare for the next 15. use the big names to launch titles with co-plotters (like mark miller and morrison did with swamp thing) to help bridge the established with the new artists.

it is just that i see vertigo resting on its laurels and really low sales figures and i want it to kick out a huge flock of books every month. i obviously will not like everything, but i would still try them. i love that karen berger is inching higher and higher up into dc’s leadership, but the imprint was built on her watch and i just feel that it is not being cared for by her at it has in the past.

But isn’t that the opposite of what made Vertigo what it was? As I recall, I’d barely heard of the writers on the first Vertigo books. I was more of a straight-up superhero guy, so I was more like, “isn’t he that British guy who used to write Black Orchid or Demon or something?”

And I remember that most of the Vertigo titles featured characters whose morals were, if not repugnant, certainly questionable, and way out of the superhero norm. I recall finding Preacher quite repugnant, and not just morally, at the time, and I’m fairly twisted myself. A lot of people had the same reaction you’re having to the current crop. Vertigo was never about “And now here’s something you’re sure to enjoy.”

It’s not like the covers of the early Vertigo comics were emblazoned with things like “From the writer of JLA!”

Vinyl Underground. The artwork is nice, the cameron stewart inks steers the style more towards Philip Bond esque drawings, it’s a shame all the characters got thrown into an effing unfortunate NME/MTV/Tabloid blender that comes off as cliche.

The characters would have been more interesting if they were written as essentally dull people rather than try hard bad asses.

He was technically narrating the story, right?