Comments on: Where Next for Vertigo?

By: Riley

Riley — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 23:45:59 +0000

Let me say, Vertigo was a breath of fresh air back in the day, but now it seems to have lost its luster. Most of the books were new, fresh and pushing the limits allowed in comics. Back then more and more people were looking for something with more of a “Mature” feel to it including the story. Over time the luster has faded and interest has wained due to the unknown creators bringing new titles to Vertigo to be published.

As a reader and a collector from the beginning, I feel Vertigo has been pushed to the back and the focus has shifted back to the superhero genre, and so has the writers and artists alike. Now I tend to agree with others is that Vertigo is becoming more of “hardcover” imprint than a monthly avenue for books. I noticed the shift with all company’s including the independents is the shift to more “mini” series books that can be easily put into “hardcover” or trade formats if it sells or not. Lately I have been inclined to not purchase the mini series but wait for the “ardcover” edition to come out and read the entire series then.

My advise to DC/Vertigo, is to shift the publishing schedule to a quarterly format or go directly to the “hardcover” format with the beter writers/artists with great stories. I feel Vertigo is dying a slow death unles DC does something quick. How much longer can they squeeze Fables, Hellblazer, etc to try turn a profit.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:09:46 +0000

How are their trade sales? I know I for one am generally more inclined to trade-wait Vertigo than I am main DCs or Marvels. For one thing, they usually hold up better over longer period of time than your typical super hero fare. I would imagine Preacher, for example, continues to sell okay in trades to this day as opposed to, say, 90s Legion of Superheroes trades (if they’re even still in print).

Vertigo being what it is seems more literary, I guess, and worthy of collected editions belonging on the bookshelf, while a regular DC or Marvel book is more like a weekly dose of fun. Not always, obviously, but that’s just my thinking. This could also be way off base and there could be no data to back it up…

By: Kory

Kory — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 21:17:00 +0000

Hellblazer would sell better with either Cornell or China Mieville. I’m ready for Peter Milligan to end his Panto run on the book.

By: Mike Poteet

Mike Poteet — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:42:10 +0000

Sad state of Vertigo? Huh. 3 of the titles on my pull list are Vertigo: SAUCER COUNTRY (which is an unfailingly entertaining book), THE UNWRITTEN (which is still one of the smartest comics I’ve ever read), and FAIREST (which may just be milking FABLES for more money, but it does so with great art and stories).

By: alan Maaaaaahmoore

alan Maaaaaahmoore — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 10:19:44 +0000

do you really listen to anything that marc oliver and his frisch-schtick says?

By: Tenisha

Tenisha — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 08:02:23 +0000

Plainly, this is what they get with new titles by unknown creators — and it’s not like established creators like Paul Cornell, Mike Carey or Brian Azzarello are doing much better.

By: steven

steven — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:06:45 +0000

“Plainly, this is what they get with new titles by unknown creators”

I dunno. before Johnny Double, i didn’t know who Brian Azzarello was, before Swamp Thing volume whatever, i didn’t know who Brian K. Vaughan was, before The Other Side I didn’t know who Jason Aaron was,same goes with Garth Ennis regardless of the work he did overseas. is Vertigo now a place like Icon where ONLY established creators get to do new and risky stuff?

I don’t remember the names of creators generating reader confidence in big numbers when either of those books started back in the day. it was always the combined effort of the IDEA, word of mouth and the comics media seeing something good and telling people about it.