Hellblazer bites the dust

[GordyM]

Terrible, terrible idea. Constantine is a cruel bastard living in a world of all-too-human evil and sleaze. That's where he works best. His JLA Dark incarnation is bad enough - neutering him completely for the New-52 is just a waste of a great character.

Will we be seeing any characters going the other way? A Superman Vertigo title where he swears like a trooper and kills people with his super powered jism?

"Dear Vertigo editors..."

[Colin YNWA]

Will we be seeing any characters going the other way? A Superman Vertigo title where he swears like a trooper and kills people ....?

"Dear Vertigo editors..."

Yeah imagine if they did that with other characters like Batman... oh....

[Andy_Lee]

Will we be seeing any characters going the other way? A Superman Vertigo title where he swears like a trooper and kills people with his super powered jism?

"Dear Vertigo editors..."

That sounds like fun. What if Kal El got found by Mr Crowley instead of the Kents.

[Professor Bear]

*shrug* I'd be delighted to be proved wrong, but I hear persistent mutterings that Didio feels rather differently about Vertigo.

How many summer blockbusters has Vertigo given us, hmmm?  How many theme park attractions?  How many hit video games or TV series?  Comics exist to fuel other more profitable ventures, Vertigo doesn't - Fantagraphics have a better record in that line.  That's where your bottom line is, not 10,000 lousy copies.

Human Target was credited onscreen every week as based on the "Vertigo graphic novels" and the DC logo only appeared at the very, very end of the closing credits.  Constantine had the Vertigo logo more prominently than the DC one - if at all - on many posters and the spin-off videogame covers (and it appeared at the start of the movie), and almost all of the Vertigo titles are - or have been - in some sort of development deal already for movie, tv show or videogame adaptations, a state of affairs not shared by the DCU roster even though they are both owned by a company with its own movie, tv and videogame arms, and the last reboot tried to movie-fy every DC property not nailed down to make them more attractive to adapt.

Plus, there is the small matter of industry insiders like Jim Shooter claiming to have seen DC's accounts and saying the company hasn't turned an actual legit profit in the last ten years through their comic books, which, if true, means that actual profit is less important than that huge list of attractive IPs that would generate a hell of lot of bragging rights for anyone trying to convince people their company wasn't deep in the shitter both creatively and financially.

[Jim_Campbell]

saying the company hasn't turned an actual legit profit in the last ten years through their comic books

Which would make their decision to shut down their animation operation -- the only part of the entire DC enterprise to maintain a consistent level of quality and critical/fan approval*-- even more baffling.

Cheers

Jim

*I'm putting the Nolan Bat-films down as an aberration in their otherwise piss-poor judgement when getting movies made of their IP.

[Ancient Otter]

What a Crock. Vertigo has itself a dynamite line up right now I'm reading more Vertigo titles then I ever have.

You may be, but look at the amount of Vertigo titles in recent solicitations compared to a few years ago.

[Jim_Campbell]

You may be, but look at the amount of Vertigo titles in recent solicitations compared to a few years ago.

A number of people on other forums have also commented on the rapidly dwindling number of ongoing titles in favour of limited/mini series.

I find myself wondering whether JC's move to the mainstream DCU might see Constantine 2 extricate itself from Production Hell...

Cheers

Jim

[Professor Bear]

I think at a certain level the influence of DC as a corporate entity stops, and I think movies are definately above their pay grade - much as they would prefer otherwise.  Looking at the cheap-ass OVAs they've been turning out the last few years would suggest this is a good thing.

[TordelBack]

Human Target was credited onscreen every week as based on the "Vertigo graphic novels" ...  Constantine had the Vertigo logo more prominently than the DC one..

I'd never heard of the former (which means nothing, the things I haven't heard of would fill Lucien's library), and the latter while fairly inoffensive was hardly a triumph, and isn't everything in development all the time these days, but still, fair play, I was underselling.  However, we're not talking Avengers, Dark Knight, Walking Dead or even ruddy Ghost World here, and surely that's where the goalposts of expectation are for your in-house comics lines?

Look, I'm not knocking Vertigo, I nearly had to build an annex to the attic to contain what I love of their output, and I would far prefer to see Hellblazer and stablemates continue, but what role does it really have as an imprint when the Joker is cutting his own face off while Catman and Batman get off with their masks on over in the 'mainstream line', not to mention Swampie and Animal Man?

[Ancient Otter]

Look, I'm not knocking Vertigo, I nearly had to build an annex to the attic to contain what I love of their output, and I would far prefer to see Hellblazer and stablemates continue, but what role does it really have as an imprint when the Joker is cutting his own face off while Catman and Batman get off with their masks on over in the 'mainstream line', not to mention Swampie and Animal Man?

We will just have to wait and see how toned down the Occult & Horror aspect is in Constantine compared to Hellblazer. And for sex and masks, I'm guessing it was tame compared to The Extremist...

[Professor Bear]

what role does it really have as an imprint when the Joker is cutting his own face off while Catman and Batman get off with their masks on over in the 'mainstream line', not to mention Swampie and Animal Man?

That says more about the juvenile excess of DC than it does the relevance or otherwise of Vertigo.  Vertigo allows creators to tell stories like Preacher, Saucer Country, Y The Last Man, 100 Bullets, etc, that don't have one foot in the same universe as Superman as Swamp Thing, Animal Man and Doom Patrol already do.  It's a haven for creator-owned books aimed at a mainstream audience and the legacy and reputation it has means that Vertigo is the first stop for creators.  There are far more options to publish a weirdo title these days in the North American comic book market - many of them much more attractive and fair - than Vertigo, but Vertigo as a brand has cache with creators that IDW, Image or Dark Horse doesn't.
Vertigo arguably doesn't deserve its reputation these days, but it still has one.  DC can't really say the same.

[Jim_Campbell]

That says more about the juvenile excess of DC than it does the relevance or otherwise of Vertigo.

Yeah. I was just thinking that. I can see how DC might be thinking "Our comics are grown up now, why do we need Vertigo?" but that line of thinking only works if you can't see the difference between Batman and Catwoman fucking in costume and, say, any single page from Enigma.

Cheers

Jim

[TordelBack]

That says more about the juvenile excess of DC than it does the relevance or otherwise of Vertigo.

Yeah. I was just thinking that. I can see how DC might be thinking "Our comics are grown up now, why do we need Vertigo?" but that line of thinking only works if you can't see the difference between Batman and Catwoman fucking in costume and, say, any single page from Enigma.

Absolutely, and just to be clear, the point I was meandering around was the likely perspective of DC senior management.  I do value Vertigo greatly a an imprint (although suggestions that Preacher is anything more than 'juvenile excess' itself will be strongly resisted!), I just fear that TPTB are unlikely to feel the same way.

[CLOUDMAN]

Welp, there goes twenty-five years of character development we'll never get back.

[Frank]

Will we be seeing any characters going the other way? A Superman Vertigo title where he swears like a trooper and kills people with his super powered jism?

When I asked my Dad why Superman had to lose his powers before marrying Lois Lane in the second film, he replied by telling me that sex between them would have proven fatal for her. He had his answer all ready to go, so obviously the properties of Kryptonian spunk and the RPM of Kal-el's arse have fascinated generations of males. Has anyone considered the possibility that the destruction of Krypton was the result of a circle jerk by Jor-el and the ruling council?