The rumors continue to fly that DC is going to revive the Vertigo imprint, possibly in 2025.
Vertigo, the line of comics that focused on more “adult” or mature readers as part of DC, could be returning to comics shops in 2025. That’s what a lot of fans online (and offline, apparently) are talking about.
The first time I heard about this possibility was right after the recent Thought Bubble convention. There was what seemed to be a “tease” about Vertigo’s return during that con, and ever since then, discussion about all this has been going on hot and heavy!
Here’s a little history that might help people who don’t remember Vertigo. This line of comics was managed by Karen Berger (who now oversees Berger Books at Dark Horse) and provided quite a lot of comics that caught the attention of fans more interested in stories that appealed to mature readers across the board. The books that attracted a lot of people interested in these tales included The Sandman (now on Netflix), Bodies (also on Netflix), Preacher (which ran on FX), and different takes on Swamp Thing, John Constantine (Hellblazer), the Doom Patrol (which recently concluded a run on Max), Animal Man and other properties like Transmetropolitan, The Invisibles, Scalped, and Testament, among others.
Sadly, in 2019, Warner Bros/DC decided to “shutter” Vertigo (as well as the DC Ink and DC Zoom imprints). However, the recent season of Bodies (which I happened to watch in the last week or so) and a teaser about the return of The Sandman have made it seem like these and other properties just might help increase the WB/DC bottom line.
I’m sorry that it’s taken a few years for this to become something they are paying attention to!
The Black Label imprint that still runs under DC has been a favorite of mine ever since it launched a few years back. It’s nice to read stories that take a more mature spin on DC’s characters. I particularly enjoyed the Peacemaker series (which is reminiscent of the Max TV series), Joshua Williamson’s Rogues, Batman: Damned (the first Black Label book, in fact), Batman: Last Knight on Earth by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage (written by Jeff Lemire), Batman: Three Jokers, Aquaman: Andromeda, Catwoman: Lonely City, and Human Target (written by Tom King).
Some have been printed in larger formats, others have been produced in regular comics size. None of that has mattered to me… I just like stories that are more mature and different! I do love my variety in reading!
The thing is that most of the Black Label books have focused on the main DC characters, be they hero or villain. While Vertigo did some of this as well (probably most famously with Swamp Thing and Constantine), but there were many others that were brand new creations. I liked that kind of variety! It also gave creators the chance to stretch their wings, as it were, to tell stories that were outside the “superhero” genre a lot of the time.
Should these rumors prove true (and I sure hope they do), I would like it if Vertigo would primarily provide creator-owned properties and leave the DC characters to show up in the Black Label imprint. Honestly, though, I wouldn’t mind it if there was some crossover or bleed-through depending on how these stories work best.
I do have to say that I am a supporter of Berger’s Books as well. There have been many fascinating tales that kept my interest the entire time!
This begs the question: Since Vertigo did so very well under Karen Berger, should DC make the effort to bring her back?
Personally, I would love to see that happen! However, just like the creator-owned properties she managed under Vertigo, she’s made her own imprint as well. I wouldn’t blame her if she wants to stick with Berger Books. She might need to get her “palm greased” (get paid a serious amount of money) to attract her back to Vertigo.
Are there other editors who could make it work? I’m sure there are, but I am loathe to make suggestions since it could take a long time before Vertigo gets revived. Still, they would need to get on board pretty quickly so that person could get the ball rolling and gather new properties as soon as he or she can!
I know that attracting a new generation of comics readers is important, but maybe we need to bring back some of the fans who left when Vertigo stopped. At this point, though, we need every hand on deck that we can get, so while we do need to bring in the younger readers, we also need the more “mature” fans as well!
Maybe if Vertigo came back, DC could attract creators who helped make it such a hit in the past! Or even other writers/artists who could take it even further beyond their previous success!
Hey, that would work for me!
What do you think? Would you like to see the Vertigo imprint return to your local comics shop? Is there enough interest to keep Black Label and Vertigo function at the same time? Who would you like to see be in charge or contribute stories to a revived Vertigo? Whatever your opinion, feel free to share it in the space below!
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Wayne Hall creates the Wayne's Comics Podcast. He’s interviewed Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, John Layman, Kyle Higgins, Phil Hester, Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray, David Petersen, Christos Gage, Mike Grell, and Matt Kindt. On this site each week, he writes his "Comics Portal" column (general comics comments and previews) and reviews comics.