COMICS PORTAL: Vertigo Returns as DC Vertigo

New York Comic Con took place this past weekend, and one of the biggest news items released said that Vertigo was indeed coming back, this time called DC Vertigo!

I always hate to miss NYCC, but real life got in the way of comics this year! This time, there were a LOT of news items coming our way as fans. As reported here at MajorSpoilers.com, DC announced the upcoming Hush 2, and they recognized the success of Absolute Batman and All In, but the news that most grabbed my attention was the reviving of the Vertigo imprint, now called DC Vertigo. DC Comics Editor Chris Conroy will oversee this imprint.

In fact, the very first book to bear the new imprint’s logo will be The Nice House By The Sea, written by James Tynion IV and aimed at more mature readers. The fourth issue of this book will be released on Wednesday, October 30. Second printings of issues #1 to #3 are expected to arrive in local comic shops soon. Tynion recently said, “Vertigo has been just a huge part of my life. It’s the biggest reason I wanted to create comics… Reading The Sandman in high school, I realized comics can be anything… It unlocked my mind and set my on the path that led me here.”

The return of Vertigo is something I discussed about a year ago when there was quite a lot of buzz going on about the retired imprint, which ended about five years back. It turns out that the rumors were indeed true since thEIR first offering will likely arrive in 2025.

DC Vertigo ensures that creators can maintain ownership and rights while fostering creative freedom, innovation, and diversity in their stories. The extra flexibility in creative freedom is particularly fitting, giving Vertigo’s history of exploring mature themes including nudity, drug use, profanity, and graphic violence.

While not everything about DC Vertigo has been clearly identified, it seems that Black Label will focus on more “adult” stories based on existing DC characters. DC Vertigo once again will focus on standalone genre comics and creator-owned titles. The Nice House by the Sea will be its flagship series, but others will be coming out in 2025, including previously archived Vertigo titles.

DC’s Black Label imprint will also continue, by the way. About this topic, Conroy said:

“DC Black Label continues, with some red-hot stories for DC’s superhero characters still on the way for years to come. Vertigo puts us back into the creator-owned business in a very big way. Yes, I’m running both; no, I haven’t lost my mind yet.”

While the DC Black Label line is the home for mature readers stories featuring existing DC characters and properties, Vertigo will emphasize creator-owned projects.

Since this imprint hasn’t been producing comics for about five years, some fans may not know just what Vertigo was.

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) 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.

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, and others have been produced in regular comic sizes. None of that has mattered to me… I just like stories that are more mature and different! I do love my variety in reading!

I was very happy to see that Black Label will continue because it always scratched that itch I have for more “mature” stories about DC characters. Yes, I buy and read pretty much all that DC produces, but I also want tales that the older and more experienced comics readers like myself can get into.

So, the return of DC Vertigo and the keeping of DC Black Label is the best of both worlds to me!

Yes, I’ll miss Karen Berger at the helm of Vertigo. She brought a lot of excellent comic reading to us fans. I’ll still support her projects, whatever they may be, but I am hoping for big success for Mr. Conroy and his two imprints at DC. And I also hope these books spawn more engaging TV shows and movies, just as Vertigo did in the past!

What do you think? Are you looking forward to the return of DC Vertigo? Is DC doing the right thing publishing creator-owned materials? What titles would you like to see DC Vertigo print? Whatever your opinion, feel free to share it in the space below!

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