Vermillion is a dark science fantasy

Science fantasy

Science fantasy is a mixed genre within speculative fiction drawing elements from both science fiction and fantasy. Although in some terms of its portrayal in recent media products it can be defined as instead of being a mixed genre of science fiction and fantasy it is instead a mixing of the...

 comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 series

Ongoing series

The term "ongoing series" is used in contrast to limited series , a one shot , a graphic novel, or a trade paperback...

 set in an eponym

Eponym

An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...

ous city located in an imagined far future or alternate reality

Parallel universe (fiction)

A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...

. The series was conceived and written by multi-award winning author Lucius Shepard

Lucius Shepard

Lucius Shepard is an American writer. Classified as a science fiction and fantasy writer, he often leans into other genres, such as magical realism. His work is infused with a political and historical sensibility and an awareness of literary antecedents...

 as part of the short-lived DC Comics

DC Comics

DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

 imprint

Imprint

In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...

, Helix

Helix (comics)

Helix was a short-lived, science fiction and science fantasy imprint of DC Comics, launched in 1996 and discontinued in 1998. Helix was a short-lived, science fiction and science fantasy imprint of DC Comics, launched in 1996 and discontinued in 1998. Helix was a short-lived, science fiction and...

. The title was cancelled after a one year publication run shortly before the Helix imprint was itself cancelled by DC and its remaining titles shifted across to the Vertigo line.

Plot

The series narrates the tale of its major protagonist Jonathan Cave, to a man named Brother Fry. It describes the last days of a previous universe whose destruction in turn spawned the never-ending dystopian city-universe of Vermillion.
The series included two notable story arcs during its brief print run: Starlight Drive (issues 1-7) and Lord Iron & Lady Manganese (issues 9 -11).

Critical reception

The popularity of Vermillion suffered along with many of the early Helix titles for failing to identify with a clearly defined readership. One notable criticism was that it trod an ambivalent line between the SF and fantasy genres. In this context, it was never made clear to the reader what the "rules" of the Vermillion universe actually entailed or whether it was just in fact a random place setting. Other critics were more uncomplimentary.