Vertigo (comics)
Encyclopedia
Vertigo is an 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...

 of the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 comic-book publisher 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...

. Its books are marketed to a sophisticated audience, and may contain graphic violence, substance abuse, frank (but not explicit) depictions of sexuality, profanity, and controversial subjects. Although many of its releases are in the horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...

 and fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 genres, it also publishes works dealing with crime, social satire, speculative fiction, and biography. Each issue's cover carries the advisory label "Suggested for mature readers" (regardless of a specific issue's content). , Karen Berger
Karen Berger
Karen Berger is an American comic book editor. She is best known as the Executive Editor of DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.-Biography:...

 is the executive editor of the imprint, and has overseen it since its inception in 1993.

Vertigo comics series have won the comics industry's Eisner Award
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...

, including the Best Continuing Series of various years (The Sandman, Preacher, 100 Bullets
100 Bullets
100 Bullets is an Eisner and Harvey Award-winning comic book written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso. It was published in the USA by DC Comics under its Vertigo imprint and initially ran for one hundred issues...

 and Fables
Fables (comics)
Fables is a comic book series created by writer Bill Willingham, published by DC Comics's Vertigo imprint beginning in 2002. The series deals with various characters from fairy tales and folklore – referring to themselves as "Fables" – who have been forced out of their Homelands by "The...

). Several of its publications have been adapted to film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

, including Hellblazer
Hellblazer
Hellblazer is a contemporary horror comic book series, originally published by DC Comics, and subsequently by the Vertigo imprint since March 1993, the month the imprint was introduced, where it remains to this day...

, A History of Violence
A History of Violence
A History of Violence is a graphic novel written by John Wagner and illustrated by Vince Locke, originally published in 1997 by Paradox Press and later by Vertigo, both imprints of DC Comics....

, Stardust
Stardust (novel)
Stardust is the first solo prose novel by Neil Gaiman. It is usually published as a novel with illustrations by Charles Vess. Stardust has a different tone and style from most of Gaiman's prose fiction, being consciously written in the tradition of pre-Tolkien English fantasy, following in the...

, and V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta is a ten-issue comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated mostly by David Lloyd, set in a dystopian future United Kingdom imagined from the 1980s to about the 1990s. A mysterious masked revolutionary who calls himself "V" works to destroy the totalitarian government,...

.

In 2010, it was announced that Vertigo would become a strictly creator-owned imprint, with all titles that originated in the DC Universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...

, with the exception of flagship title Hellblazer, returning to the DC imprint. This includes characters related to Swamp Thing, The Sandman, Madame Xanadu
Madame Xanadu
Madame Xanadu is a fictional character, a comic book mystic published by DC Comics. The character is identified with Nimue, the sorceress from Arthurian mythology made popular by Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.-Publication history:...

, Black Orchid
Black Orchid
Black Orchid is the name of three fictional superheroines published by DC Comics. The original version of the character first appeared in Adventure Comics #428 .-Susan Linden-Thorne:...

, The Books of Magic
The Books of Magic
The Books of Magic is a four-issue English-language comic book mini-series written by Neil Gaiman, published by DC Comics, and later an ongoing series under the imprint Vertigo. Since its original publication, the mini-series has also been published in a single-volume collection under the Vertigo...

, House of Mystery
House of Mystery
The House of Mystery is the name of several horror-mystery-suspense anthology comic book series. It had a companion series, House of Secrets.-Genesis:...

, Sandman Mystery Theatre
Sandman Mystery Theatre
Sandman Mystery Theatre is a comic book series published by Vertigo, the mature-readers imprint of DC Comics. It ran for 70 issues between 1993 and 1999 and retells the adventures of the Sandman, a vigilante whose main weapon is a gun that fires sleeping gas, originally created by DC in the Golden...

, The Haunted Tank
The Haunted Tank
The Haunted Tank is a comic book feature that appeared in the DC Comics anthology war title G.I. Combat from 1961 through 1987. It was created by writer and editor Robert Kanigher and artist Russ Heath in G.I. Combat #87 ....

, The Unknown Soldier, and Shade, the Changing Man
Shade, the Changing Man
Shade, the Changing Man is a fictional comic book character created by Steve Ditko for DC Comics in 1977. The character was later adapted by Peter Milligan and became one of the first Vertigo titles....

. This had already been done with Animal Man
Animal Man
Animal Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . As a result of being in proximity to an exploding extraterrestrial spaceship, Buddy Baker acquires the ability to temporarily “borrow” the abilities of animals...

, Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol
The Doom Patrol is a superhero team appearing in publications from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80...

, and The Human Target.

Creation

Vertigo originated in 1993 under the stewardship of Karen Berger
Karen Berger
Karen Berger is an American comic book editor. She is best known as the Executive Editor of DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.-Biography:...

, a Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...

 graduate with a degree in English Literature and a minor in Art History, who had joined 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...

 in 1979 as an assistant to editor Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002–2009, he has worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles...

, debuting with House of Mystery
House of Mystery
The House of Mystery is the name of several horror-mystery-suspense anthology comic book series. It had a companion series, House of Secrets.-Genesis:...

 #292 after a Sgt. Rock reprint collection. In the final issue of House of Mystey, #323, she was depicted in the comics as personally evicting Cain from the House. Ironically, as condescending as she was portrayed treating him, she was instrumental in the character's continued development at DC. By the mid-1980s, Berger, then editor of such DC titles as Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....

 and Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld, began assigning writers from the U.K. These included Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...

, whom she met in 1987 on a talent-scouting trip, as well as Peter Milligan
Peter Milligan
Peter Milligan born in London, a British writer, best known for his comic book, film and television work.-Early career:Milligan started his comic career with short stories for 2000 AD in the early 1980s. By 1986, Milligan had his first ongoing strip in 2000AD called Bad Company, with artists Brett...

 and Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...

. She "found their sensibility and point of view to be refreshingly different, edgier and smarter" than those of most American comics writers, and worked with them and others on the superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...

/science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 series Animal Man
Animal Man
Animal Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . As a result of being in proximity to an exploding extraterrestrial spaceship, Buddy Baker acquires the ability to temporarily “borrow” the abilities of animals...

, Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol
The Doom Patrol is a superhero team appearing in publications from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80...

 vol. 2, and Shade, the Changing Man
Shade, the Changing Man
Shade, the Changing Man is a fictional comic book character created by Steve Ditko for DC Comics in 1977. The character was later adapted by Peter Milligan and became one of the first Vertigo titles....

 vol. 2; the Black Orchid
Black Orchid
Black Orchid is the name of three fictional superheroines published by DC Comics. The original version of the character first appeared in Adventure Comics #428 .-Susan Linden-Thorne:...

 miniseries (Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...

's first work for DC), the fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 series The Sandman vol. 2, and the horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...

 titles Hellblazer
Hellblazer
Hellblazer is a contemporary horror comic book series, originally published by DC Comics, and subsequently by the Vertigo imprint since March 1993, the month the imprint was introduced, where it remains to this day...

 and The Saga of the Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing, a fictional character, is a plant elemental in the created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson. He first appeared in House of Secrets #92 in a stand-alone horror story set in the early 20th century . The Swamp Thing then returned in his own series, set in the contemporary world and in...

, that last written by Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...

, a British writer inherited from previous editor Len Wein
Len Wein
Len Wein is an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men...

.

These seven titles, all of which carried a "Suggested for Mature Readers" label on their covers, and shared a sophistication-driven sensibility the fan press dubbed "the Bergerverse, would form the initial basis of Vertigo. In a 1993 editorial meeting with Berger, Levitz, DC publisher Jenette Kahn
Jenette Kahn
Jenette Kahn is an American comic book editor and executive. She joined DC Comics in 1976 as publisher, and five years later was promoted to President. In 1989, she stepped down as publisher and assumed the title of Editor-in-Chief while retaining the office of president...

 and managing editor
Managing editor
A managing editor is a senior member of a publication's management team.In the United States, a managing editor oversees and coordinates the publication's editorial activities...

 Dick Giordano
Dick Giordano
Richard Joseph "Dick" Giordano was an American comic book artist and editor best known for introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes, and serving as executive editor of then–industry leader DC Comics...

, Berger was given the mandate to place these titles under an imprint that, as Berger described, would "do something different in comics and help the medium 'grow up'". Several DC titles bearing the label, such as Green Arrow
Green Arrow
Green Arrow is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His secret identity is Oliver Queen, billionaire and former mayor of fictional Star City...

, which had it from vol. 2, #1 (February 1988)-#63 (Late June 1992), were not allowed to make the leap to the new imprint. The Question had borne the label from issue #8 (September 1987) to its cancellation in Spring 1992, and also never became a Vertigo title. Other "suggested for mature readers" titles to pre-date Vertigo include Vigilante
Vigilante (comics)
Vigilante is the name used by several fictional characters appearing in DC Comics. The original character was one of the first DC Comics characters adapted for live-action film, beating Superman by one year.-Greg Saunders:...

, Haywire, and Skreemer
Skreemer
Skreemer is a six-issue comic book limited series, written by Peter Milligan with art by Brett Ewins and Steve Dillon. The first issue was published by DC Comics in May 1989.-Plot:...

, and miniseries and one-shots such as Gilgamesh II, Tailgunner Jo, World Without End
World Without End (comics)
World Without End is a six-issue American comic book limited series, created by Jamie Delano and illustrated by John Higgins, released by DC Comics in 1990.Delano has said:-Publication history:...

, Mister E
Mister E
Mister E is a fictional character that appears mainly in the Vertigo Comics universe, though he sometimes appears in the DC Comics universe. Created by Bob Rozakis and Jack C. Harris, the character first appeared in Secrets of Haunted House and was a recurring character for ten issues...

, and Batman: The Killing Joke
Batman: The Killing Joke
Batman: The Killing Joke is an influential one-shot superhero graphic novel written by Alan Moore and drawn by Brian Bolland. First published by DC Comics in 1988, it has remained in print since then, and has also been reprinted as part of the trade paperback DC Universe: The Stories of Alan...

. These mature readers comics, both those that became Vertigo and those that did not, often had the DC bullet printed in a smaller than usual size.

Touchmark Comics

Several of the earliest new Vertigo series derived from Disney Comics
Disney Comics
Disney Comics was a comic book publishing company operated by The Walt Disney Company which ran from 1990 to 1993. In the USA, Disney only licensed their comic books to other publishers prior to 1990...

' aborted Touchmark Comics imprint, a line announced before the so-called "Disney Implosion" of 1991
1991 in comics
-January:* Checkmate is canceled by DC Comics with issue #33.* El Diablo vol. 2 is canceled by DC with issue #16.* Count Duckula is canceled by the Marvel Comics imprint Star Comics with issue #15....

, and subsequently abandoned. Touchmark was to be helmed at Disney by ex-DC editor Art Young, but when it was jettisoned, both Young and the properties were acquired by DC forming part of the debut Vertigo line. Berger notes that "when Art Young became available with the Touchmark properties... that helped facilitate the line," and the influx of projects allowed Berger to "double [her] proposed publishing plan." Quite how much of a part Disney's decision to scrap Touchmark played in the creation of Vertigo is open for debate. Touchmark titles included Enigma, Sebastian O
Sebastian O
Sebastian O is a comic book series written by Grant Morrison, drawn by Steve Yeowell and published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics in 1993.-Publication history:...

, Mercy
Mercy (Vertigo)
Mercy is a graphic novel, written by J. M. DeMatteis, and illustrated by Paul Johnson, published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.It tells the tale of a bitter cynical Joshua Rose, who while in a coma after a stroke, finds himself drifting through states of Limbo...

, and Shadows Fall.

Debut publications

Having spear-headed the "British invasion," by head-hunting such writers as Moore, Gaiman, Delano, Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...

, Garth Ennis
Garth Ennis
Garth Ennis is a Northern Irish comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series Preacher with artist Steve Dillon and his successful nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise...

 and Peter Milligan
Peter Milligan
Peter Milligan born in London, a British writer, best known for his comic book, film and television work.-Early career:Milligan started his comic career with short stories for 2000 AD in the early 1980s. By 1986, Milligan had his first ongoing strip in 2000AD called Bad Company, with artists Brett...

, Berger was well suited to head up the new line, as she was already editing many of the series which would form the core of the early Vertigo output. Debuting alongside ongoing former-DC series Swamp Thing #129, Hellblazer
Hellblazer
Hellblazer is a contemporary horror comic book series, originally published by DC Comics, and subsequently by the Vertigo imprint since March 1993, the month the imprint was introduced, where it remains to this day...

 #63, Sandman #47, Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol
The Doom Patrol is a superhero team appearing in publications from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80...

 #64, Animal Man
Animal Man
Animal Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . As a result of being in proximity to an exploding extraterrestrial spaceship, Buddy Baker acquires the ability to temporarily “borrow” the abilities of animals...

 #57, and Shade, the Changing Man
Shade, the Changing Man
Shade, the Changing Man is a fictional comic book character created by Steve Ditko for DC Comics in 1977. The character was later adapted by Peter Milligan and became one of the first Vertigo titles....

 #33, the first new comic book printed under the "Vertigo" imprint was Death: The High Cost of Living
Death: The High Cost of Living
Death: The High Cost of Living is an American comic book miniseries, written by Neil Gaiman with art by Chris Bachalo and Mark Buckingham. It is a spin-off from Gaiman's best-selling Vertigo Comics series The Sandman, featuring the Sandman 's elder sister, Death of the Endless in a self-contained...

 #1, debuting a scant couple of weeks before Enigma #1 in January (March) 1993. Of these ongoing titles, only Hellblazer continues to be published.

Debut authors

Although regularly cited as one of the major forces behind the creation of Vertigo comics, none of the launch titles were written by Alan Moore (he having long-left Swamp Thing, and only created the character of - but never written the spin-off solo title - Hellblazer). but neither were any of the initial launch titles written by Grant Morrison, who had similarly finished his seminal runs on both Animal Man and Doom Patrol under the DC logo.

Instead, the key launch Vertigo writers were part of the "second wave" of British talent, focused in large part around Gaiman, whose Sandman was so critical to the decision to create Vertigo, and whose Death miniseries launched it. Peter Milligan penned the other new series, Enigma, and continued Shade, the Changing Man, while Ennis continued Hellblazer, Delano wrote Animal Man, Fantasy author Rachel Pollack
Rachel Pollack
Rachel Pollack is an American science fiction author, comic book writer, and expert on divinatory tarot...

 took over Doom Patrol and Horror author Nancy Collins
Nancy A. Collins
Nancy A. Collins is a United States horror fiction writer best known for her series of vampire novels featuring her character Sonja Blue. Collins has alsowritten for comic books, including the Swamp Thing series, Jason Vs...

 wrote Swamp Thing. The ninth comic launched at Vertigo's 1993 debut was the Vertigo Preview, showcasing the concurrently released titles, as well as J. M. DeMatteis
J. M. DeMatteis
John Marc DeMatteis is an American writer of comic books.-Early career:Born in Brooklyn, DeMatteis graduated from Midwood High School and Empire State College. He worked as a music critic before getting his start in comic books at DC Comics in the late 1970s...

' Mercy, Ann Nocenti
Ann Nocenti
Ann "Annie" Nocenti is an American journalist, writer, editor, and filmmaker best known for her work on comic books and magazines. As an editor for Marvel Comics, she edited New Mutants and The Uncanny X-Men...

's Kid Eternity
Kid Eternity
Kid Eternity is a comic book superhero who first premiered in Hit Comics #25, published by Quality Comics in December, 1942. The character - as well as all of Quality's intellectual properties were sold to DC Comics in 1956...

 (an ongoing series spun off from the earlier Morrison-penned miniseries), Dick Foreman's Black Orchid
Black Orchid
Black Orchid is the name of three fictional superheroines published by DC Comics. The original version of the character first appeared in Adventure Comics #428 .-Susan Linden-Thorne:...

 (an on-going series spun off from the Gaiman/McKean miniseries) and Matt Wagner
Matt Wagner
Matt Wagner is an American comic book writer and artist, best known as the creator of the series Mage and Grendel.-Career:...

's Sandman Mystery Theatre
Sandman Mystery Theatre
Sandman Mystery Theatre is a comic book series published by Vertigo, the mature-readers imprint of DC Comics. It ran for 70 issues between 1993 and 1999 and retells the adventures of the Sandman, a vigilante whose main weapon is a gun that fires sleeping gas, originally created by DC in the Golden...

.

Other early titles

Having inherited some projects from Disney's aborted Touchmark project, Vertigo was able to plan a first year in which they were to publish "two new series [per] month in a variety of formats, either one-shots or miniseries or ongoing monthlies." The initial two series were both miniseries, the aforementioned Death: The High Cost of Living by Neil Gaiman and Chris Bachalo
Chris Bachalo
Chris Bachalo is an American comic book illustrator known for his quirky, cartoon-like style. He became well known for stints on DC Comics’ Shade, the Changing Man and Neil Gaiman's two Death series...

 and Enigma by Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo
Duncan Fegredo
Duncan Fegredo is a British comic book artist born in Leicester in 1964.-Career:Fegredo first managed to get into comics after showing his portfolio around UKCAC in 1987 and meeting Dave Thorpe. Together they worked on a strip for a short lived British magazine called Heartbreak Hotel...

. Enigma was initially "going to be the launch book of [Disney's] Touchmark," but became the second new Vertigo title, written by the author Shade, the Changing Man, and drawn by the artist from Grant Morrison's earlier Kid Eternity miniseries.

The major launch of the second month was Sandman: Mystery Theatre, described by Berger as in the same format as Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, "with different storylines every four issues." Written by Matt Wagner, it was described as "playing the '30s with a '90s feel... haunting, film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...

-ish...," and starring original Sandman
Sandman (DC Comics)
Sandman is the name of seven fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. All are connected in one way or the other, though there are three largely dissimilar concepts, with two or three persons having served in each role various times...

 Wesley Dodds in a title whose "sensibilities echo crime genre fiction
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...

." Joining Mystery Theatre in February (cover-dated April, 1993) was J. Marc DeMatteis (and Paul Johnson)'s 64-page one-shot Mercy, while other initially talked about Vertigo projects included Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell
Steve Yeowell
Steve Yeowell is a British comics artist, well-known for his work on the long-running science fiction and fantasy weekly comic 2000 AD.-Biography:...

's 3-issue steampunk
Steampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...

 miniseries Sebastian O
Sebastian O
Sebastian O is a comic book series written by Grant Morrison, drawn by Steve Yeowell and published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics in 1993.-Publication history:...

 - another ex-Touchmark project. In addition, Steve Gerber
Steve Gerber
Stephen Ross "Steve" Gerber was an American comic book writer best known as co-creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck....

, an influential force on many of the Vertigo writers, provided the miniseries Nevada
Nevada (comics)
Nevada is the title of an American comic book limited series published by DC Comics under its Vertigo imprint in 1998. The series was written by Steve Gerber and with art from Phil Winslade, Steve Leialoha, and Dick Giordano....

, which was written based on Neil Gaiman's reiteration of a frequent request to write something more about the characters in "the obligatory comic book fight scene" in Howard the Duck
Howard the Duck
Howard the Duck is a comic book character in the Marvel Comics universe created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerik. The character first appeared in Adventure into Fear #19 and several subsequent series have chronicled the misadventures of the ill-tempered, anthropomorphic, "funny...

 #16.

Vertigo style & promotion

Although the books did not have a consistent visual style, the cover designs of early Vertigo series featured a uniform trade dress
Trade dress
Trade dress is a legal term of art that generally refers to characteristics of the visual appearance of a product or its packaging that signify the source of the product to consumers...

 with a vertical bar along the left side, which included the imprint logo, pricing, date, and issue numbers. The initial Vertigo 'look' "was created so people who see the books will automatically know it's [a Vertigo title]." The design layout continued with very little variation until issues cover-dated July 2002 (including Fables
Fables (comics)
Fables is a comic book series created by writer Bill Willingham, published by DC Comics's Vertigo imprint beginning in 2002. The series deals with various characters from fairy tales and folklore – referring to themselves as "Fables" – who have been forced out of their Homelands by "The...

 #1) which introduced an across-the-top layout ahead of 2003's "Vertigo X" 10th anniversary celebration. The "distinctive design" was designed to be used on "all Vertigo books except the hardcovers, trade paperbacks, and graphic novels." Berger noted that DC was "very" committed to line, having put a "lot of muscle behind" promoting it, including a promotional launch kit made available to "[r]etailers who order[ed] at least 25 copies of the February issue of Sandman [#47]," a "Platinum edition" variant cover for Death: The High Cost of Living #1 and a 75c Vertigo Preview comic featuring a specially written seven-page Sandman
Morpheus (comics)
Morpheus, in comics, may refer to:* Morpheus, another name for the Sandman series main character Dream * Morpheus , a Marvel Comics character...

 story by Gaiman and Kent Williams. In addition, a 16-page Vertigo Sampler was also produced and bundled with copies of Capital City Distribution
Capital City Distribution
Capital City Distribution was a Madison, Wisconsin-based comic book distributor which operated from 1980 to 1996 when they were acquired by rival Diamond Comics Distributors...

's Advance Comics solicitation index.

Format

In addition to the initially announced projects, Berger noted that, due to the then fluctuating state of the comics market, the Vertigo line was erring on the side of "blue line art or flat colors" rather than fully painted works, because "the market seems to be really price-sensitive." Although Vertigo released several "new format" and "Prestige format
Prestige format
Prestige format is a term coined by DC Comics and later came into wider use to refer to a square-bound comic book with cardstock covers. A prestige format comic book is usually longer than a normal, stapled 32-page comic...

" titles, Berger noted that they had "to be really selective" with choosing to present stories in those formats solely "if the story can only be done that way," rather than as a default.

Formerly non-Vertigo titles

The Vertigo imprint, devoted specifically to titles for mature readers, has also been retroactively applied to later reprints of material previously published under other DC imprints. In addition to the earlier issues of the such initially DC ongoing series as Doom Patrol and Swamp Thing, other "mature readers" works such as V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta is a ten-issue comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated mostly by David Lloyd, set in a dystopian future United Kingdom imagined from the 1980s to about the 1990s. A mysterious masked revolutionary who calls himself "V" works to destroy the totalitarian government,...

 have later been subsumed into the Vertigo line. Books from discontinued imprints which have individual staying-power also been rebranded, most notably Transmetropolitan
Transmetropolitan
Transmetropolitan is a cyberpunk comic book series written by Warren Ellis with art by Darick Robertson and published by DC Comics. The series was originally part of the short-lived DC Comics imprint Helix, but upon the end of the book's first year the series was moved to the Vertigo imprint as DC...

, which initially launched under DC's short-lived sci-fi 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...

 imprint, but switched to Vertigo with issue #13 (September 1998) and ran for a further 47 issues and four years; and A History of Violence
A History of Violence
A History of Violence is a graphic novel written by John Wagner and illustrated by Vince Locke, originally published in 1997 by Paradox Press and later by Vertigo, both imprints of DC Comics....

 which was originally published as part of DC's Paradox Press
Paradox Press
Paradox Press was a division of DC Comics formed in 1993 after editor Mark Nevelow departed from Piranha Press. Under the initial editorship of Andrew Helfer and Bronwyn Carlton the imprint was renamed. It is best known for graphic novels like A History of Violence and Road to Perdition...

 line, but reprinted under the Vertigo imprint when it was adapted into a motion picture. Other quirky, "mature" or "horror" series have seen collections sold under the Vertigo banner, including a "best of" collection of the Silver Age
Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...

 Comics Code-approved House of Mystery
House of Mystery
The House of Mystery is the name of several horror-mystery-suspense anthology comic book series. It had a companion series, House of Secrets.-Genesis:...

 (as July 1998's Welcome Back to the House of Mystery) – a forerunner of Vertigo's founding horror/fantasy series – and a reprint of its pre-code first issue from 1951.

Relationship to DC Universe

Although many of the initial Vertigo publications were set in the DC Universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...

 (Shade, Doom Patrol, Swamp Thing, Hellblazer, Animal Man, Black Orchid, The Books of Magic and The Sandman all fit into the broader DC Universe, and have interacted with DC heroes including Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...

 and Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...

), even pre-Vertigo the "mature reader" titles occupied a particular "dark corner" of the mainstream DCU, and the establishment of the imprint continued to distance the in-Universe series from full DC-branded continuity. Appearances in DC series by characters appearing in Vertigo series were very uncommon (notable exceptions include Sandmans Daniel appearing in two issues of Grant Morrison's 1997 relaunch of core-DCU title JLA), while events which had a "global" impact in the books of one imprint were not seen in the books of the other, (e.g. Vertigo's "The Children's Crusade
The Children's Crusade (Vertigo comics)
The Children's Crusade is the over-arcing title of a seven-issue comic book crossover and limited series, and specifically the two bookends thereof...

" crossover
Intercompany crossover
In comic books, an intercompany crossover is a comic or series of comics where characters published by one company meet those published by another...

 or DC's "Bloodlines
Bloodlines (comics)
"Bloodlines" was a 1993 comic book story arc published by DC Comics. It was an intracompany crossover that ran through DC's superhero annuals and concluded with a two-issue 'Bloodbath' miniseries written by Dan Raspler. The antagonists were a race of monstrous xenomorph-like aliens, incorrectly...

" crossover (except for Swamp Thing, who appeared in The New Titans issue of the latter), both in 1993). However, several characters used in Gaiman's Sandman, The Books of Magic
The Books of Magic
The Books of Magic is a four-issue English-language comic book mini-series written by Neil Gaiman, published by DC Comics, and later an ongoing series under the imprint Vertigo. Since its original publication, the mini-series has also been published in a single-volume collection under the Vertigo...

, John Constantine
John Constantine
John Constantine is a fictional character, an occult detective anti-hero in comic books published by DC Comics, mostly under the Vertigo imprint. The character first appeared in Swamp Thing #37 , and was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch...

 and Black Orchid
Black Orchid
Black Orchid is the name of three fictional superheroines published by DC Comics. The original version of the character first appeared in Adventure Comics #428 .-Susan Linden-Thorne:...

 have all appeared briefly in mainstream DC comics, while other characters (primarily in the magical and supernatural grey area between mainstream and mature lines) have spanned the universes - the 2003 Zatanna
Zatanna
Zatanna Zatara is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Murphy Anderson, Zatanna first appeared in Hawkman vol. 1 #4...

 special "Everyday Magic" was published as a Vertigo title, while Zatanna herself remains rooted in the DC Universe, and the current 2008 Madame Xanadu
Madame Xanadu
Madame Xanadu is a fictional character, a comic book mystic published by DC Comics. The character is identified with Nimue, the sorceress from Arthurian mythology made popular by Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.-Publication history:...

 series is also being released under the Vertigo imprint. Characters from the DC Universe have slightly more commonly made guest appearances in Vertigo comics, and Vertigo miniseries featuring DC Universe characters appear from time to time, including the above-mentioned Zatanna
Zatanna
Zatanna Zatara is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Murphy Anderson, Zatanna first appeared in Hawkman vol. 1 #4...

 one-shot, and characters such as Doctor Occult
Doctor Occult
Doctor Occult is a fictional character, a magic user in the . Created by Superman's creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Doctor Occult is the earliest character created by DC Comics still currently in use in its shared universe fiction....

 and The Phantom Stranger.

Borderline DC/Vertigo titles Animal Man
Animal Man
Animal Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . As a result of being in proximity to an exploding extraterrestrial spaceship, Buddy Baker acquires the ability to temporarily “borrow” the abilities of animals...

 and Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol
The Doom Patrol is a superhero team appearing in publications from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80...

 sit uneasily between the Universes, both having begun as merely quirky titles in the mainstream universe, but becoming part of the Vertigo launch line-up in 1993 by dint of their increasingly separate and "mature" storylines. Both eventually returned to regular appearances under the main DC imprint after their Vertigo series were cancelled, and Doom Patrol has seen subsequent volumes released under the DC banner, while Animal Man played an integral role in recent DC year-long events 52
52 (comic book)
52 was a weekly American comic book limited series published by DC Comics that debuted on May 10, 2006, one week after the conclusion of the seven-issue Infinite Crisis. The series was written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid with layouts by Keith Giffen...

 and Countdown
Countdown (comics)
Countdown, in comics, may refer to:* Countdown , a British boys comic of the early 1970s* Countdown to Final Crisis, a DC comics series* DC Countdown, the name originally listed for Countdown to Infinite Crisis...

.

Due to the change in DC's editorial policy, it has been announced that many of these titles' characters will return to the DC Universe proper. For example, Death of the Endless
Death (DC Comics)
Death is a fictional character from the DC comic book series, The Sandman . The character first appeared in The Sandman vol. 2, #8 , and was created by Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg....

 from The Sandman appeared in a 2010 storyline of Action Comics, where she encountered Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...

. In addition, 2011 saw the return of John Constantine
John Constantine
John Constantine is a fictional character, an occult detective anti-hero in comic books published by DC Comics, mostly under the Vertigo imprint. The character first appeared in Swamp Thing #37 , and was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch...

 to the mainstream DC Universe in the aftermath of the Brightest Day
Brightest Day
Brightest Day is a year-long comic book maxi-series that began in April 2010. The story follows the ending of the series Blackest Night and how the aftermath of these events affect the entire DC Universe.-Plot:...

 storyline. It has also been revealed, as part of the reboot of the DC Universe, many of these characters will appear in DC's "the Dark" line of supernatural and horror comics. For example, Constantine, Shade the Changing Man, Madame Xanadu
Madame Xanadu
Madame Xanadu is a fictional character, a comic book mystic published by DC Comics. The character is identified with Nimue, the sorceress from Arthurian mythology made popular by Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.-Publication history:...

, and other prominent magic-users in the DC Universe will appear in Justice League Dark
Justice League Dark
Justice League Dark is an ongoing DC Comics series, announced as part of the universe wide overhaul, announced on May 31, 2011. The title will follow the adventures of a more supernatural team than traditional Justice League titles, and is written by Peter Milligan, with art by Mikel Janin...

, and Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing, a fictional character, is a plant elemental in the created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson. He first appeared in House of Secrets #92 in a stand-alone horror story set in the early 20th century . The Swamp Thing then returned in his own series, set in the contemporary world and in...

 and Animal Man
Animal Man
Animal Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . As a result of being in proximity to an exploding extraterrestrial spaceship, Buddy Baker acquires the ability to temporarily “borrow” the abilities of animals...

 will have their self-titled series.

Creator-owned series

Much of Vertigo's output, however, inhabits its own "universe," and is set completely apart from the DC universe (and from other Vertigo titles--there is no "Vertigo Universe" per se), automatically putting to rest to any continuity quibbles between the two. Vertigo was the first successful imprint of DC Comics to routinely publish creator-owned
Creator ownership
Creator ownership is an arrangement in which the creator or creators of a work of fiction retain full ownership of the material, regardless of whether it is self-published or by a corporate publisher. In some fields of publishing, such as fiction writing, creator ownership is a standard arrangement...

 series, right from its launch, with Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo's Enigma. From the start, Berger was committed to creator-owned projects, working on several "[her]self with new writers and artists" as well as established names, with the express intention of "trying to bring new people into the industry, as well as use some of the best creators in comics."

Long-running titles

Only one of the series which existed before the formation of Vertigo is still ongoing (Hellblazer), the other launch titles having been cancelled or - as in the case of Gaiman's Sandman - brought to a definitive close.

However, Vertigo has published a number of series since its start with runs of 50 or more issues. They include:
  • Hellblazer
    Hellblazer
    Hellblazer is a contemporary horror comic book series, originally published by DC Comics, and subsequently by the Vertigo imprint since March 1993, the month the imprint was introduced, where it remains to this day...

     (286 issues to date, plus many spin-offs and tie-ins)
  • Swamp Thing
    Swamp Thing
    Swamp Thing, a fictional character, is a plant elemental in the created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson. He first appeared in House of Secrets #92 in a stand-alone horror story set in the early 20th century . The Swamp Thing then returned in his own series, set in the contemporary world and in...

     Vol. #2 (171 issues, including the one-shot Swamp Thing: Roots and two subsequent volumes of 20 and 29 issues, respectively)
  • Fables
    Fables (comics)
    Fables is a comic book series created by writer Bill Willingham, published by DC Comics's Vertigo imprint beginning in 2002. The series deals with various characters from fairy tales and folklore – referring to themselves as "Fables" – who have been forced out of their Homelands by "The...

     (112 issues to date, plus various mini-series, OGN's, the Jack of Fables
    Jack of Fables
    Jack of Fables was a spin-off of the comic book Fables, both of which were published by DC Comics as part of that company's Vertigo imprint. It shows the adventures of Jack Horner after his exile from Fabletown. A preview of the series was shown in Fables #50, and the series itself debuted in July...

     spin-off title and the Fables novel "Peter & Max")
  • 100 Bullets
    100 Bullets
    100 Bullets is an Eisner and Harvey Award-winning comic book written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso. It was published in the USA by DC Comics under its Vertigo imprint and initially ran for one hundred issues...

     (100 issues)
  • Animal Man
    Animal Man
    Animal Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . As a result of being in proximity to an exploding extraterrestrial spaceship, Buddy Baker acquires the ability to temporarily “borrow” the abilities of animals...

     (89 issues)
  • Doom Patrol
    Doom Patrol
    The Doom Patrol is a superhero team appearing in publications from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80...

     Vol.2 (87 issues)
  • The Sandman (75 issues, plus the spin-off titles, The Dreaming
    The Dreaming (comics)
    The Dreaming is a fictional place, a comic book location published by DC Comics. The Dreaming first appeared in the Sandman vol. 2 #1, , and was created by Neil Gaiman and Sam Kieth. The Dreaming is the domain of Dream of the Endless....

     and Lucifer
    Lucifer (DC Comics)
    Lucifer is a DC Comics character that starred in an eponymous comic book published under the Vertigo imprint, whose entire run was written by Mike Carey...

    )
  • The Books of Magic
    The Books of Magic
    The Books of Magic is a four-issue English-language comic book mini-series written by Neil Gaiman, published by DC Comics, and later an ongoing series under the imprint Vertigo. Since its original publication, the mini-series has also been published in a single-volume collection under the Vertigo...

     (75 issues plus sequel series)
  • Lucifer
    Lucifer (DC Comics)
    Lucifer is a DC Comics character that starred in an eponymous comic book published under the Vertigo imprint, whose entire run was written by Mike Carey...

     (75 issues)
  • Sandman Mystery Theatre
    Sandman Mystery Theatre
    Sandman Mystery Theatre is a comic book series published by Vertigo, the mature-readers imprint of DC Comics. It ran for 70 issues between 1993 and 1999 and retells the adventures of the Sandman, a vigilante whose main weapon is a gun that fires sleeping gas, originally created by DC in the Golden...

     (70 issues)
  • Shade, the Changing Man
    Shade, the Changing Man
    Shade, the Changing Man is a fictional comic book character created by Steve Ditko for DC Comics in 1977. The character was later adapted by Peter Milligan and became one of the first Vertigo titles....

     (70 issues)
  • DMZ (72 issues)
  • Preacher
    Preacher (comics)
    Preacher is a comic book series created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, published by the American comic book label Vertigo , with painted covers by Glenn Fabry....

     (66 issues plus tie-ins)
  • Transmetropolitan
    Transmetropolitan
    Transmetropolitan is a cyberpunk comic book series written by Warren Ellis with art by Darick Robertson and published by DC Comics. The series was originally part of the short-lived DC Comics imprint Helix, but upon the end of the book's first year the series was moved to the Vertigo imprint as DC...

     (60 issues and two specials, although the first twelve "main" issues were released under the Helix imprint)
  • The Dreaming
    The Dreaming (comics)
    The Dreaming is a fictional place, a comic book location published by DC Comics. The Dreaming first appeared in the Sandman vol. 2 #1, , and was created by Neil Gaiman and Sam Kieth. The Dreaming is the domain of Dream of the Endless....

     (60 issues)
  • Y: The Last Man
    Y: The Last Man
    Y: The Last Man is a comic book series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra published by Vertigo beginning in 2002. The series is about the only man to survive the apparent simultaneous death of every male mammal on Earth...

     (60 issues)
  • The Invisibles
    The Invisibles
    The Invisibles is a comic book series that was published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics from 1994 to 2000. It was created and scripted by Scottish writer Grant Morrison, and drawn by various artists throughout its publication....

     (59 issues over three volumes)
  • Scalped
    Scalped
    Scalped is a critically acclaimed ongoing crime/western comic book series written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by R. M. Guéra, published monthly by Vertigo Comics...

     (54 issues to date, scheduled to end with issue 60)
  • Jack of Fables
    Jack of Fables
    Jack of Fables was a spin-off of the comic book Fables, both of which were published by DC Comics as part of that company's Vertigo imprint. It shows the adventures of Jack Horner after his exile from Fabletown. A preview of the series was shown in Fables #50, and the series itself debuted in July...

     (50 issues)

Most of these series have further been kept in perpetual print as paperback collected editions, which typically sell as well - or better - than the monthly series did.

Other Ongoing Titles

  • Northlanders
    Northlanders
    Northlanders is an American comic book series published by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint. The stories are fictional but set in and around historical events during the Viking Age....

     (46 issues to date, concluding with issue 50, March 2012)
  • The Unwritten
    The Unwritten
    The Unwritten is an American comic book ongoing series written by Mike Carey with art by Peter Gross and published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics. The book follows Tom Taylor, who was the inspiration for a series of hugely successful children's fantasy novels in the vein of Harry Potter...

     (32 issues to date)
  • Sweet Tooth
    Sweet tooth
    Sweet Tooth may refer to:* Sweet Tooth , a character in the Twisted Metal video game series* Sweet Tooth , a strip in the British comic Whizzer and Chips, and later Buster...

     (28 issues to date)
  • American Vampire
    American Vampire
    American Vampire is an Eisner Award-winning comic book series created by writer Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque.The series imagines vampires as a population made up of many different secret species, and charts moments of vampire evolution and inter-species conflict throughout history...

     (22 issues to date)
  • iZombie
    IZOMBIE
    iZOMBIE is a comic book series created by writer Chris Roberson and Michael Allred, published by DC Comics's Vertigo imprint beginning in 2010...

     (20 issues to date)


Past series include:
  • House of Mystery (Vertigo)
    House of Mystery (Vertigo)
    House of Mystery is an occult and horror-themed comic book anthology series based on the classic House of Mystery series that ran from 1951 to 1983...

     (42 issues, concluded October 2011)
  • Air (comics)
    Air (comics)
    This article is about the American comicbook. For information about the manga with the same name, see Air .Air was an ongoing comic book series published by DC Comics as part of the Vertigo imprint. It was created by writer G. Willow Wilson and artist M. K. Perker.-Publication history:Air was an...

     (24 issues, October 2008-August 2010)
  • The Exterminators (comics)
    The Exterminators (comics)
    The Exterminators was an American monthly comic book series, published under the Vertigo imprint by DC Comics. The comic was created by writer Simon Oliver and artist Tony Moore and follows the employees of the Bug-Bee-Gone extermination company. The book is notable for its graphic and darkly...

     (30 issues, March 2006-August 2008)
  • Testament (comics) (22 issues, February 2006-March 2008)
  • Loveless (comics) (24 issues, December 2005-May 2008)
  • The Unknown Soldier (25 issues, October 2008-December 2010)
  • Young Liars (comics)
    Young Liars (comics)
    Young Liars is a comic book series created by David Lapham. It was published by DC Comics as a part of that company's Vertigo imprint. The first issue was released in March 2008....

     (18 issues, May 2008-October 2009)
  • American Century (comics)
    American Century (comics)
    American Century was a comic book series published by DC Comics as a part of the Vertigo imprint starting in early 2001. It was co-written by Howard Chaykin and David Tischman....

     (27 issues, May 2001-October 2003)
  • Madame Xanadu
    Madame Xanadu
    Madame Xanadu is a fictional character, a comic book mystic published by DC Comics. The character is identified with Nimue, the sorceress from Arthurian mythology made popular by Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.-Publication history:...

     (29 issues, August 2008-January 2011)
  • Greek Street (comics)
    Greek Street (comics)
    Greek Street is an American comic book series written by Peter Milligan with art by Davide Gianfelice. It retells and updates Greek myths. The series was canceled with issue 16.-Plot synopsis:...

     (16 issues, September 2009-December 2010)
  • Crossing Midnight
    Crossing Midnight
    Crossing Midnight was an American horror/fantasy comic book series set in contemporary Japan. It was written by Mike Carey and illustrated by Jim Fern and Eric Nguyen, with covers by J. H. Williams III. Vertigo, a DC Comics imprint, published the series...

     (19 issues, January 2007-July 2008)
  • Codename: Knockout
    Codename: Knockout
    Codename: Knockout is the title of a comic book series published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics for 24 issues between June 2001 and June 2003...

     (24 issues, June 2001-June 2003)
  • Deadenders
    Deadenders
    Deadenders is an science fiction comic book series written by Ed Brubaker and published by DC Comics. It is set in a post-apocalyptic future in New Bedlam, USA and features a heavy Mod content among the characters. The cover work is by Philip Bond...

     (16 issues, March 2000-June 2001)

Trade paperbacks

The (financial) success of many Vertigo titles relies not on monthly issue sales, but on the subsequent "trade paperback" editions which reprint the monthly comics in volumes which are sold not merely in comic shops, but in all bookshops. Vertigo's success in popularizing the trade paperback collection led to a wider take-up in the American comics industry of routinely reprinting monthly series in this format. Limited series (ideal for later collection) and original graphic novels make up the majority of the imprint's output, with TPB sales accounting for a substantial segment of the imprint's sales.

Sub-imprints and brandings

Over its fifteen-year history, the Vertigo imprint has experimented with a number of different branding, sub-imprint and business practices - some more popular and successful than others. The first - and only - "crossover" between Vertigo titles, 1993-4's The Children's Crusade event, despite comparable preorder numbers of the higher-(double-)priced Annuals, "did not yield smashing results" or garner many positive reviews, in large part due to its "gimmicky" nature, which ran counter to Vertigo's quirky, non-mainstream appeal and customer-base. The event was defended as "no marketing ploy" by one of the event's editors, Lou Stathis, who wrote of his dislike of the often "crass manipulation" of crossover events, defending The Children's Crusade as having come not from marketing, but the writers' minds, and therefore being "story-driven" rather than manipulative. The crossover did not become an annual event, however - indeed, annuals linked to Vertigo series rarely reappeared since this event.

Vertigo Visions

Marked on the right-hand side of the cover by the Vertigo Visions "eye" logo, the six (to date) one-shots released under this sub-imprint have little in common other than introducing formerly (and, indeed, still) DC-Universe characters into the Vertigo line. All six characters span the gap between the universes, and have appeared in comics from both imprints. Prez Rickard for example, debuted in Prez a short-lived early-1970s series by Joe Simon
Joe Simon
Joseph Henry "Joe" Simon is an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.With his...

, (who also co-created Brother Power the Geek
Brother Power the Geek
Brother Power the Geek is a comic book character created in the late 1960s for DC Comics by Joe Simon. He first appeared in Brother Power the Geek #1 ....

 and Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...

) and artist Jerry Grandenetti
Jerry Grandenetti
Charles J. "Jerry" Grandenetti was an American comic book artist and advertising art director, best known for his work with writer-artist Will Eisner on the celebrated comics feature "The Spirit", and for his decade-and-a-half run on many DC Comics war series...

, but then drifted in obscurity before being spotlighted in Gaiman's Sandman #54. Ed Brubaker's one-shot dealt with Prez's supposed son seeking out his supposed father.
  • Vertigo Visions: The Geek
    Brother Power the Geek
    Brother Power the Geek is a comic book character created in the late 1960s for DC Comics by Joe Simon. He first appeared in Brother Power the Geek #1 ....

     (June 1993) by Rachel Pollack
    Rachel Pollack
    Rachel Pollack is an American science fiction author, comic book writer, and expert on divinatory tarot...

     and Mike Allred
  • Vertigo Visions: The Phantom Stranger (Oct 1993) by Alisa Kwitney
    Alisa Kwitney
    Alisa Kwitney is an American author.Kwitney was born in New York City. She graduated from Wesleyan University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and from Columbia University's Master of Fine Arts Fiction Writing Program. Kwitney was also an editor for Vertigo, the mature/dark fantasy branch of DC...

     and Guy Davis
  • Vertigo Visions: Doctor Occult
    Doctor Occult
    Doctor Occult is a fictional character, a magic user in the . Created by Superman's creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Doctor Occult is the earliest character created by DC Comics still currently in use in its shared universe fiction....

     (July 1994) by Dave Louapre and Dan Sweetman
    Dan Sweetman
    Daniel Albert Sweetman is the former co-host for Network Ten's national cartoon show Toasted TV. His father, John, works as a Principal Pastor while his mother, Debbie, is a piano teacher...

  • Vertigo Visions: Prez
    Prez (DC Comics)
    Prez: First Teen President was a four issue comic series by writer Joe Simon and artist Jerry Grandenetti, released by DC Comics in 1973 and 1974...

     (Sep 1995) by Ed Brubaker
    Ed Brubaker
    Ed Brubaker is an Eisner Award-winning comic book writer and cartoonist. Brubaker first early comics work was primarily in the crime fiction genre with works such as Lowlife, The Fall, Sandman Presents: Dead Boy Detectives and Scene of the Crime...

     and Eric Shanower
    Eric Shanower
    Eric James Shanower is an American comics artist and writer, best known for his Oz novels and comics and the on-going retelling of the Trojan War as Age of Bronze.-Biography:...

  • Vertigo Visions: Tomahawk
    Tomahawk (comics)
    Tomahawk is a comic book character whose adventures were published by DC Comics during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s as a backup feature in Star Spangled Comics and World's Finest Comics and in his own eponymous series...

     (July 1998) by Rachel Pollack
    Rachel Pollack
    Rachel Pollack is an American science fiction author, comic book writer, and expert on divinatory tarot...

     and Tom Yeates
  • Vertigo Visions: Doctor Thirteen
    Doctor Thirteen
    Dr. Terrence Thirteen, known simply as Doctor Thirteen or Dr. 13, is a fictional character in comic books set in the DC Universe. The character's first published appearance is in Star Spangled Comics #122, ....

     (Sep 1998) by Matt Howarth
    Matt Howarth
    Matt Howarth is an American comic book writer/artist known for such series as Those Annoying Post Bros, Savage Henry, Star Crossed, and Bugtown....

     and Michael Avon Oeming
    Michael Avon Oeming
    Michael Avon Oeming is an American comic book creator, both as an artist and writer. He is known for using a stark art style to tell stories with sophisticated and mature subject matter.-Career:...



Vertigo Visions was also the title of a 2000 collection of artwork from various Vertigo titles. Scripted by Alisa Kwitney, Vertigo Visions: Artwork From the Cutting Edge of Comics (ISBN 0-8230-5603-1) featured sections on:
  1. The founding Vertigo "Cornerstones" (Swamp Thing, Sandman, The Dreaming and Books of Magic),
  2. "Metafiction
    Metafiction
    Metafiction, also known as Romantic irony in the context of Romantic works of literature, is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion...

    " in Vertigo titles (Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Shade, the Changing Man, The Invisibles),
  3. The (other) "Cult Favorite" titles (Sandman Mystery Theatre, House of Secrets
    House of Secrets (Vertigo)
    House of Secrets was an occult and horror-themed comic book series written by Steven T. Seagle. The art was by Teddy Kristiansen, with occasional assistance by Christian Højgaard, Guy Davis, Duncan Fegredo and the Pander Brothers...

    , Transmetropolitan
    Transmetropolitan
    Transmetropolitan is a cyberpunk comic book series written by Warren Ellis with art by Darick Robertson and published by DC Comics. The series was originally part of the short-lived DC Comics imprint Helix, but upon the end of the book's first year the series was moved to the Vertigo imprint as DC...

    , Jonah Hex
    Jonah Hex
    Jonah Woodson Hex is a Western comic book antihero created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga and published by DC Comics. Hex is a surly and cynical bounty hunter whose face is horribly scarred on the right side. Despite his poor reputation and personality, Hex is bound by a personal...

    , Moonshadow
    Moonshadow (graphic novel)
    Moonshadow is a 1985–1987 limited series written and created by J. M. DeMatteis and illustrated by Jon J. Muth and Kent Williams as well as George Pratt. It was later released as a trade paperback currently entitled The Compleat Moonshadow. The comic was inspired by the Cat Stevens song of...

    , etc.)
  4. The "Skewed Reality" of such titles as Chiaroscuro
    Chiaroscuro (comics)
    Chiaroscuro: The Private Lives of Leonardo da Vinci is a Vertigo comic book limited series published from 1995 to 1996, which was later repackaged in 2005 as a single volume. The series was written by Pat McGreal and David Rawson and illustrated by Chaz Truog and Rafael Kayanan...

     & Preacher
    Preacher (comics)
    Preacher is a comic book series created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, published by the American comic book label Vertigo , with painted covers by Glenn Fabry....

     et al., and
  5. The "Alternate Realities" of such titles as Goddess
    Goddess (comics)
    The Goddess is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. The name is assumed by the "feminine, self-aware" supposedly "good" aspect of Adam Warlock, subconsciously exiled from his psyche whilst he was in possession of the Infinity Gauntlet...

    , Terminal City
    Terminal City
    Terminal City is the name for two comic book limited series published by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint in 1996 and 1997, with, respectively nine and five issues. Dean Motter was the writer and Michael Lark was the artist for the series....

     & Stardust
    Stardust (novel)
    Stardust is the first solo prose novel by Neil Gaiman. It is usually published as a novel with illustrations by Charles Vess. Stardust has a different tone and style from most of Gaiman's prose fiction, being consciously written in the tradition of pre-Tolkien English fantasy, following in the...

     et al.

Vertigo Voices

The Vertigo Voices sub-imprint was an early attempt by Vertigo to allow its creators freedom in producing creator-owned "distinctive one-shot stories." Under a specially designed issue-header (along the top, rather than the normal Vertigo side-banner), the Vertigo Voices specials were owned by their creators, and released as an initial three (or four: see below), with The Eaters following separately. (Tainted was to be "the third of the three original... specials," but became the second after Kill Your Boyfriend was delayed.) The published four were:
  • Face (Jan 1995) by Peter Milligan
    Peter Milligan
    Peter Milligan born in London, a British writer, best known for his comic book, film and television work.-Early career:Milligan started his comic career with short stories for 2000 AD in the early 1980s. By 1986, Milligan had his first ongoing strip in 2000AD called Bad Company, with artists Brett...

     & Duncan Fegredo
    Duncan Fegredo
    Duncan Fegredo is a British comic book artist born in Leicester in 1964.-Career:Fegredo first managed to get into comics after showing his portfolio around UKCAC in 1987 and meeting Dave Thorpe. Together they worked on a strip for a short lived British magazine called Heartbreak Hotel...

  • Tainted (Feb 1995) by Jamie Delano
    Jamie Delano
    Jamie Delano is a British comics writer. He was part of the first post-Alan Moore "British Invasion" of writers. Best known as the first writer of the comic book series Hellblazer, starring John Constantine.- Biography :...

     and Al Davison
  • Kill Your Boyfriend
    Kill Your Boyfriend
    Kill Your Boyfriend is the title of a comic book one-shot written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Philip Bond and D'Israeli for DC Comics Vertigo imprint in June 1995.-Publication history:...

     (June 1995) by Grant Morrison
    Grant Morrison
    Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...

     and Philip Bond
    Philip Bond
    Philip J. Bond is a British comic book artist, who first came to prominence in the late 1980s on Deadline magazine, and later through a number of collaborations with British writers for the DC Comics imprint Vertigo....

     (with D'Israeli
    D'Israeli
    Matt Brooker, whose work most often appears under the pseudonym D'Israeli , is a British comic artist, colorist, writer and letterer. Other pseudonyms he uses include "Molly Eyre" , for his writing, and "Harry V...

    )
  • The Eaters (?Nov 1995) by Milligan and Dean Ormston
    Dean Ormston
    Dean Ormston is a British born comic book artist. His most notable work has been for the British comic 2000 AD and for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.-Biography:...



Milligan and Fegredo's Face was a horror story involving plastic surgery
Plastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand...

, while Delano and Davison's Tainted - described by one fan/critic as a "psychological masterpiece" - was a Kafkaesque tale set in England about a straight-laced gentlemen turned peeping tom
Voyeurism
In clinical psychology, voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other activity usually considered to be of a private nature....

, caught up in a tale involving repressed memories, blackmail and murder. Grant Morrison and Philip Bond's Kill Your Boyfriend deals with themes of repression, excess and corruptive influences, and purports to transform a "real" character into a mythical one by having the main female take on the persona projected by her new, murderous, bad-boy boyfriend - a transformation she uses within the confines of the story to justify, excuse and explain her excessive behaviour. Peter Milligan and Dean Ormston's The Eaters was a black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...

 dealing with a family of cannibals caught up in a tale of revenge and American "family values" on a deeply satirical road trip
Road trip
A road trip is any journey taken on roads, regardless of stops en route. Typically, road trips are long distances traveled by automobile.-Pre-automobile road trips:...

.

Kill Your Boyfriend was later reprinted in the prestige format
Prestige format
Prestige format is a term coined by DC Comics and later came into wider use to refer to a square-bound comic book with cardstock covers. A prestige format comic book is usually longer than a normal, stapled 32-page comic...

 (this time with a notable spine) in 1998.

Lost "Voice"

Four titles were initially solicited in the Vertigo Voices range, the three which formed the initial release and a fourth title: Bizarre Boys. Announced as part of the initial line-up, but subsequently not released (and then replaced by The Eaters), Bizarre Boys was to have been a collaboration between Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan and Jamie Hewlett
Jamie Hewlett
Jamie Christopher Hewlett is an English comic book artist and designer. He is known for being the co-creator of the comic Tank Girl and co-creator of the virtual band Gorillaz.-Biography:...

. This title would have seen metafictional authors "Morrigan" and "Millison" on a quest to find their titular creations, and "[e]choing James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...

's Bloomsday, whatever events happen on Bizarre Boys Day [would] also [have] happen[ed] in the comic."

Vertigo Vérité

In 1996, several comics titles (two one-shots and three miniseries) were collectively released under the sub-imprint Vertigo Vérité. The short-lived "Vérité" line, evoking the realism of Cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité is a style of documentary filmmaking, combining naturalistic techniques with stylized cinematic devices of editing and camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. It is also known for taking a provocative stance toward its topics.There are subtle yet...

 from the French for 'truth,' "was a 1996-98 attempt to promote new Vertigo projects devoid of the supernatural qualities that had gotten to define the publisher."

The five titles released under the "Vérité" baner were:
  • Seven Miles a Second (May 1996) by David Wojnarowicz
    David Wojnarowicz
    David Wojnarowicz was a painter, photographer, writer, filmmaker, performance artist, and activist who was prominent in the New York City art world of the 1980s.-Biography:...

     and James Romberger
    James Romberger
    James Romberger is an American fine artist and cartoonist known for his depictions of New York City's Lower East Side.Romberger's pastel drawings of the ravaged landscape of the Lower East Side and its citizens are in many public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art...

  • The System #1-3 (May-July 1996) by Peter Kuper
    Peter Kuper
    Peter Kuper is an American alternative cartoonist and illustrator known for his autobiographical, social, and political observations.-Early life:...

  • Girl #1-3 (July-Sep 1996) by Peter Milligan
    Peter Milligan
    Peter Milligan born in London, a British writer, best known for his comic book, film and television work.-Early career:Milligan started his comic career with short stories for 2000 AD in the early 1980s. By 1986, Milligan had his first ongoing strip in 2000AD called Bad Company, with artists Brett...

     and Duncan Fegredo
    Duncan Fegredo
    Duncan Fegredo is a British comic book artist born in Leicester in 1964.-Career:Fegredo first managed to get into comics after showing his portfolio around UKCAC in 1987 and meeting Dave Thorpe. Together they worked on a strip for a short lived British magazine called Heartbreak Hotel...

  • The Unseen Hand #1-4 (Sep-Dec 1996) by Terry LaBan
    Terry LaBan
    Terry LaBan is an alternative/underground cartoonist and newspaper comic strip artist. He is probably best known for his comic book series Cud, and his syndicated strip Edge City....

     & Ilya
  • Hell Eternal (April 1998) by Jamie Delano
    Jamie Delano
    Jamie Delano is a British comics writer. He was part of the first post-Alan Moore "British Invasion" of writers. Best known as the first writer of the comic book series Hellblazer, starring John Constantine.- Biography :...

     and Sean Phillips
    Sean Phillips
    Sean Phillips is a British comic book artist.He is best known in the American comic book industry for his work on DC Comics' Sleeper, WildC.A.T.s, Batman and Hellblazer.-Career:...



Seven Miles a Second (the title comes from "the speed which an object needs to achieve to break free of the Earth’s gravity") was published after Wojnarowicz' death from AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

, and covered his experiences of living with that disease. Peter Kuper's The System dealt wordlessly with "class warfare in the big city," while Milligan & Fegredo's Girl is a hyper-realistic tale of a disaffected teenage girl prone to "all-consuming daydreams... needed to cope with life itself" caught up in a tale of murder and mundanity. The Unseen Hand features a college student caught up in an Illuminati
Illuminati
The Illuminati is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically the name refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776...

-like conspiracy, with 1998's Hell Eternal.

The System was subsequently collected in a TPB.

V2K

On the eve of the year 2000, Vertigo released several titles under the "Fifth-week event
Fifth-week event
A fifth week event is a novelty comic book promotion.Comic publishers schedule releases in four-week cycles. On an occasion that a month has more than four weeks, publishers often sell unusual comics to fill in the scheduling gap.-DC Comics:...

" brand V2K (Vertigo 2000), to "celebrate... the (faux) millennium". Fifth-week events, which infrequently take advantage of a month having five comics-shipping-days (usually Wednesday/Thursday) are typically designed to fill-in the extra day in the normal four weekly schedule. The "events" tend to see the released of stand alone one-shot titles, usually with a cogent theme. V2K, by contrast was a "much hyped concept" whose titles were designed to "usher... in the new millennium," and as such several of them were miniseries rather than one-shots.

Under the slogan "Future's Here... Start Screaming", the five V2K titles were:
  • Brave Old World #1-4 (Feb-May 2000) by William Messner-Loebs
    William Messner-Loebs
    William Messner-Loebs is an American comic book writer and artist from Michigan, also known as Bill Loebs and Bill Messner-Loebs...

     and Phil Hester
    Phil Hester (comics)
    Phil Hester is an American comic book artist, penciller and writer.-Biography:This Eisner Award-nominated artist was born in eastern Iowa, where he went on to study at the University of Iowa...

  • The Four Horsemen #1-4 (Feb-May 2000) by Robert Rodi
    Robert Rodi
    Robert Rodi is an American novelist, playwright, comic book writer, essayist, and performance artist.-Biography:...

     and Esad Ribic
  • I Die at Midnight by Kyle Baker
    Kyle Baker
    Kyle John Baker is an American cartoonist, comic book writer-artist, and animator known for his graphic novels and for a 2000s revival of the series Plastic Man....

  • Pulp Fantastic #1-3 (Feb-Apr 2000) by Howard Chaykin
    Howard Chaykin
    Howard Victor Chaykin is an American comic book writer and artist famous for his innovative storytelling and sometimes controversial material...

     & David Tischman
    David Tischman
    David Tischman is an American comic book writer who has been active since 2000, writing for such series as American Century, Cable, Bite Club, and Star Trek.-Biography:Tischman wrote Greatest Hits at Vertigo....

     and Rick Burchett
    Rick Burchett
    Rick Burchett is an American comic book artist known for his work on such characters as Batman and Superman.Burchett began his artistic career in St...

  • Totems (Feb 2000) by Tom Peyer
    Tom Peyer
    Tom Peyer is an American comic book creator and editor.He is probably best known for his 1999 revisioning of Golden Age super-hero Hourman, as well as his work on the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 1990s. An editor at DC Comics/Vertigo from 1987 to 1993, he served as assistant editor on Neil...

     with Richard Case
    Richard Case
    Richard Case is an American comics artist, most often seen published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics. His credits include pencilling the majority of issues of Grant Morrison's run on Doom Patrol, as well as drawing Jamie Delano's limited series Ghostdancing, the final story arc of Peter...

    , Duncan Fegredo
    Duncan Fegredo
    Duncan Fegredo is a British comic book artist born in Leicester in 1964.-Career:Fegredo first managed to get into comics after showing his portfolio around UKCAC in 1987 and meeting Dave Thorpe. Together they worked on a strip for a short lived British magazine called Heartbreak Hotel...

     and Dean Ormston
    Dean Ormston
    Dean Ormston is a British born comic book artist. His most notable work has been for the British comic 2000 AD and for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.-Biography:...



Pulp Fantastic was initially solicited (and the first issue labelled) as a 4-issue miniseries, but it was swiftly revised as a 3-issue mini.

Vertigo Pop!

The Vertigo Pop miniseries were designed "to be about pop culture around the globe in some vaguely defined way." Indeed, along with middling sales-figures, one critic noted that "[a]side from vague notions of foreign cities and pop culture, it was never entirely clear what they were supposed to have in common in the first place."
  • Vertigo Pop: Tokyo #1-4 (Sep-Dec 2002) by Jonathan Vankin
    Jonathan Vankin
    -Biography:Vankin was formerly a news editor of San Jose, California's Metro newspaper and is the author of several books and comics. He has also written for the TV series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven. His graphic novel, Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights was published in January, 2009...

     and Seth Fisher
    Seth Fisher
    Seth Fisher was an American comic book artist and penciller.-Career:Seth Fisher first gained attention for his work on DC Comics' Green Lantern: Willworld, and was nominated for an Eisner Award for "Best Penciller/Inker" for Flash: Time Flies and Vertigo Pop! Tokyo.In 2005, Fisher pencilled the...

  • Vertigo Pop: London #1-4 (Jan-Apr 2003) by Peter Milligan and Philip Bond
  • Vertigo Pop: Bangkok #1-4 (Jul-Oct 2003) by Vankin and Giuseppe Camuncoli


The first (four-issue) miniseries, Vertigo Pop: Tokyo was in the words of one reviewer "a broad comedy about cosplay
Cosplay
, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...

 fans and the mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...

 (yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...

)," revolving around an American who moves to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

's famous Akihabara
Akihabara
, also known as , is an area of Tokyo, Japan. It is located less than five minutes by rail from Tokyo Station. Its name is frequently shortened to in Japan...

 district and attempts to deal with the differences between the two cultures before getting caught up in a "wild adventure involving kidnapping, extortion, gangsters, and rock stars." The second miniseries, Vertigo Pop: London, told the tale of "Rocky Lamont, lead singer in 1960s rock band" who "[r]ather than burning out the way he'd hoped... [went] into a slow and dull decline with a trophy wife and a series of dreary albums." Given the chance to relive his life by switching bodies
Body swap
A body swap is a storytelling device seen in a variety of fiction, most often in television shows and movies, in which two people exchange minds and end up in each other's bodies. Alternatively, their minds may stay where they are as their bodies adjust...

 with "a talentless 20 year-old wannabe rock star with all the looks and charm Rocky used to have," the series deals with the subsequent soul-searching and reflection over such a decision.

The third (and final) miniseries, Vertigo Pop: Bangkok was an altogether "darker affair," dealing in part with the sleazy underbelly of Bangkok from the perspective of a number of different Western tourists. Featuring several unlikable and unsympathetic protagonists, the miniseries "capture[d] the city in a dirty and unflattering — yet realistic — light" serving as a backdrop to a tale of the Thai sex trade and sex tourism
Sex tourism
Sex tourism is travel to engage in sexual activity with prostitutes.The World Tourism Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, defines sex tourism as "trips organized from within the tourism sector, or from outside this sector but using its structures and networks, with the primary...

.

Vertigo X

In 2003, the Vertigo imprint celebrated "Ten years on the edge" by branding their books cover-dated April 2003 to February 2004 (i.e. released between February and December 2003
2003 in comics
-January:* January 2: Kid Colt artist Jack Keller dies at age 80.- April :* Action Comics #800: Double-sized anniversary issue, "A Hero's Journey," by Joe Kelly, Pascual Ferry, and Duncan Rouleau...

) - Vertigo's Tenth Anniversary - with the legend Vertigo X. This special subtitle was debuted on the Vertigo X Anniversary Preview (Apr 2003), a 48-page special previewing Vertigo's up-coming projects and featuring a short Shade, the Changing Man story by the "Ecstatic" team of Peter Milligan and Mike Allred (a pun on their then-current Marvel
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

 project together: X-Statix
X-Statix
X-Statix was a fictional team of mutant superheroes in Marvel Comics, specifically designed to be media superstars. The team, created by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred, first appears in X-Force #116 and originally assumed the moniker X-Force, taking the name of the more traditional superhero team,...

). Projects highlighted included Death: At Death's Door, Jill Thompson
Jill Thompson
Jill Thompson is an American comic book writer and illustrator. Probably better known for her work on Neil Gaiman's The Sandman characters and her own Scary Godmother series, she has also worked on The Invisibles, Swamp Thing, and Wonder Woman.-Career:Jill Thompson illustrated The Sandman story...

's first manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

-ized version of the "Season of Mists
The Sandman: Season of Mists
Season of Mists is the fourth collection of issues in the DC Comics series, The Sandman.It was written by Neil Gaiman; illustrated by Kelley Jones, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Matt Wagner, Dick Giordano, George Pratt, and P...

" storyline, retold from the point of view of the Sandman's elder-sister Death
Death (DC Comics)
Death is a fictional character from the DC comic book series, The Sandman . The character first appeared in The Sandman vol. 2, #8 , and was created by Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg....

 and Gaiman's own return to the mythos with the hardcover Sandman: Endless Nights all-star collection of short stories spotlighting the seven members of the Endless
Endless (comics)
The Endless are a group of beings who embody powerful forces or aspects of the universe in the DC comic book series The Sandman, by Neil Gaiman. They have existed since the dawn of time and are thought to be among the most powerful beings in the universe...

. (An 8-page Endless Nights Preview issue was also released before the hardcover).
Also highlighted and previewed were two original graphic novels: Lovecraft (based on a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...

 by Hans Rodionoff
Hans Rodionoff
Hans Rodionoff is an author of comics and screenplays. Rodionoff has adapted comic books for the screen, such as Marvel's Man-Thing and had his screenplay Lovecraft turned into a graphic novel published by Vertigo adapted by Keith Giffen, with art by Enrique Breccia. In Lovecraft the Elder Gods are...

 and adapted by Keith Giffen
Keith Giffen
Keith Ian Giffen is an American comic book illustrator and writer.-Biography:Giffen was born in Queens, New York City....

 with art by Enrique Breccia
Enrique Breccia
Enrique Breccia is an Argentine comic book artist.-Biography:Enrique Breccia, the son of one of the greatest Latino-American artists of all time, Alberto Breccia, drew his first work in 1968, when together with his father he illustrated La Vida del Che, a biography of the famous revolutionary Che...

) took the conceit that H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....

's Cthulhu mythos
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...

 creatures were real, to paint a highly fictionalized biographic portrait of the titular author, while Howard Chaykin
Howard Chaykin
Howard Victor Chaykin is an American comic book writer and artist famous for his innovative storytelling and sometimes controversial material...

 & David Tischman
David Tischman
David Tischman is an American comic book writer who has been active since 2000, writing for such series as American Century, Cable, Bite Club, and Star Trek.-Biography:Tischman wrote Greatest Hits at Vertigo....

's Barnum! (with art by Niko Henrichon
Niko Henrichon
Niko Henrichon is a Canadian comic book artist. He is best known his work with writer Brian K. Vaughan in creating the graphic novel Pride of Baghdad. Henrichon's first major work was a graphic novel titled Barnum!, written by Howard Chaykin and David Tischman, but he also did work for Fables, New...

) similarly drifted in the realms of fictionalized biography, but did not stray into the horror/supernatural world. The tale of P. T. Barnum
P. T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum was an American showman, businessman, scam artist and entertainer, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the circus that became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus....

: secret agent
Secret Agent
Secret Agent is a British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young...

 saw the celebrated showman saving the life of President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...

 and (with his circus charges, including original siamese twins Chang and Eng) and matching wits against the "evil" Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...

. Also previewed as a 2003 release from Vertigo was Brett Lewis and John Paul Leon
John Paul Leon
John Paul Leon is an American comic book artist, known for his work on the Milestone Comics series Static, and the Marvel Comics limited series Earth X.-Career:...

's The Winter Men
The Winter Men
The Winter Men is a comic book limited series published by Wildstorm Productions in 2005. The series was written by Brett Lewis, with art by John Paul Leon....

, which ultimately saw its first issue released in September 2005
2005 in comics
- January :* January 3: Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit, dies at age 87.-April:*April 13:**DC Comics announces the discontinuation of its Humanoids and 2000 A.D. titles....

 through WildStorm
WildStorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...

's "Signature Series" imprint.

Miniseries
  • Beware the Creeper #1-5 (June-Oct) by Jason Hall and Cliff Chiang
    Cliff Chiang
    Cliff Chiang is an American comic book artist. Formerly an assistant editor at DC Comics, he is now an illustrator, best known for his work on Human Target, Beware the Creeper and Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre. A recent project has been the Dr...

  • Blood + Water #1-5 (May-Sept) by Judd Winick
    Judd Winick
    Judd Winick is an American comic book, comic strip and television writer/artist and former reality television personality...

     and Tomm Coker


Ongoing series
  • Human Target
    Human Target (Vertigo)
    Human Target is an espionage-related comic series written by Peter Milligan and published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics. The series was based on the Human Target character created in 1972 by Len Wein and Carmine Infantino...

     #1-5 (Oct-Feb 2004) by Peter Milligan and Javier Pulido (Series continued until issue #21 June 2005)
  • Losers
    The Losers (Vertigo)
    The Losers is a comic book series published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, written by Andy Diggle and illustrated, for the most part, by Jock...

     #1-7 (Aug-Feb 2004) by Diggle and Jock
    Jock (artist)
    Mark Simpson, known by the pen name Jock, is a British comics artist, best known for his work in 2000 AD and on The Losers.-Career:...

     (with Shawn Martinbrough) (Series continued until issue #32, March 2006)


OGNs
  • Barnum!: In Secret Service to the USA (June/Aug) by Howard Chaykin
    Howard Chaykin
    Howard Victor Chaykin is an American comic book writer and artist famous for his innovative storytelling and sometimes controversial material...

    , David Tischman
    David Tischman
    David Tischman is an American comic book writer who has been active since 2000, writing for such series as American Century, Cable, Bite Club, and Star Trek.-Biography:Tischman wrote Greatest Hits at Vertigo....

     and Niko Henrichon
    Niko Henrichon
    Niko Henrichon is a Canadian comic book artist. He is best known his work with writer Brian K. Vaughan in creating the graphic novel Pride of Baghdad. Henrichon's first major work was a graphic novel titled Barnum!, written by Howard Chaykin and David Tischman, but he also did work for Fables, New...

  • Death: At Death's Door (July/Sep) by Jill Thompson
    Jill Thompson
    Jill Thompson is an American comic book writer and illustrator. Probably better known for her work on Neil Gaiman's The Sandman characters and her own Scary Godmother series, she has also worked on The Invisibles, Swamp Thing, and Wonder Woman.-Career:Jill Thompson illustrated The Sandman story...

  • Sandman: Endless Nights (Oct/Dec) by Neil Gaiman
    Neil Gaiman
    Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...

     with P. Craig Russell
    P. Craig Russell
    Philip Craig Russell , also known as P. Craig Russell, is an American comic book writer, artist, and illustrator. His work has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards...

    , Milo Manara
    Milo Manara
    Maurilio Manara – known professionally as Milo Manara – is an Italian comic book writer and artist, best known for his erotic approach to the medium.-Career:...

    , Miguelanxo Prado
    Miguelanxo Prado
    Miguelanxo Prado is a Spanish comic book creator. He was born in A Coruña, Galicia in 1958.-Biography:Prado studied architecture, wrote novels and painted before his career in comics....

    , Barron Storey
    Barron Storey
    Barron Storey is an art teacher and artist. He is famous for his accomplishments as an illustrator and fine artist, and for his influence on several professional illustrators and writers, including Bill Sienkiewicz, Dave McKean, Simon Bisley, Bill Koeb, Kent Williams, George Pratt...

     & Dave McKean
    Dave McKean
    David McKean is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician....

    , Bill Sienkiewicz
    Bill Sienkiewicz
    Boleslav Felix Robert "Bill" Sienkiewicz [pronounced sin-KEV-itch] is an Eisner Award-winning American artist and writer best known for his comic book work, primarily for Marvel Comics' The New Mutants and Elektra: Assassin...

     and Frank Quitely
    Frank Quitely
    Vincent Deighan, better known by the pen name Frank Quitely, is a Scottish comic book artist. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with Grant Morrison on titles such as New X-Men, We3, All-Star Superman, and Batman and Robin, as well as his work with Mark Millar on The...



Lovecraft by Hans Rodionoff
Hans Rodionoff
Hans Rodionoff is an author of comics and screenplays. Rodionoff has adapted comic books for the screen, such as Marvel's Man-Thing and had his screenplay Lovecraft turned into a graphic novel published by Vertigo adapted by Keith Giffen, with art by Enrique Breccia. In Lovecraft the Elder Gods are...

, Keith Giffen
Keith Giffen
Keith Ian Giffen is an American comic book illustrator and writer.-Biography:Giffen was born in Queens, New York City....

 and Enrique Breccia
Enrique Breccia
Enrique Breccia is an Argentine comic book artist.-Biography:Enrique Breccia, the son of one of the greatest Latino-American artists of all time, Alberto Breccia, drew his first work in 1968, when together with his father he illustrated La Vida del Che, a biography of the famous revolutionary Che...

 was previewed for release during Vertigo's anniversary year, but ultimately saw print in Mar/May 2004
2004 in comics
-February:*February 6: Marvel Enterprises and Electronic Arts announce a multi-year agreement in which EA will develop a new generation of fighting video games pitting Marvel superheroes against a new, original set of EA heroes....

.

Also released

The final
Vertigo Pop! miniseries, and the eighth-and-final issue of Garth Ennis' War Story series of one-shots were released in their entirety during the year and featured the logo:
  • Vertigo Pop: Bangkok #1-4 (Jul-Oct 2003) by Vankin and Giuseppe Camuncoli
  • War Story: Archangel (Apr) by Garth Ennis and Gary Erskine

Similarly, two other OGNs were released during the year, but not specifically highlighted in the preview as Anniversary titles:
  • Orbiter
    Orbiter (comics)
    Orbiter is a graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Colleen Doran, published in 2003 by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint.It is a hard science fiction story set in the early 21st Century about a team of specialists employed to understand the mysterious reappearance of the space shuttle Venture...

     (June/Aug) by Warren Ellis
    Warren Ellis
    Warren Girard Ellis is an English author of comics, novels, and television, who is well-known for sociocultural commentary, both through his online presence and through his writing, which covers transhumanist themes...

     and Colleen Doran
    Colleen Doran
    Colleen Doran is an American writer/artist, film conceptual artist, and cartoonist. She has illustrated hundreds of comics, graphic novels, books and magazines, and dozens of stories and articles, including works written by Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Anne Rice, J...

  • Sgt. Rock
    Sgt. Rock (comics)
    Sgt. Frank Rock is a fictional infantry non-commissioned officer during World War II in the . He first appeared in Our Army at War #83 , and was created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert.-Publication history:...

    : Between Hell & A Hard Place (July/Sep) by Joe Kubert
    Joe Kubert
    Joe Kubert is an American comic book artist who went on to found The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawkman...



The following on-going series had issues released during Vertigo's anniversary year and those issues carried the "Vertigo X" branding:
  • 100 Bullets
    100 Bullets
    100 Bullets is an Eisner and Harvey Award-winning comic book written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso. It was published in the USA by DC Comics under its Vertigo imprint and initially ran for one hundred issues...

     #42-48 (Apr - Feb 2004) by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso
  • Fables #10-20 (Apr-Feb 2004) by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham; with Lan Medina, Linda Medley & Bryan Talbot
  • Lucifer
    Lucifer (DC Comics)
    Lucifer is a DC Comics character that starred in an eponymous comic book published under the Vertigo imprint, whose entire run was written by Mike Carey...

     #35-45 (Apr-Feb 2004) by Mike Carey, Peter Gross and Dean Ormston; with David Hahn & Ted Naifeh
  • Y: The Last Man
    Y: The Last Man
    Y: The Last Man is a comic book series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra published by Vertigo beginning in 2002. The series is about the only man to survive the apparent simultaneous death of every male mammal on Earth...

     #8-17 (Apr-Feb 2004) by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra; with Paul Chadwick.


The following series and miniseries finished during the year, with the final issues featuring the "Vertigo X" logo:
  • American Century
    American Century (comics)
    American Century was a comic book series published by DC Comics as a part of the Vertigo imprint starting in early 2001. It was co-written by Howard Chaykin and David Tischman....

     #23-27 (Apr-Oct) by Howard Chaykin, David Tischman and Lan Medina; with Luke Ross & John Severin
  • Codename: Knockout
    Codename: Knockout
    Codename: Knockout is the title of a comic book series published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics for 24 issues between June 2001 and June 2003...

     #21-23 (Apr-June) by Robert Rodi and John Lucas
  • Fight for Tomorrow
    Fight For Tomorrow
    Fight for Tomorrow was a six-issue limited series of comic books by writer Brian Wood and artist Denys Cowan, published 2002-2003 by Vertigo....

     #6 (Apr) by Brian Wood and Denys Cowan
  • The Filth #9-13 (Apr-Oct) by Grant Morrison and Chris Weston
  • Hellblazer Special: Lady Constantine #3-4 (Apr-May) by Andy Diggle
    Andy Diggle
    Andy Diggle is a British comic book writer and former editor of 2000 AD. He is best known for his work on The Losers, Swamp Thing, Hellblazer, Adam Strange and Silent Dragon at DC Comics and for his run on Thunderbolts and Daredevil after his move to Marvel.-Career:Diggle took over editing 2000 AD...

     and Goran Sudzuka
    Goran Sudzuka
    -Biography:Sudžuka who began his work in animation and later began to publish with Darko Macan in Croatia and Germany.His works include Outlaw Nation, Y: The Last Man, and Hellblazer: Lady Constantine with Andy Diggle....

  • Hunter: The Age of Magic #20-25 (Apr-Sep) by Dylan Horrocks and Richard Case
  • Sandman Presents: Bast #2-3 (Apr-May) by Caitlin R. Kiernan and Joe Bennett
  • Vertigo Pop: London #4 (Apr) by Peter Milligan and Philip Bond


Paul Pope
Paul Pope
Paul Pope is an American alternative comic book artist. Influenced by Ray Bradbury and Edgar Rice Burroughs, Pope's stories evoke poignant, under-explored aspects of youth culture...

's 100% #5 was cover-dated July 2003, but was not branded a "Vertigo X" title.

Originally previewed as a "Vertigo X" title, Brett Lewis and John Paul Leon
John Paul Leon
John Paul Leon is an American comic book artist, known for his work on the Milestone Comics series Static, and the Marvel Comics limited series Earth X.-Career:...

's The Winter Men was ultimately put back to September 2005
2005 in comics
- January :* January 3: Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit, dies at age 87.-April:*April 13:**DC Comics announces the discontinuation of its Humanoids and 2000 A.D. titles....

, when it was released - under the WildStorm
WildStorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...

 Signature Series label.

Vertigo Crime

At the 2008 Comic-Con International
Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...

 Karen Berger outlined plans for a new "sub-imprint" called Vertigo Crime: "it's a line of graphic novels, in black and white, hardcover". It was launched in 2009 with two titles: Brian Azzarello
Brian Azzarello
Brian Azzarello is an American comic book writer. He came to prominence with the hardboiled crime series 100 Bullets, published by DC Comics' mature-audience imprint Vertigo.-Career:...

's Filthy Rich and Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin, OBE, DL , is a Scottish crime writer. His best known books are the Inspector Rebus novels. He has also written several pieces of literary criticism.-Background:He attended Beath High School, Cowdenbeath...

's Dark Entries, the latter featuring John Constantine
John Constantine
John Constantine is a fictional character, an occult detective anti-hero in comic books published by DC Comics, mostly under the Vertigo imprint. The character first appeared in Swamp Thing #37 , and was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch...

. Each volume features a cover illustration by Lee Bermejo
Lee Bermejo
Lee Bermejo is an American comic book artist whose published work includes interior illustrations and cover art. His career began in 1997 as an intern at Wildstorm...

.

The following original graphic novels have been published under the Vertigo Crime imprint (in order of publication):
  • Dark Entries
    Dark Entries (comics)
    Dark Entries is a 2009 original graphic novel written by Ian Rankin, and is the author's earliest work in the comic field. It was one of two books to launch Vertigo's Vertigo Crime line, along with Brian Azzarello's Filthy Rich...

     by Ian Rankin
    Ian Rankin
    Ian Rankin, OBE, DL , is a Scottish crime writer. His best known books are the Inspector Rebus novels. He has also written several pieces of literary criticism.-Background:He attended Beath High School, Cowdenbeath...

     and Werther Dell'Edera
  • Filthy Rich
    Filthy Rich (comics)
    Filthy Rich is a 2009 original graphic novel written by Brian Azzarello. It was one of two books to launch Vertigo's Vertigo Crime line along with Ian Rankin's Dark Entries...

     by Brian Azzarello
    Brian Azzarello
    Brian Azzarello is an American comic book writer. He came to prominence with the hardboiled crime series 100 Bullets, published by DC Comics' mature-audience imprint Vertigo.-Career:...

     and Victor Santos
    Víctor Santos
    Víctor Irving Santos is a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball. He currently is a free agent.-Early life:...

  • The Chill by Jason Starr
    Jason Starr
    Jason Starr is an American author and screenplay writer from New York City. Starr has written numerous crime fiction novels and thrillers....

     and Mick Bertilorenzi
  • The Bronx Kill
    The Bronx Kill
    The Bronx Kill is a 2010 graphic novel published as part of the "Vertigo Crime" line from Vertigo a DC Comics imprint. The writer is Peter Milligan, with art by James Romberger. The Bronx Kill is illustrated in grey-scale. It is done in the fashion of the "film noir"/detective-crime style.-Plot...

     by Peter Milligan
    Peter Milligan
    Peter Milligan born in London, a British writer, best known for his comic book, film and television work.-Early career:Milligan started his comic career with short stories for 2000 AD in the early 1980s. By 1986, Milligan had his first ongoing strip in 2000AD called Bad Company, with artists Brett...

     and James Romberger
    James Romberger
    James Romberger is an American fine artist and cartoonist known for his depictions of New York City's Lower East Side.Romberger's pastel drawings of the ravaged landscape of the Lower East Side and its citizens are in many public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art...

  • Area 10 by Christos N. Gage and Chris Samnee
  • The Executor by Jon Evans
    Jon Evans
    Jon Evans is a Canadian novelist and journalist.Born to an expatriate Rhodesian father and Canadian mother, he grew up in Waterloo, Ontario, and is a graduate of the University of Waterloo....

     and Andrea Mutti
  • Fogtown by Andersen Gabrych
    Andersen Gabrych
    Andersen Gabrych is an American comic book writer and actor. He was born on September 4, 1973 in Tokyo, Japan and raised in Chico, California, where he was known as "Ande."-Biography:...

     and Brad Rader
  • A Sickness in the Family by Denise Mina
    Denise Mina
    Denise Mina is a Scottish crime writer and playwright. She has written the Garnethill trilogy and another three novels featuring the character Patricia "Paddy" Meehan, a Glasgow journalist. Described as an author of Tartan Noir, she has also dabbled in comic book writing, having recently written...

     and Antonio Fuso
  • Rat Catcher by Andy Diggle
    Andy Diggle
    Andy Diggle is a British comic book writer and former editor of 2000 AD. He is best known for his work on The Losers, Swamp Thing, Hellblazer, Adam Strange and Silent Dragon at DC Comics and for his run on Thunderbolts and Daredevil after his move to Marvel.-Career:Diggle took over editing 2000 AD...

     and Victor Ibanez
    Víctor Ibáñez
    Víctor Ibáñez Pascual is a Spanish footballer who plays for Lleida Esportiu as a goalkeeper.-External links:**...

  • Noche Roja by Simon Oliver
    Simon Oliver
    Simon Oliver is the writer of the Wildstorm comic book series Gen¹³ and the Vertigo comic book series The Exterminators and Hellblazer Presents: Chas - The Knowledge.-Biography:...

     and Jason Latour
    Jason Latour
    David Jason Latour is an American comic book artist and writer known for his work for Image, Marvel and DC comics on titles such as Scalped and Wolverine.-Early life:...

  • 99 Days by Matteo Casali and Kristian Donaldson
    Kristian Donaldson
    Kristian Donaldson sometimes simply credited as Kristian, is a comic book artist based in Dallas, Texas.-Early life:Donaldson attended the Savannah College of Art and Design and graduated in 2003 with a BFA in sequential art.-Career:...

  • Cowboys by Gary Philips and Brian Hurtt
  • Aaron and Ahmed by Jay Cantor
    Jay Cantor
    Jay Cantor, B.A., Ph.D. is an American novelist, and essayist.He graduated from Harvard University with a BA, and from University of California, Santa Cruz with a Ph.D.He teaches at Tufts University....

     and James Romberger
    James Romberger
    James Romberger is an American fine artist and cartoonist known for his depictions of New York City's Lower East Side.Romberger's pastel drawings of the ravaged landscape of the Lower East Side and its citizens are in many public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art...



The following original graphic novels are planned for publication under the Vertigo Crime imprint:
  • Return to Perdition by Max Allan Collins
    Max Allan Collins
    Max Allan Collins is an American mystery writer. He has written novels, screenplays, comic books, comic strips, trading cards, short stories, movie novelizations and historical fiction. He wrote the graphic novel Road to Perdition , created the comic book private eye Ms...


Experimental works

In addition to the various sub-imprints and formats, Vertigo was also an early adopter of hardcover collections of monthly comics, as well as hardcover OGNs (original graphic novels). In addition, the 2003 one-shot Vertical featured dimensions unique in the comics field. Half the width of a "normal" comic, Vertical was also stapled at the top making it "twice as tall." The dimensions were, while gimmicky, chosen delibertely to complement Steven T. Seagle
Steven T. Seagle
Steven T. Seagle is an American writer who works in the comic book, television, film, live theater, video game, and animation, industries....

's story, which revolved around tall buildings and, of course, feelings of "Vertigo." (N.B. Vertical was not the first comics title to hinge on the "wrong" side. A tried-and-tested method for presenting newspaper comic strips, the 2003 DC Elseworlds
Elseworlds
Elseworlds is the publication imprint for a group of comic books produced by DC Comics that take place outside the company's canon. According to its tagline: "In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places — some that have existed, and others...

 story Batman: Nine Lives
Batman: Nine Lives
Batman: Nine Lives is an Elseworlds graphic novel published by DC Comics in 2002. As with all Elseworlds publications, it takes well-known DC characters and places them in another reality.-Plot Summary:...

 also used this method - although unlike those titles, Vertical is designed to be read vertically, and not horizontally.)

Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess
Charles Vess
Charles Vess is an American fantasy artist and comic-book illustrator who has specialized in the illustration of myths and fairy tales. His illustrations are strongly influenced by the work of artists and illustrators such as Arthur Rackham and Alphonse Mucha...

' Stardust
Stardust (novel)
Stardust is the first solo prose novel by Neil Gaiman. It is usually published as a novel with illustrations by Charles Vess. Stardust has a different tone and style from most of Gaiman's prose fiction, being consciously written in the tradition of pre-Tolkien English fantasy, following in the...

 was released by Vertigo as a heavily illustrated novel, rather than a regular comic, and Vertigo has also experimented with the dimensions of their OGNs, releasing several that are of a non-comic-book-standard size, including Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons is an English comic book artist, writer and sometime letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything"...

' The Originals and Mat Johnson's Incognegro (which also featured somewhat experimental artwork, namely art - by Warren Pleece
Warren Pleece
Warren Pleece is a British comics artist. He is best known for his work at the DC Comics imprint Vertigo.-Biography:With his brother Gary Pleece, he wrote and drew four issues of a self published comics magazine called Velocity between 1987 and 1989...

 - that was fully black and white, with no "halftones or grays").

Editors

In addition to founding editor (and the driving force behind Vertigo) Karen Berger
Karen Berger
Karen Berger is an American comic book editor. She is best known as the Executive Editor of DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.-Biography:...

, several other editors have become intrinsically linked to the imprint. Berger herself was editing proto-Vertigo titles from the start of her time with DC, beginning in 1981 with House of Mystery. She took over editorship of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing run from Swamp Thing co-creator Len Wein
Len Wein
Len Wein is an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men...

 in 1984, and in 1986 "became DC's British liaison," bringing to DC's pre-Vertigo titles the individuals who would be instrumental in the creation and evolution of Vertigo seven years later. From 1988, her Swamp Thing and other DC titles were joined by Gaiman and McKean's Black Orchid miniseries and Hellblazer as well as the odd miniseries The Weird. Editing Doug Moench
Doug Moench
Douglas Moench , better known as Doug Moench, is an American comic book writer notable for his Batman work and as the creator of Black Mask, Moon Knight and Deathlok.-Biography:...

's The Wanderers, Berger was joined on issue #5 (Oct 1988) by co-editor Art Young, who would also later be instrumental in the formation of Vertigo. Grant Morrison's Animal Man and the ultra-dark Arkham Asylum OGN were swiftly joined on Berger's slate by The Sandman, Skreemer, The Books of Magic, The Nazz and Shade, the Changing Man. Berger continued with The Sandman and Shade during 1992, and saw the pre-Vertigo titles as "all [having] some basis in reality."

By the early 1990s, "[t]he core Vertigo titles had already become their own little enclave," so when Berger returned from maternity leave, she spoke with DC President Jenette Kahn
Jenette Kahn
Jenette Kahn is an American comic book editor and executive. She joined DC Comics in 1976 as publisher, and five years later was promoted to President. In 1989, she stepped down as publisher and assumed the title of Editor-in-Chief while retaining the office of president...

 and Executive Editor Dick Giordano
Dick Giordano
Richard Joseph "Dick" Giordano was an American comic book artist and editor best known for introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes, and serving as executive editor of then–industry leader DC Comics...

, the outcome being a separate imprint to "actively expand [the] sensibility" of the titles she had been editing. Berger included in the initial Vertigo line-up the five titles she had had some hand in creating or editing (Swamp Thing, Hellblazer, Animal Man, Sandman and Shade) as well as Doom Patrol which she "decided to include... because Grant Morrison was working on it and the sensibility was very much like the other series." Berger has since overseen the entire Vertigo line, and was promoted to the position of "Senior Vice President — Executive Editor, Vertigo" in July 2006. Berger's promotion came as Vertigo was said to be equivalent to "the fourth largest American comic book publisher" in 2005, with Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002–2009, he has worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles...

 praising her personally as having "built Vertigo into an imprint which is simultaneously one of comics' leading creative and commercial successes." In addition, Berger won Eisner Awards for her editing in 1992, 1994 and 1995 for her work on the proto- and early Vertigo titles Sandman, Shade, Kid Eternity, Books of Magic, Death: The High Cost of Living and Sandman Mystery Theatre.

Art Young joined Karen Berger to edit pre-Vertigo issues of Animal Man (from issue #3), Hellblazer and Swamp Thing on issues cover-dated November 1988. Two months later, Young also took on the initial issues of The Sandman, before in mid-1990 moving to Doom Patrol, which with Animal Man he edited until early 1991 (also over-seeing the original Books of Magic miniseries along the way). He then left DC to work for Disney in setting up Touchmark, before returning with those projects to Vertigo in early 1993, when he edited debut title Enigma, and later miniseries and one-shots such as Sebastian O, The Extremist, Mercy, Rogan Gosh
Rogan Gosh
Rogan Gosh is the title of a British comic book story written by Peter Milligan and illustrated by Brendan McCarthy. Originally serialised in the 2000 AD spin-off title Revolver in 1990, it was later collected into a single edition by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics in 1994.The name is a play on...

, The Mystery Play, and Tank Girl: The Moovy. He edited all four of the "Vertigo Voices" titles in 1995, as well as Shadows Fall, Ghostdancing, Egypt, Millennium Fever and both Tank Girl miniseries. Young's last editorial credit for Vertigo was Flex Mentallo #1 (June 1996).

Shelly Bond (née Roeberg) is probably the most prolific and wide-ranging (as well as the second-best known after Berger) Vertigo editor, long since installed as a Group Editor. Like Young, she has overseen a large number of notable projects during her (almost-)exclusive time working with Vertigo since April 1993. Roeberg took over editorial duties on the second Vertigo issues of both The Sandman and Shade, the Changing Man from Lisa Guastella - then Lisa Aufenanger - editing those two titles until their respective final issues; she also edited the first 36 issues of the "ahead of its time" crime/noir series Sandman Mystery Theatre. Between 1993 and 2000, she edited titles exclusively for Vertigo (with one exception - the nine issues of Peter Bagge
Peter Bagge
Peter Bagge is an American cartoonist. He is the creator of Buddy Bradley, Hate, Neat Stuff, Martini Baton, and Sweatshop, Apocalypse Nerd and Other Lives. His stories often use black humor and exaggerated cartooning to dramatize the reduced expectations of middle-class American youth...

 and Gilbert Hernandez
Gilbert Hernandez
Gilberto Hernández, born February 1, 1957, in Oxnard, California, usually credited as Gilbert Hernandez and also known by the nickname Beto , is an American comics writer/artist...

's Yeah! (1999–2000) for DC's imprint Homage), including relatively little known titles and one-shots such as Skin Graft, The Last One, The Heart of the Beast (1994), Mobfire, Terminal City, Menz Insana, The Girl Who Would Be Death, Heavy Liquid, Pulp Fantastic and Accelerate. She also edited the first Vertigo works of Bill Willingham and Ed Brubaker in Proposition Player and Scene of the Crime, and the higher-profile series Moonshadow, Girl, Seekers into the Mystery, The Minx and all issues of House of Secrets (with Jennifer Lee from issue #11).
She (co-)edited the final 25 issues of The Dreaming between 1999 and 2001, initially as Shelly Roeberg, and latterly as Shelly Bond (after marrying artist Philip Bond
Philip Bond
Philip J. Bond is a British comic book artist, who first came to prominence in the late 1980s on Deadline magazine, and later through a number of collaborations with British writers for the DC Comics imprint Vertigo....

), and most of the Sandman Presents... miniseries and one-shots. From 2000, she has continued to edit most of the highest-profile Vertigo titles, including almost all of Mike Carey's Lucifer
Lucifer (comics)
Lucifer, in comics, may refer to:*Lucifer , a comic book series and character from DC Comics's Vertigo line*Lucifer , a comic book supervillain from the Marvel Universe...

 (with Mariah Huehner) and the entirety of Ed Brubaker
Ed Brubaker
Ed Brubaker is an Eisner Award-winning comic book writer and cartoonist. Brubaker first early comics work was primarily in the crime fiction genre with works such as Lowlife, The Fall, Sandman Presents: Dead Boy Detectives and Scene of the Crime...

's Deadenders
Deadenders
Deadenders is an science fiction comic book series written by Ed Brubaker and published by DC Comics. It is set in a post-apocalyptic future in New Bedlam, USA and features a heavy Mod content among the characters. The cover work is by Philip Bond...

, Howard Chaykin
Howard Chaykin
Howard Victor Chaykin is an American comic book writer and artist famous for his innovative storytelling and sometimes controversial material...

 & David Tischman
David Tischman
David Tischman is an American comic book writer who has been active since 2000, writing for such series as American Century, Cable, Bite Club, and Star Trek.-Biography:Tischman wrote Greatest Hits at Vertigo....

's American Century, Jonathan Vankin
Jonathan Vankin
-Biography:Vankin was formerly a news editor of San Jose, California's Metro newspaper and is the author of several books and comics. He has also written for the TV series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven. His graphic novel, Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights was published in January, 2009...

's The Witching, Si Spencer
Si Spencer
Si Spencer is a British comic book writer and TV dramatist and editor, with work appearing in British comics such as Crisis, before moving to the American comics industry...

's Books of Magick: Life During Wartime, Steven T. Seagle
Steven T. Seagle
Steven T. Seagle is an American writer who works in the comic book, television, film, live theater, video game, and animation, industries....

 and Kelley Jones
Kelley Jones
Kelley Jones is an American comic book artist best known for his runs on Batman with writer Doug Moench and on Sandman with writer Neil Gaiman.-Biography:...

' The Crusades and Bill Willingham
Bill Willingham
Bill Willingham is an American writer and artist of comics.-Career:Willingham got his start in the late 1970s to early 1980s as a staff artist for TSR, Inc., where he illustrated a number of their role-playing game products...

's Fables (to date). She oversaw the first fourteen issues of American Virgin, the first eleven of Jack of Fables, the first two Vertigo Pop! miniseries, Paul Dini
Paul Dini
Paul Dini is an American writer and producer who works in the television and comic book industries. He is best known as a producer and writer for several Warner Bros./DC Comics animated series, including Star Wars: Ewoks, Tiny Toon Adventures, Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated...

's Zatanna: Everyday Magic and the innovative Vertical one-shot. She helped shepherd the OGNs Barnum!, Confessions of a Blabbermouth, 1001 Nights of Snowfall, God Save the Queen, The Little Endless Storybook, Re-Gifters, Sandman: Endless Nights and Silverfish as well as both Bite Club miniseries, Faker, Grip: The Strange World of Men, My Faith in Frankie and House of Secrets: Facade. From 2007, she has also been heavily involved in the new DC imprint "Minx", but is still editing titles for Vertigo, including the new 2007/8 series House of Mystery, Vinyl Underground and Young Liars.

Tom Peyer
Tom Peyer
Tom Peyer is an American comic book creator and editor.He is probably best known for his 1999 revisioning of Golden Age super-hero Hourman, as well as his work on the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 1990s. An editor at DC Comics/Vertigo from 1987 to 1993, he served as assistant editor on Neil...

was, by 1990 editing (with Karen Berger) what would become the pillars of Vertigo - Hellblazer, Sandman (taking over from Art Young), Swamp Thing and Shade, the Changing Man. He soon left Swamp Thing to Stuart Moore
Stuart Moore
Stuart Moore is a writer and editor of comic books and novels.-Career:Moore's writing includes the original science-fiction series Earthlight and PARA; Iron Man, New Avengers/Transformers, and Wolverine ; Firestorm and Detective Comics ; the multicultural superhero team The 99; the comics...

, however with issue #100, and Moore would edit and co-edit the remaining 71 issues of that title, including the switch from DC to Vertigo. Peyer moved to Doom Patrol and Animal Man, which he edited during the transition from DC to Vertigo, before moving to edit the initial issues of Kid Eternity and Black Orchid as well as two "Vertigo Visions" one-shots. Peyer left editing behind in 1994, returning to DC as a writer. Moore edited a wide range of Vertigo titles between 1993 and 2000, including the transitional issues of Hellblazer as well as Swamp Thing, the first fifteen issues of The Invisibles, the first seventeen issues of Preacher and the first thirty issues of Transmetropolitan. In 1996, Moore won the Eisner Award
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...

 for best editor, for his work on Swamp Thing, Invisibles and Preacher. He edited the first issues of Books of Magic, and both Books of Faerie miniseries (with Cliff Chiang
Cliff Chiang
Cliff Chiang is an American comic book artist. Formerly an assistant editor at DC Comics, he is now an illustrator, best known for his work on Human Target, Beware the Creeper and Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre. A recent project has been the Dr...

), and returned to the main Books of Magic title for a further 20+ issues with Chiang in 1998. He also edited several miniseries for both Vertigo and Vertigo's sister imprint 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...

.

Axel Alonso
Axel Alonso
Axel Alonso is American comic book creator, known primarily as an editor at DC Comics from 1994–2000, and at Marvel Comics from 2000 to the present. At DC, he edited a number of books published under their Vertigo line, such as Doom Patrol, Animal Man, Hellblazer, Preacher and 100 Bullets...

(who would later move to Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

) began his editorial career at Vertigo on Animal Man, Black Orchid, Doom Patrol and Hellblazer, and also edited the opening issues of Brian Azzarello
Brian Azzarello
Brian Azzarello is an American comic book writer. He came to prominence with the hardboiled crime series 100 Bullets, published by DC Comics' mature-audience imprint Vertigo.-Career:...

 and Eduardo Risso
Eduardo Risso
Eduardo Risso is an Argentine comic book artist. In the United States he is probably best known for his work with writer Brian Azzarello on the Vertigo title 100 Bullets, while in Argentina and Europe he is noted for his collaborations with Ricardo Barreiro and Carlos Trillo...

's 100 Bullets
100 Bullets
100 Bullets is an Eisner and Harvey Award-winning comic book written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso. It was published in the USA by DC Comics under its Vertigo imprint and initially ran for one hundred issues...

 and the final issues of Garth Ennis
Garth Ennis
Garth Ennis is a Northern Irish comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series Preacher with artist Steve Dillon and his successful nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise...

 and Steve Dillon
Steve Dillon
Steve Dillon is a British comic book artist, from Luton, Bedfordshire, best known for his work with writer Garth Ennis on Hellblazer, Preacher and The Punisher.-Biography:...

's Preacher
Preacher (comics)
Preacher is a comic book series created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, published by the American comic book label Vertigo , with painted covers by Glenn Fabry....

.

Will Dennis was promoted from assistant editor to editor upon Alonso's departure. He took over the editing of 100 Bullets
100 Bullets
100 Bullets is an Eisner and Harvey Award-winning comic book written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso. It was published in the USA by DC Comics under its Vertigo imprint and initially ran for one hundred issues...

 and later assumed the reins of Vertigo's biggest hit series since Preacher
Preacher (comics)
Preacher is a comic book series created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, published by the American comic book label Vertigo , with painted covers by Glenn Fabry....

, Brian K. Vaughan
Brian K. Vaughan
Brian Keller Vaughan is an American comic book and television writer. He is best known for the comic book series Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways, and Pride of Baghdad, and was one of the principal writers of the television series Lost, during seasons three through five...

 and Pia Guerra
Pia Guerra
Pia Guerra is an award-winning Canadian comic book artist best known for her work as co-creator and lead penciller on the Vertigo title Y: The Last Man.-Career:...

's Y: The Last Man
Y: The Last Man
Y: The Last Man is a comic book series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra published by Vertigo beginning in 2002. The series is about the only man to survive the apparent simultaneous death of every male mammal on Earth...

. Dennis has been responsible for bringing writers Brian Wood (DMZ) and Jason Aaron
Jason Aaron
Jason Aaron is an American comic book writer, known for his work on titles such as The Other Side, Scalped, Ghost Rider, Wolverine and PunisherMAX.-Early life:Jason was born in Jasper, Alabama...

 (Scalped
Scalped
Scalped is a critically acclaimed ongoing crime/western comic book series written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by R. M. Guéra, published monthly by Vertigo Comics...

) to Vertigo. He teamed writer Andy Diggle
Andy Diggle
Andy Diggle is a British comic book writer and former editor of 2000 AD. He is best known for his work on The Losers, Swamp Thing, Hellblazer, Adam Strange and Silent Dragon at DC Comics and for his run on Thunderbolts and Daredevil after his move to Marvel.-Career:Diggle took over editing 2000 AD...

 and artist Jock
Jock (artist)
Mark Simpson, known by the pen name Jock, is a British comics artist, best known for his work in 2000 AD and on The Losers.-Career:...

 on their breakout series The Losers
The Losers (Vertigo)
The Losers is a comic book series published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, written by Andy Diggle and illustrated, for the most part, by Jock...

. Dennis edited Vaughan's commercially successful graphic novel "Pride of Baghdad
Pride of Baghdad
Pride of Baghdad is a graphic novel written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Niko Henrichon released by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint on September 13, 2006...

". He is the editor presiding over the ongoing Vertigo Crime line of graphic novels.

Jonathan Vankin
Jonathan Vankin
-Biography:Vankin was formerly a news editor of San Jose, California's Metro newspaper and is the author of several books and comics. He has also written for the TV series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven. His graphic novel, Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights was published in January, 2009...

was hired as an editor at Vertigo in 2004 after previously writing two of the line's Vertigo Pop miniseries and several entries in the Paradox Press
Paradox Press
Paradox Press was a division of DC Comics formed in 1993 after editor Mark Nevelow departed from Piranha Press. Under the initial editorship of Andrew Helfer and Bronwyn Carlton the imprint was renamed. It is best known for graphic novels like A History of Violence and Road to Perdition...

 "Big Book" series as well as several other non-comics works . His contributions to the line as an editor have included the series, The Exterminators
The Exterminators (comics)
The Exterminators was an American monthly comic book series, published under the Vertigo imprint by DC Comics. The comic was created by writer Simon Oliver and artist Tony Moore and follows the employees of the Bug-Bee-Gone extermination company. The book is notable for its graphic and darkly...

 and Testament. For the latter, he brought media theorist Douglas Rushkoff
Douglas Rushkoff
Douglas Rushkoff is an American media theorist, writer, columnist, lecturer, graphic novelist and documentarian. He is best known for his association with the early cyberpunk culture, and his advocacy of open source solutions to social problems.Rushkoff is most frequently regarded as a media...

 to Vertigo. Taking over editing of Hellblazer
Hellblazer
Hellblazer is a contemporary horror comic book series, originally published by DC Comics, and subsequently by the Vertigo imprint since March 1993, the month the imprint was introduced, where it remains to this day...

 from Will Dennis, he hired acclaimed Scottish crime novelist Denise Mina
Denise Mina
Denise Mina is a Scottish crime writer and playwright. She has written the Garnethill trilogy and another three novels featuring the character Patricia "Paddy" Meehan, a Glasgow journalist. Described as an author of Tartan Noir, she has also dabbled in comic book writing, having recently written...

 to write the title for 13 issues. He brought Harvey Pekar
Harvey Pekar
Harvey Lawrence Pekar was an American underground comic book writer, music critic and media personality, best known for his autobiographical American Splendor comic series. In 2003, the series inspired a critically acclaimed film adaptation of the same name.Pekar described American Splendor as "an...

 to Vertigo, where Pekar published the graphic novel The Quitter as well as eight issues of Pekar's long-running American Splendor
American Splendor
American Splendor is a series of autobiographical comic books written by the late Harvey Pekar and drawn by a variety of artists. The first issue was published in 1976 and the most recent in September 2008, with publication occurring at irregular intervals...

 autobiographical series. Vankin also edited the graphic novels Incognegro
Incognegro (comics)
Incognegro is a black-and-white graphic novel written by Mat Johnson with art by Warren Pleece. It was published by DC Comics imprint Vertigo-Publication history:...

 by Mat Johnson
Mat Johnson
Mat Johnson is an American writer of literary fiction.-Biography:Born and raised in the Germantown and Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Johnson writes primarily about the lives of African-Americans, using fiction, nonfiction and graphic novels as mediums...

 and The Alcoholic by novelist and essayist Jonathan Ames
Jonathan Ames
Jonathan Ames is an American author who has written a number of novels and comic memoirs. He was a columnist for the New York Press for several years, and became known for self-deprecating tales of his sexual misadventures. He also has a long-time envy of boxing, appearing occasionally in the ring...

.

Writers

Although the "mature reader" works of Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...

, Grant Morrison (with Jamie Delano and Neil Gaiman) under the DC imprint paved the way for Vertigo's launch, neither author was part of the initial line-up. Indeed, Moore never produced work for the Vertigo imprint - having refused to work for parent company DC in the late 1980s - although his DC-published Swamp Thing work and V for Vendetta reprint-maxiseries were subsequently collected as Vertigo-issued TPBs, while the Hellblazer solo title dealt with the character co-created by Moore, but never written by him.

Launch writers

Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...

, whose pre-Vertigo work on Animal Man and Doom Patrol was similarly retroactively branded as "Vertigo" when collected, also wrote two issues of Hellblazer pre-Vertigo, which are collected in a 2005 trade paperback. Wrote three volumes of The Invisibles between 1994
1994 in comics
-Year overall:* Huge changes in the marketplace force many retailers and small publishers out of business...

 and 2000
2000 in comics
-February:*Strange Adventures vol. 2, #4, final issue cover-dated February - January :* January 5: Goseki Kojima, co-creator of Lone Wolf and Cub, dies at age 71.* January 6: Mad magazine fixture Don Martin dies at age 68....

. In addition, he has produced a number of miniseries including Sebastian O (1993), the Doom Patrol spin-off Flex Mentallo
Flex Mentallo
Flex Mentallo is a comic book character created by Grant Morrison for his run on Doom Patrol. Flex is in part a parody of Charles Atlas' long-running "The Insult that made a Man out of Mac" advertisements seen in American comics from the past....

 (1996), Seaguy (2004), Vimanarama (2005), We3
We3
We3 is a three-issue American comic book mini-series by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, who describe its kinetic style as "Western Manga". It was published in 2004 by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, with a trade paperback released in 2005....

 (2004–2005) and "Joe The Barbarian" (2010) as well as the longer miniseries The Filth (2002–2003). He collaborated with writer Mark Millar
Mark Millar
Mark Millar is a Scottish comic book writer, known for his work on books such as The Authority, The Ultimates, Marvel Knights Spider-Man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Civil War, Wanted, and Kick-Ass, the latter two of which have been adapted into feature films...

 on five issues of Swamp Thing in 1994, produced two one-shots — The Mystery Play (1994) and Kill Your Boyfriend (1995) — and contributed to several anthologies.

Of the eight debut Vertigo titles, half of them were the work of two authors. Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...

, who went on to become a New York Times best-selling novelist, came to prominence four years pre-Vertigo with the launch of The Sandman for DC Comics, a title that became the backbone of the initial Vertigo line-up. Gaiman's work on the first The Books of Magic
The Books of Magic
The Books of Magic is a four-issue English-language comic book mini-series written by Neil Gaiman, published by DC Comics, and later an ongoing series under the imprint Vertigo. Since its original publication, the mini-series has also been published in a single-volume collection under the Vertigo...

 miniseries (also released as a DC title, 1990–91) lay the groundwork for that long-running Vertigo Universe series, which features young wizard Timothy Hunter
Timothy Hunter
Timothy Hunter, is a fictional character, a comic book sorcerer published by DC Comics. He first appeared in The Books of Magic vol. 1 #1 , and was created by Neil Gaiman and John Bolton.-Publication history:...

.

Peter Milligan
Peter Milligan
Peter Milligan born in London, a British writer, best known for his comic book, film and television work.-Early career:Milligan started his comic career with short stories for 2000 AD in the early 1980s. By 1986, Milligan had his first ongoing strip in 2000AD called Bad Company, with artists Brett...

, who began his career at 2000 AD
2000 AD (comic)
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...

, before working briefly for both Pacific Comics
Pacific Comics
Pacific Comics was an independent comic book publisher that flourished from 1981-1984. It was also a chain of comics shops and a distributor. It began out of a San Diego, California, comic book shop owned by brothers Bill and Steve Schanes...

 and Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market...

, contributed two titles (one quarter of the initial line-up; the same as Gaiman) to the Vertigo launch. His Shade, the Changing Man was launched by DC and ran 70 issues (July 1990
1990 in comics
-Year overall:Days of Future Present, the sequel to Days of Future Past, appeared in the annuals of Fantastic Four, New Mutants, X-Factor and X-Men.-January:* Dinosaurs for Hire is cancelled by Eternity Comics with issue #9....

 - #70 (April 1996, by which time it was under the Vertigo imprint. He also wrote the creator-owned eight-issue miniseries Enigma (1993). Milligan and Brett Ewins
Brett Ewins
Brett Ewins is a British comic book artist best known for his work on Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper in the weekly comic book 2000 AD.-Biography:...

's Skreemer, written for DC pre-Vertigo (1989
1989 in comics
-Year overall:* "Inferno" company-wide Marvel Comics crossover continues, involving the mutant titles The Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, The New Mutants, and Excalibur, as well as the X-Terminators limited series and various other Marvel titles...

) was subsequently collected by Vertigo, while his work on the DC character Human Target
Human Target
The Human Target is the name of two fictional comic book characters that have appeared in books published by DC Comics. The first is Fred Venable, who appears in Detective Comics #201 , by Edmond Hamilton and Sheldon Moldoff....

 was released entirely by Vertigo as a four-issue miniseries (1999), an original graphic novel (2002), and an ongoing series (2003–2005). Milligan also produced the one-shots The Eaters and Face in 1995 for the "Vertigo Voices" sub-imprint, and a number of other miniseries, including The Extremist (1993), Tank Girl: The Odyssey (1995), Egypt (1995–1996), Girl (1996), The Minx (1998–1999), and Vertigo Pop!: London (2003).

Garth Ennis
Garth Ennis
Garth Ennis is a Northern Irish comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series Preacher with artist Steve Dillon and his successful nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise...

(Hellblazer) and Jamie Delano
Jamie Delano
Jamie Delano is a British comics writer. He was part of the first post-Alan Moore "British Invasion" of writers. Best known as the first writer of the comic book series Hellblazer, starring John Constantine.- Biography :...

(Animal Man) were two other launch authors who went on to great success with Vertigo and elsewhere. Ennis' best-known Vertigo work was his and artist Steve Dillon
Steve Dillon
Steve Dillon is a British comic book artist, from Luton, Bedfordshire, best known for his work with writer Garth Ennis on Hellblazer, Preacher and The Punisher.-Biography:...

's creator-owned Preacher
Preacher (comics)
Preacher is a comic book series created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, published by the American comic book label Vertigo , with painted covers by Glenn Fabry....

, which ran for 66 issues and six spin-off specials between 1995 and 2000, while Ennis' prolific work on Hellblazer rivals initial-series author Delano. Ennis has also written several miniseries for Vertigo, including Goddess (1995–1996), Pride & Joy (1997), Unknown Soldier (1997), and Adventures in the Rifle Brigade (2001–2002), as well as eight one-shot War Stories between 2001 and 2003. Two of his pre-Vertigo works — True Faith (serialized in Crisis) and the four-issue DC/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...

 miniseries Bloody Mary (1996-1197) — have had collections released under the Vertigo label. Alan Moore, co-creator of the jaded, chain-smoking, modern-day British wizard John Constantine
John Constantine
John Constantine is a fictional character, an occult detective anti-hero in comic books published by DC Comics, mostly under the Vertigo imprint. The character first appeared in Swamp Thing #37 , and was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch...

 in Swamp Thing, hand-picked Jamie Delano to continue Constantine's adventures as star of the DC title Hellblazer (1988–present), but Delano left that series in 1991 before the launch of Vertigo. Delano did write Vertigo's Animal Man#51-79 (1992–1995), and produced 19 issues of Outlaw Nation (2000–02) and the 12-issue miniseries 2020 Visions (1997–1998), plus two Hellblazer miniseries — The Horrorist
The Horrorist (comics)
The Horrorist was an occult and horror-themed comic book limited series written by Jamie Delano, with art by David Lloyd. It was a spin-off of Vertigo's popular Hellblazer series, and ran from December 1995 to January 1996...

 (1995–1996) and Hellblazer Special: Bad Blood
Hellblazer Special: Bad Blood
Hellblazer Special: Bad Blood was a comic book limited series published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics in 2000. It was written by Jamie Delano and illustrated by Philip Bond, and features the character John Constantine, albeit several decades after most of his series continuity.-Plot:In the...

 (2000). He also wrote the one-shot titles Tainted (1995) and Hell Eternal (1998), the miniseries Ghostdancing (1995) and Cruel and Unusual (1999), contributed to anthology titles, and with Gaiman and Kwitney
Alisa Kwitney
Alisa Kwitney is an American author.Kwitney was born in New York City. She graduated from Wesleyan University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and from Columbia University's Master of Fine Arts Fiction Writing Program. Kwitney was also an editor for Vertigo, the mature/dark fantasy branch of DC...

 wrote The Children's Crusade #2.

Rachel Pollack, who was writing Doom Patrol when Vertigo launched, continued on that title until #87 (Feb. 1995), the final issues. She also penned two "Vertigo Visions" specials — 1993's The Geek and 1998's Tomahawk. Nancy A. Collins
Nancy A. Collins
Nancy A. Collins is a United States horror fiction writer best known for her series of vampire novels featuring her character Sonja Blue. Collins has alsowritten for comic books, including the Swamp Thing series, Jason Vs...

, who wrote Swamp Thing #110-138 (Aug. 1991 - Dec. 1993), also wrote the 1996 one-shot Dhampire: Stillborn.

Later writers

John Ney Reiber has produced most of his output for Vertigo, working exclusively for the company between 1994
1994 in comics
-Year overall:* Huge changes in the marketplace force many retailers and small publishers out of business...

 and 2000. Reiber wrote the first fifty issues of the first ongoing The Books of Magic series (May 94 - July 98), as well as a number of miniseries, mostly set in the wider Vertigo universe (and particularly the Sandman/Books of Magic sections) - Mythos: The Final Tour (1996-7), Hellblazer/The Books of Magic (1997-8), The Trenchcoat Brigade (1999), The Books of Faerie: Molly's Story
The Books of Faerie
The Books of Faerie was a series of three mini-series spun off from Vertigo Comics' series The Books of Magic written by Bronwyn Carlton and John Ney Rieber...

 (1999). Reiber's Shadows Fall (with artist John Van Fleet) was a self-created horror story grounded in a reality which made the tale "all the more creepy than if the story was played out in the realm and scope of superheroes." Reiber's Tell Me Dark, produced for DC, was collected in softcover by Vertigo, and he also contributed to various anthologies.

J. M. DeMatteis
J. M. DeMatteis
John Marc DeMatteis is an American writer of comic books.-Early career:Born in Brooklyn, DeMatteis graduated from Midwood High School and Empire State College. He worked as a music critic before getting his start in comic books at DC Comics in the late 1970s...

began his comics career on DC's House of Mystery
House of Mystery
The House of Mystery is the name of several horror-mystery-suspense anthology comic book series. It had a companion series, House of Secrets.-Genesis:...

 title over a decade before the formation of Vertigo, and later became one of the earliest Vertigo creators thanks in large part to his proposed Touchmark projects. DeMatteis' Mercy (1993) one-shot and miniseries The Last One both debuted in 1993, with reprints of two creator-owned Epic Comics
Epic Comics
Epic Comics was a creator-owned imprint of Marvel Comics started in 1982, lasting through the mid-1990s, and being briefly revived on a small scale in the mid-2000s.- Origins :...

 projects following in subsequent years: his 1985-7 creator-owned maxiseries Moonshadow was reprinted between 1994-5, with the miniseries Blood: A Tale seeing print again in 1996-7. DeMatteis also wrote fifteen issues of Seekers into the Mystery (1996-7) for Vertigo.

Mike Carey, having started his American comics career with Caliber Comics
Caliber Comics
Caliber Comics or Caliber Press was an American comic book publisher founded in 1989 by Gary Reed. Featuring primarily creator-owned comics, in the next decade Caliber published over 1300 comics and ranked as one of the America's leading independent publishers...

 in the mid-1990s catapulted to prominence in March 1999
1999 in comics
-February:* February 3: Pioneering editor Vin Sullivan dies at age 87.* February 26: John L. Goldwater, co-founder of Archie Comics, dies at age 82.-March:* Incredible Hulk is canceled by Marvel with issue #474.-May:...

 with the first issue of his Sandman spin-off miniseries Sandman Presents: Lucifer, which would lead to an on-going series a year later and considerable praise and projects for Carey. A second Sandman miniseries - Sandman Presents: Petrefax (2000) - soon followed, before the June 2000 debut of Lucifer
Lucifer (DC Comics)
Lucifer is a DC Comics character that starred in an eponymous comic book published under the Vertigo imprint, whose entire run was written by Mike Carey...

. Neil Gaiman's preferred Sandman spin-off had not had an easy time being published, due to its title and main character, but Carey was able to helm it for a Sandman-equalling 75 issues (and a 2002 one-shot - Nirvana) for 6 years. During this time, Carey also wrote the hardcover OGN Sandman Presents: The Furies (2002), over 40 issues of Hellblazer between 2002 and 2006 and a 2005 Hellblazer original graphic novel, All His Engines
All His Engines
All His Engines was an original graphic novel written by Mike Carey, with art by Leonardo Manco. It was a tangent to Vertigo's popular Hellblazer series, not being published as issues, and not having any issue number...

. He also wrote a non-Sandman miniseries, My Faith in Frankie (2004), the comicbook adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (2005-6) and the OGN God Save the Queen (2007). In 2007 he launched the ongoing series Crossing Midnight (2007-8) and the miniseries Faker (2007-8).

Brian K. Vaughan
Brian K. Vaughan
Brian Keller Vaughan is an American comic book and television writer. He is best known for the comic book series Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways, and Pride of Baghdad, and was one of the principal writers of the television series Lost, during seasons three through five...

's first Vertigo work was a short story in 2000's Winter's Edge #3 anthology, which led to him relaunching Swamp Thing (Vol. 3) (2000–01) which lasted for 20 issues. In September 2002
2002 in comics
-March:* Adventures of Superman #600: super-sized anniversary issue by Joe Casey, Mike Wieringo, and Jose Marzan, Jr. -April:* Batman #600: "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive," part one, 64-page giant, written by Ed Brubaker.-January:...

, his (and Pia Guerra
Pia Guerra
Pia Guerra is an award-winning Canadian comic book artist best known for her work as co-creator and lead penciller on the Vertigo title Y: The Last Man.-Career:...

's) Y: The Last Man
Y: The Last Man
Y: The Last Man is a comic book series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra published by Vertigo beginning in 2002. The series is about the only man to survive the apparent simultaneous death of every male mammal on Earth...

 launched. It would ultimately run for 60 issues until March 2008. Vaughan also wrote the 2006 OGN Pride of Baghdad for Vertigo.

Ed Brubaker
Ed Brubaker
Ed Brubaker is an Eisner Award-winning comic book writer and cartoonist. Brubaker first early comics work was primarily in the crime fiction genre with works such as Lowlife, The Fall, Sandman Presents: Dead Boy Detectives and Scene of the Crime...

's first Vertigo work was on the "Vertigo Visions" Prez one-shot (1995), and intermittent contributions to a couple of anthology titles preceded his Scene of the Crime (1999), effectively laying the groundwork for his later crime comics. His next Vertigo project - the post-apocalyptic series Deadenders
Deadenders
Deadenders is an science fiction comic book series written by Ed Brubaker and published by DC Comics. It is set in a post-apocalyptic future in New Bedlam, USA and features a heavy Mod content among the characters. The cover work is by Philip Bond...

 (2000–01) - ran for 16 issues while Brubaker wrote for both Batman
Batman (comic book)
Batman is an ongoing comic book series featuring the DC Comics hero of the same name. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #27, published in May 1939. Batman proved to be so popular that a self-titled ongoing comic book series began publication in the spring of 1940...

 and Detective Comics
Detective Comics
Detective Comics is an American comic book series published monthly by DC Comics since 1937, best known for introducing the iconic superhero Batman in Detective Comics #27 . It is, along with Action Comics, the book that launched with the debut of Superman, one of the medium's signature series, and...

 for parent-company DC. His 2001 miniseries Sandman Presents: The Dead Boy Detectives
Dead Boy Detectives
The Dead Boy Detectives are fictional characters that have appeared in comic books published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. They were created by writer Neil Gaiman and artists Matt Wagner and Malcolm Jones III in The Sandman #25 ....

 told the story of some incidental Sandman characters, and was later retold by Jill Thompson
Jill Thompson
Jill Thompson is an American comic book writer and illustrator. Probably better known for her work on Neil Gaiman's The Sandman characters and her own Scary Godmother series, she has also worked on The Invisibles, Swamp Thing, and Wonder Woman.-Career:Jill Thompson illustrated The Sandman story...

 in manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 form (2005). Brubaker subsequently took his Vertigo/crime sensibility to work from WildStorm
WildStorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...

, Icon
Icon Comics
Icon Comics is an imprint of Marvel Comics for creator-owned titles, designed to keep select "A-list" creators producing for Marvel rather than seeing them take creator-owned work to other publishers.-History:...

 and the mainstream DC and Marvel universes.

Bill Willingham
Bill Willingham
Bill Willingham is an American writer and artist of comics.-Career:Willingham got his start in the late 1970s to early 1980s as a staff artist for TSR, Inc., where he illustrated a number of their role-playing game products...

came to Vertigo after a plethora of small press work in 1999 to launch his poker miniseries Proposition Player (1999–2000), and contribute to the Sandman universe with a one-shot spy-spoof - Sandman Presents: Merv Pumpkinhead, Agent of D.R.E.A.M. (2000) - and a single issue contribution to The Dreaming
The Dreaming (comics)
The Dreaming is a fictional place, a comic book location published by DC Comics. The Dreaming first appeared in the Sandman vol. 2 #1, , and was created by Neil Gaiman and Sam Kieth. The Dreaming is the domain of Dream of the Endless....

 on-going series. A second Sandman one-shot - The Sandman Presents: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Dreams... (2001) - also led to a 4-issue miniseries, Sandman Presents: The Thessaliad (2002). Willingham's best-known work soon followed, with the July 2001
2001 in comics
-Year overall:* Marvel Comics withdraws from the Comics Code Authority and established its own rating system for its publications.- January :* January 23: Fred Ray, Superman's primary cover artist of the 1940s, passes away at age 80.- September :...

 debut of Fables (with artist Lan Medina). In 2004, he returned to the world of the Sandman with Sandman Presents: Thessaly: Witch for Hire, and 2006 saw the debut of the Vertigo-esque magical - but mainstream DCU title - Shadowpact and Fables companion series Jack of Fables. In July 2008, with Fables nearing a major turning point in its run, Willingham relaunched House of Mystery
House of Mystery
The House of Mystery is the name of several horror-mystery-suspense anthology comic book series. It had a companion series, House of Secrets.-Genesis:...

 as a Vertigo title with Matthew Sturges
Matthew Sturges
Matthew Sturges is an American writer of comics and fantasy novels.-Biography:Sturges is best known for the Eisner-award nominated Jack of Fables from DC/Vertigo...

.

Other notable people who have written for Vertigo include Kyle Baker
Kyle Baker
Kyle John Baker is an American cartoonist, comic book writer-artist, and animator known for his graphic novels and for a 2000s revival of the series Plastic Man....

, Warren Ellis
Warren Ellis
Warren Girard Ellis is an English author of comics, novels, and television, who is well-known for sociocultural commentary, both through his online presence and through his writing, which covers transhumanist themes...

, David Lapham
David Lapham
David Lapham is an Eisner Award winning American comic book writer, artist, and cartoonist, best known for his work on his groundbreaking independent comic book Stray Bullets.-Biography:...

, Mark Millar
Mark Millar
Mark Millar is a Scottish comic book writer, known for his work on books such as The Authority, The Ultimates, Marvel Knights Spider-Man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Civil War, Wanted, and Kick-Ass, the latter two of which have been adapted into feature films...

, Brian Azzarello
Brian Azzarello
Brian Azzarello is an American comic book writer. He came to prominence with the hardboiled crime series 100 Bullets, published by DC Comics' mature-audience imprint Vertigo.-Career:...

, Paul Pope
Paul Pope
Paul Pope is an American alternative comic book artist. Influenced by Ray Bradbury and Edgar Rice Burroughs, Pope's stories evoke poignant, under-explored aspects of youth culture...

, James Robinson
James Dale Robinson
James Dale Robinson is a British writer of comic books and screenplays who is also known for his interest in vintage collectibles and memorabilia. His style is described as smart and energetic, built upon his vast knowledge of obscure continuity from the period known to fans and historians as the...

, and Brian Wood.

Artists

Several artists have also produced a large amount of notable work for Vertigo, several (Steve Dillon
Steve Dillon
Steve Dillon is a British comic book artist, from Luton, Bedfordshire, best known for his work with writer Garth Ennis on Hellblazer, Preacher and The Punisher.-Biography:...

, Pia Guerra
Pia Guerra
Pia Guerra is an award-winning Canadian comic book artist best known for her work as co-creator and lead penciller on the Vertigo title Y: The Last Man.-Career:...

, Eduardo Risso
Eduardo Risso
Eduardo Risso is an Argentine comic book artist. In the United States he is probably best known for his work with writer Brian Azzarello on the Vertigo title 100 Bullets, while in Argentina and Europe he is noted for his collaborations with Ricardo Barreiro and Carlos Trillo...

 and Darick Robertson
Darick Robertson
Darick W. Robertson is an American artist best known for his work as a comic book illustrator. Highly prolific, Robertson has illustrated hundreds of comics in his twenty plus years in the industry. His body of work ranges from science fiction characters of his own creation to headlining on...

) mainly producing lengthy runs on individual creator-owned titles (in Guerra's case, Y: The Last Man makes up around 80% of her output to date), but others on a number of titles. Vertigo's main Universe titles - The Sandman, Hellblazer and Swamp Thing - have been particularly artistically diverse, and home to many talents, while the large number of creator-owned miniseries has seen large numbers of individuals producing work for Vertigo.

Peter Gross
Peter Gross (comics)
Peter Gross is an American comic book writer and artist known for such works as The Books of Magic, Lucifer and The Unwritten.-Biography:Gross attended St. John's University and did graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Superior...

worked on a pre-Vertigo issue of Swamp Thing and an early Vertigo issue of Shade the Changing Man (#36, June 1993) before penciling & inking a story featuring Timothy Hunter in the "Children's Crusade" crossover Arcana Annual (Jan. 1994). This led to a regular inking role on the newly launched Books of Magic series, taking over as regular penciler and inker with #6; he would stay with the title for most of its run, writing as well as drawing its final 25 issues (1998–2000). Gross also inked Reiber's Mythos one-shot, and provided full artwork on the first Books of Faerie miniseries (1997) and pencils on the following year's The Books of Faerie: Auberon's Tale (1998). After Books of Magic, Gross moved to Lucifer (beginning with #5, Oct. 2000) and penciled 56 of the remaining issues, as well as inking a handful. He also co-penciled 2005's Constantine: The Official Movie Adaptation and several issues of Douglas Rushkoff
Douglas Rushkoff
Douglas Rushkoff is an American media theorist, writer, columnist, lecturer, graphic novelist and documentarian. He is best known for his association with the early cyberpunk culture, and his advocacy of open source solutions to social problems.Rushkoff is most frequently regarded as a media...

's Testament from 2006 to 2007.

Dean Ormston
Dean Ormston
Dean Ormston is a British born comic book artist. His most notable work has been for the British comic 2000 AD and for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.-Biography:...

has similarly produced a disproportionate amount of his artwork for Vertigo titles, including the lion's share of the alternate reality Books of Magick: Life During Wartime
Books of Magick: Life During Wartime
Books of Magick: Life During Wartime is a fantasy comic book series published by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint in 2004 and 2005 that was discontinued after fifteen issues....

 series (2004-5). His first Vertigo work was as one of several pencilers in the pages of Sandman #62 (Aug 1994), and in 1995 he penciled and inked Peter Milligan's The Eaters one-shot. His artwork appears in most (14) of the non-Peter Gross issues of Mike Carey's Lucifer, and he also handled art duties for Caitlin R. Kiernan
Caitlin R. Kiernan
Caitlín Rebekah Kiernan is the author of many science fiction and dark fantasy works, including seven novels, many comic books, more than one hundred published short stories, novellas, and vignettes, and numerous scientific papers.- Overview :Born in Dublin, Ireland, she moved to the United States...

's 4-issue The Girl who would be Death (1998-9). In addition, he has worked on a number of single (and jam) issues of other Vertigo titles, including The Crusades, House of Mystery, The Invisibles, Mythos, Sandman Mystery Theatre, Swamp Thing and Testament between 1994 and 2007.

Duncan Fegredo
Duncan Fegredo
Duncan Fegredo is a British comic book artist born in Leicester in 1964.-Career:Fegredo first managed to get into comics after showing his portfolio around UKCAC in 1987 and meeting Dave Thorpe. Together they worked on a strip for a short lived British magazine called Heartbreak Hotel...

's first major American work was on the 1991 Kid Eternity miniseries with Grant Morrison. A 1992 cover for Doom Patrol similarly fell in Vertigo territory pre-Vertigo, while Fegredo's first "true" Vertigo work was also on the joint-first new series released by the imprint: Peter Milligan's Enigma. Immediately after the end of the 8-issue series, Fegredo took over as cover artist on Milligan's long-running Shade, the Changing Man (issues #42-50), collaborated with Milligan on 1995's one-shot Face (Jan) and then returned to cover duties on Shade, producing all but one of the remaining pieces of art. He produced pencils and inks for the miniseries Millennium Fever (1995) and (with Milligan) for Girl (1996). Between 1997 and 2002, he contributed artwork on fill-in issues (or to jam issues) of Crusades, The Dreaming, Flinch, House of Secrets, The Sandman Presents: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Dreams..., Totems, Weird War Tales and Weird Western Tales. In addition, his cover work graced the 1999 miniseries Sandman Presents: Love Street, six issues of The Books of Magick: Life During Wartime and the first fifteen issues of Mike Carey's Lucifer.

Jill Thompson
Jill Thompson
Jill Thompson is an American comic book writer and illustrator. Probably better known for her work on Neil Gaiman's The Sandman characters and her own Scary Godmother series, she has also worked on The Invisibles, Swamp Thing, and Wonder Woman.-Career:Jill Thompson illustrated The Sandman story...

, although primarily known as an artist, has also produced scripts for Vertigo, producing as writer-artist three Sandman tie-ins: The Little Endless Storybook (2001) and two manga retellings of storylines - Death: At Death's Door (2003) and The Dead Boy Detectives (2005). Between 1993 and 1994, she penciled the first six issues of the on-going Black Orchid series and the 4-issue miniseries Finals (1999). She has contributed ten issues each to the high-profile Vertigo series Sandman (penciling the complete "Brief Lives
The Sandman: Brief Lives
Brief Lives is the seventh collection of issues in the DC Comics series, The Sandman. Written by Neil Gaiman, penciled by Jill Thompson, inked by Vince Locke and Dick Giordano, coloured by Danny Vozzo, and lettered by Todd Klein....

" storyline, part 7 of which was the first Vertigo issue) and The Invisibles, and penciled four of the last five issues of Seekers into the Mystery. She has produced fill-in issues of Books of Magic, The Dreaming and Swamp Thing and contributed artwork to the anthology comics Fables #59 (in addition to a story in the hardcover OGN 1001 Nights of Snowfall) and Transmetropolitan: Filth of the City.

Jon J Muth, a painter, has produced several lavish volumes for Vertigo, including writing, penciling, inking and coloring the 1998 one-shot Swamp Thing: Roots. Primarily, his Vertigo output has been in collaboration with JM DeMatteis, an issue of Blood: A Tale, the maxiseries Moonshadow (and its coda, Farewell, Moonshadow (1997)) and three issues of Seekers into the Mystery. Muth painted Grant Morrison's The Mystery Play (1994) and the 2002 Lucifer: Nirvana special for Mike Carey. His work also effectively ended Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, Muth painting issue #74, the final issue of The Wake
The Sandman: The Wake
The Wake is the tenth and final collection of issues in the comic book series The Sandman. Written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Michael Zulli, Jon J...

 storyline, and second-to-last main issue.

The artwork of Charles Vess
Charles Vess
Charles Vess is an American fantasy artist and comic-book illustrator who has specialized in the illustration of myths and fairy tales. His illustrations are strongly influenced by the work of artists and illustrators such as Arthur Rackham and Alphonse Mucha...

has infrequently but notably accompanied the words of Neil Gaiman on Vertigo projects, including the 4-issue Stardust (1997-8) miniseries, later reprinted as an illustrated hardcover book. Vess' work can also be seen in the two Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

 adaptations in the pages of The Sandman, the first of which (pre-Vertigo) won the comic and duo the World Fantasy Award
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...

 for Best Short Story, and the last of which was also the final - 75th - issue of the series. Vess also contributed a story to the Fables OGN 1001 Nights of Snowfall, illustrated a Books of Magic cover and produced an issue of The Dreaming (2000).

Sean Phillips
Sean Phillips
Sean Phillips is a British comic book artist.He is best known in the American comic book industry for his work on DC Comics' Sleeper, WildC.A.T.s, Batman and Hellblazer.-Career:...

earliest American comics work was in the pages of pre-Vertigo Hellblazer, and in May 1993 he became one of the early Vertigo artists by illustrating (with assists from Paul Peart and Sean Harrison Scoffield) the entire 16-issue run of Kid Eternity (1993-4). He drew the covers for twenty-three of the twenty-five issues of the first The Invisibles series and also returned to Hellblazer (switching from artwork and covers to just covers after around 20 issues) between 1995 and 1998. He drew three issues of Shade, the Changing Man (1994), the one-shot Hell Eternal (1995) and the miniseries The Minx as well as inking most of Michael Lark
Michael Lark
Michael Lark is an American comics artist.Lark has provided pencils for DC Comics' Batman, Terminal City, Gotham Central and Legend of the Hawkman. His work for Marvel Comics includes The Pulse and Captain America...

's work on Scene of the Crime. He penciled four issues of the final Invisibles series between 1999 and 2000, produced covers for the Hellblazer Special: Bad Blood miniseries, and shared art chores with John Bolton on the 2001 miniseries User.

John Bolton, another frequent Gaiman collaborator has rarely worked with that author directly for Vertigo, but has utilised his characters, including in the OGN Sandman Presents: The Furies and the Books of Magic lead-in Arcana Annual. He also contributed to the Sandman Mystery Theatre annual, and the Fables OGN 1001 Nights of Snowfall. With Sean Phillips, he produced the artwork for Devin Grayson's 2001 miniseries User, and individually fully illustrated the OGN's Menz Insana (1997) and God Save the Queen (2007).

Other artists include Chris Bachalo
Chris Bachalo
Chris Bachalo is an American comic book illustrator known for his quirky, cartoon-like style. He became well known for stints on DC Comics’ Shade, the Changing Man and Neil Gaiman's two Death series...

, Mark Buckingham
Mark Buckingham
Mark Buckingham is a British comic book artist. He is better known for his work on Marvelman and Fables.-Biography:Born as Mark John Buckingham May 23, 1966 in Clevedon, United Kingdom...

, Guy Davis, Phil Jimenez
Phil Jimenez
Phil Jimenez is an American comic book writer, artist and penciller, known for his work as writer/artist on Wonder Woman from 2000 to 2003, as one of the five pencilers of the 2005-2006 miniseries Infinite Crisis, and his collaborations with writer Grant Morrison on New X-Men and The...

, Jock
Jock (artist)
Mark Simpson, known by the pen name Jock, is a British comics artist, best known for his work in 2000 AD and on The Losers.-Career:...

, Warren Pleece
Warren Pleece
Warren Pleece is a British comics artist. He is best known for his work at the DC Comics imprint Vertigo.-Biography:With his brother Gary Pleece, he wrote and drew four issues of a self published comics magazine called Velocity between 1987 and 1989...

 and Liam Sharp
Liam Sharp
Liam Roger Sharp is a British comic book artist, writer and publisher.-Early life:Liam Sharp was born in Derby at St. Mary's Hospital to parents Roger and Linda Sharp. He has a younger sister, Kerry, and younger brother, Rien. He went to School at Brackensdale Junior then infants school, before...

.

Cover artists

Inarguably the name most associated with Vertigo's cover output is the artist who provided all of the covers to the Vertigo's highest profile series - The Sandman series (1989–96): Dave McKean
Dave McKean
David McKean is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician....

. The first 46 of these covers were created for the DC imprint, but McKean's work also includes a number of Sandman-spin-off issues, miniseries and galleries. These include the two Death miniseries and all 60 issues of The Dreaming (1996–2001). He provided the first 24 - DC published - covers to Hellblazer, and all 22 covers to the 1993-5 Black Orchid Vertigo series (which spun off from his - and Gaiman's - 1988 DC miniseries). He produced the first cover for Sandman Mystery Theatre and his work was featured in a 1997 artbook incorporating his Sandman covers - "Dust Covers: The Collected Sandman Covers, 1989-1997."
In addition, McKean's artwork also graced the inside pages of the public service comic Death Talks about Life (1994), an issue of The Dreaming (#8), two issues of the DC-published Hellblazer (#27 with Gaiman and #40 with Delano) and his and Neil Gaiman's OGN Mr Punch (1994). The duo's Black Orchid was similarly produced for DC, but retroactively deemed a Vertigo title.

Brian Bolland
Brian Bolland
Brian Bolland is a British comics artist, known for his meticulous, detailed linework and eye-catching compositions. Best known in the UK as one of the definitive Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology 2000 AD, he spearheaded the 'British Invasion' of the American comics industry, and in...

and Glenn Fabry
Glenn Fabry
Glenn Fabry is an Eisner Award-winning British comics artist known for his detailed, realistic work in both ink and painted colour.-Biography:...

have also produced a large number of iconic covers for the Vertigo line, Fabry probably being best known for his work on one title: Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's Preacher (and the spin-off miniseries). Bolland, one of the very earliest British creators whose work was brought to America, drew the first 63 covers for Animal Man, mostly for DC, but also the first 6 Vertigo issues before handing over to a succession of other artists.
Bolland also drew the cover for Vertigo's first Doom Patrol issue and for the entire second and third volumes of Morrison's Invisibles (1997–2000) (and in addition provided artwork for the TPB collections of Morrison's Doom Patrol run, and all volumes of The Invisibles). Bolland provided covers for three issues of Mark Millar's Swamp Thing run (1995), and miniseries including Vamps (1994-5), both Vertigo Tank Girl
Tank Girl
Tank Girl is a British comic created by Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin. Originally drawn by Jamie Hewlett, it has also been drawn by Rufus Dayglo, Ashley Wood, and Mike McMahon.The eponymous character Tank Girl drives a tank, which is also her home...

 (1995-6) miniseries and BLod + Water (2003) as well as the one-shot Zatanna: Everyday Magic (2003). Bolland also wrote and illustrated stories for the anthology titles Heartthrobs and Strange Adventures (1999) and OGN 1001 Nights of Snowfall, as well as providing a cover each for the Gangland and Winter's Edge anthologies. With issue #12, Bolland took over cover duties (from Fables cover artist James Jean
James Jean
James Jean is a Taiwanese-American visual artist, known for both his commercial work and fine art gallery work. He is known in the American comics industry as a cover artist for various books published by DC Comics, as well as for his work for Prada, ESPN and Atlantic Records...

) on Fables spin-off Jack of Fables, which he continues to produce .
Fabry, in addition to his Preacher covers, provided covers for Ennis' miniseries Adventures in the Rifle Brigade: Operation Bollock (2001-2) and most of that authors first run on Hellblazer (1992-4) - which included the first Vertigo issue - as well as his return to the title in 1998-9. In addition, Fabry has also penciled a couple of short Hellblazer stories for various specials, and drew the covers for the Hellblazer: The Trenchcoat Brigade miniseries. He contributed to the multi-artist Transmetropolitan special "I Hate It Here" and provided three covers each to the on-going Transmetropolitan (2002) and Swamp Thing (Vol. 3) (2001); covered the complete Scarab
Scarab (Vertigo)
Scarab is an American comic book limited series written by John Smith and published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, featuring a superhero called Scarab....

 (1993-4) miniseries, all 19 issues of Outlaw Nation and one issue each of the anthology titles Gangland, Heartthrobs and Weird War Tales. Between 2005 and 2006, Fabry fully illustrated Mike Carey's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, having previously collaborated with the man himself on a story in the 2003 OGN Sandman: Endless Nights.
At the start of 2008, he provided a cover for an issue of Exterminators, before taking over from Lee Bermejo
Lee Bermejo
Lee Bermejo is an American comic book artist whose published work includes interior illustrations and cover art. His career began in 1997 as an intern at Wildstorm...

 as on-going cover artist on, again, Hellblazer.

Other notable cover artists include Dan Brereton
Dan Brereton
Dan Brereton is an American professional writer and illustrator who has produced notable work in the comic book field.-Biography:...

, Tim Bradstreet
Tim Bradstreet
Timothy "Tim" Bradstreet , is an artist and illustrator, best known for his work on comic books , book covers, movie posters, roleplaying games and trading cards.-Career:...

, Duncan Fegredo
Duncan Fegredo
Duncan Fegredo is a British comic book artist born in Leicester in 1964.-Career:Fegredo first managed to get into comics after showing his portfolio around UKCAC in 1987 and meeting Dave Thorpe. Together they worked on a strip for a short lived British magazine called Heartbreak Hotel...

, James Jean
James Jean
James Jean is a Taiwanese-American visual artist, known for both his commercial work and fine art gallery work. He is known in the American comics industry as a cover artist for various books published by DC Comics, as well as for his work for Prada, ESPN and Atlantic Records...

, Dave Johnson and J. G. Jones.

Adaptations in other media

  • Swamp Thing
    Swamp Thing (film)
    Swamp Thing is a 1982 horror film written and directed by Wes Craven. It tells the story of scientist Alec Holland who becomes transformed into the monster Swamp Thing through laboratory sabotage orchestrated by the evil Anton Arcane...

     (1982), based the long running comic that started in DC comics and had ended its run in Vertigo Comics created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson. The film was produced Benjamin Melniker, and Michael E. Uslan. The director was Wes Craven. It was followed by the 1989 sequel The Return of Swamp Thing
    The Return of Swamp Thing
    The Return of Swamp Thing is a sci-fi-comedy film released in 1989, and directed by Jim Wynorski. It is based on the DC Comics title Swamp Thing and is a sequel to the 1982 horror film Swamp Thing directed by Wes Craven; however, it had a lighter tone than the previous film...

    .
  • Constantine
    Constantine (film)
    Constantine is a 2005 American action horror film directed by Francis Lawrence as his directorial debut, starring Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, with Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, and Djimon Hounsou...

     (2005), based on the (John Constantine): Hellblazer
    Hellblazer
    Hellblazer is a contemporary horror comic book series, originally published by DC Comics, and subsequently by the Vertigo imprint since March 1993, the month the imprint was introduced, where it remains to this day...

     series of comics.
  • A History of Violence
    A History of Violence (film)
    A History of Violence is a 2005 American crime thriller film directed by David Cronenberg and written by Josh Olson. It is an adaptation of the 1997 graphic novel of the same name by John Wagner and Vince Locke...

     (2005), based on the graphic novel A History of Violence
    A History of Violence
    A History of Violence is a graphic novel written by John Wagner and illustrated by Vince Locke, originally published in 1997 by Paradox Press and later by Vertigo, both imprints of DC Comics....

     written by John Wagner
    John Wagner
    John Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since.He is best known for his work on...

     and illustrated by Vince Locke
    Vince Locke
    Vincent Locke is an American comic book artist known for his work on Deadworld and A History of Violence and for his ultraviolent album covers for death metal band Cannibal Corpse.-Biography:...

    . The film was directed by David Cronenberg
    David Cronenberg
    David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...

     and starred Viggo Mortensen
    Viggo Mortensen
    Viggo Peter Mortensen, Jr. is a Danish-American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter. He made his film debut in Peter Weir's 1985 thriller Witness, and subsequently appeared in many notable films of the 1990s, including The Indian Runner , Carlito's Way , Crimson Tide , Daylight , The...

     and Ed Harris
    Ed Harris
    Edward Allen "Ed" Harris is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his performances in Appaloosa, Radio, The Rock, The Abyss, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, A History of Violence, and The Truman Show. Harris has also narrated commercials for The Home Depot and other companies...

    .
  • V for Vendetta
    V for Vendetta (film)
    V for Vendetta is a 2005 dystopian thriller film directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers, who also wrote the screenplay. It is an adaptation of the V for Vendetta comic book by Alan Moore and David Lloyd...

     (2006) based on the comics series by Alan Moore
    Alan Moore
    Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...

     and David Lloyd, and produced by the Wachowski Brothers.
  • The Fountain
    The Fountain
    The Fountain is a 2006 American romantic drama film, which blends elements of fantasy, history, religion, and science fiction. It was directed by Darren Aronofsky, and starred Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz...

     (2006), developed alongside the graphic novel
    The Fountain (graphic novel)
    The Fountain is a graphic novel illustrated by Kent Williams published in 2005 by Vertigo Comics, based on the original script of Darren Aronofsky's film The Fountain....

     by writer/director Darren Aronofsky
    Darren Aronofsky
    Darren Aronofsky is an American film director, screenwriter and film producer. He attended Harvard University to study film theory and the American Film Institute to study both live-action and animation filmmaking...

     (the OGN was illustrated by Kent Williams).
  • The Losers
    The Losers (film)
    The Losers is a 2010 American action based on the adaptation of the Vertigo comic book series of the same name by Andy Diggle. Directed by Sylvain White, the film features an ensemble cast that includes Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans....

     (2010), based on the Vertigo Monthly series of the same name, which was created Andy Diggle
    Andy Diggle
    Andy Diggle is a British comic book writer and former editor of 2000 AD. He is best known for his work on The Losers, Swamp Thing, Hellblazer, Adam Strange and Silent Dragon at DC Comics and for his run on Thunderbolts and Daredevil after his move to Marvel.-Career:Diggle took over editing 2000 AD...

     and Jock
    Jock (artist)
    Mark Simpson, known by the pen name Jock, is a British comics artist, best known for his work in 2000 AD and on The Losers.-Career:...

    .


Future film projects
  • In July 2007 that New Line Cinema
    New Line Cinema
    New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...

     was developing Y: The Last Man
    Y: The Last Man
    Y: The Last Man is a comic book series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra published by Vertigo beginning in 2002. The series is about the only man to survive the apparent simultaneous death of every male mammal on Earth...

     with director D. J. Caruso
    D. J. Caruso
    Daniel John "D.J." Caruso is an American director and producer. Caruso has directed the films Disturbia, Two for the Money, Taking Lives, The Salton Sea, Eagle Eye and I Am Number Four. He has also directed television episodes for shows such as The Shield, Over There, Smallville, and Dark Angel...

     and screenwriter Carl Ellsworth
    Carl Ellsworth
    Carl Ellsworth is an American screenwriter whose best known movies include Disturbia and The Last House on the Left.-Filmography:*Red Eye *Disturbia...

    .

  • New Line Cinema announced in June 2005 that it had optioned We3
    We3
    We3 is a three-issue American comic book mini-series by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, who describe its kinetic style as "Western Manga". It was published in 2004 by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, with a trade paperback released in 2005....

    , with that comic's writer, Grant Morrison
    Grant Morrison
    Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...

    , then in negotiations to write the screenplay. , the status of the film is that Morrison has written the script, but the project appears to have stalled, partially due to concerns over the level of violence. Morrison said in an interview that "Relativity Pictures keeps saying they're doing it, and they still haven't done it", and that he can't say anything more as it stands.

TV

  • HBO announced in November 2006 it was adapting Preacher as a one-hour television series, with a pilot episode written by Mark Steven Johnson
    Mark Steven Johnson
    Mark Steven Johnson is an American film director and writer.Johnson was born in Hastings, Minnesota and attended California State University, Long Beach. He has directed and co-written the two comic book based films Daredevil and Ghost Rider. His early writing credits are for the film Grumpy Old...

     and directed by Howard Deutch
    Howard Deutch
    Howard Deutch is an American film director. His most recent theatrical release was My Best Friend's Girl, starring Jason Biggs, Kate Hudson, Dane Cook, and Alec Baldwin...

    . However, in August 2008, series executive producer Mark Steven Johnson
    Mark Steven Johnson
    Mark Steven Johnson is an American film director and writer.Johnson was born in Hastings, Minnesota and attended California State University, Long Beach. He has directed and co-written the two comic book based films Daredevil and Ghost Rider. His early writing credits are for the film Grumpy Old...

     announced that the "Preacher" project was "dead at HBO."

  • In July 2008, Showtime announced that it would develop the Vertigo series The Exterminators
    The Exterminators (comics)
    The Exterminators was an American monthly comic book series, published under the Vertigo imprint by DC Comics. The comic was created by writer Simon Oliver and artist Tony Moore and follows the employees of the Bug-Bee-Gone extermination company. The book is notable for its graphic and darkly...

     as a one-hour drama. The comic was created by writer Simon Oliver
    Simon Oliver
    Simon Oliver is the writer of the Wildstorm comic book series Gen¹³ and the Vertigo comic book series The Exterminators and Hellblazer Presents: Chas - The Knowledge.-Biography:...

     and artist Tony Moore
    Tony Moore (artist)
    Michael Anthony "Tony" Moore is an American comic book artist, whose work consists mainly of genre pieces, most notably in horror and science fiction, with titles such as The Walking Dead, Fear Agent and The Exterminators.-Career:...

    . Executive producer Sara Colleton's credits include the Showtime hit drama Dexter
    Dexter (TV series)
    Dexter is an American television drama series, which debuted on Showtime on October 1, 2006. The sixth season premiered on October 2, 2011. The series centers on Dexter Morgan , a bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer...

    . However, in February 2011, Oliver revealed in an interview that the project is currently in limbo.

  • On December 8, 2008 it was announced that ABC had picked up the rights to develop a pilot of Fables for the 2009-2010 Television Season. Six Degrees creators and executive producers Stu Zicherman and Raven Metzner are writing the script for the hourlong drama, again set up at Warner Brothers Television, while David Semel has come on board to direct. However, in December 2010, Willingham said, in an interview with Io9
    Io9
    io9 is a blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The blog focuses on the subjects of science fiction, futurism, and advancements in the fields of science and technology....

    , that the ABC show is "probably dead", though he also admits to being "out of the loop".

Computer games

  • 100 Bullets
    100 Bullets
    100 Bullets is an Eisner and Harvey Award-winning comic book written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso. It was published in the USA by DC Comics under its Vertigo imprint and initially ran for one hundred issues...

     was optioned and partly developed as a game, but canceled. The license has been bought and an unconnected game is in development .
  • Constantine
    Constantine (video game)
    Constantine is an action-adventure video game developed by Bits Studios and published by THQ in 2005 for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Xbox.It is a movie tie-in license of the Warner Bros...

    , a spin-off based on the film
    Constantine (film)
    Constantine is a 2005 American action horror film directed by Francis Lawrence as his directorial debut, starring Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, with Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, and Djimon Hounsou...

    of the same name.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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