DC Vertigo relaunch

[09philj]

DC is revamping it's Vertigo imprint, and has announced seven new titles to mark the occasion. These are:

American Carnage written by Bryan Hill with art by Leandro Fernandez - A mixed race FBI agent infiltrates a white supremacist group.

Border Town written by Eric M. Esquivel with art by Ramon Villalobos - A portal to another dimension releases an army of monsters from Mexican folklore into a town in Arizona. As racial tensions run high, a group of high school misfits investigate the mystery.

Goddess Mode written by Zoe Quinn with art by Robbi Rodriguez - A woman responsible for maintaining the AI that administrates humanity becomes embroiled in a war between monsters and cybernetic magical girls.

Hex Wives written by Ben Blacker with art by Mirka Andolfo - A coven of witches are brainwashed into becoming subservient housewives, but their new husbands can't control them forever...

High Level written by Rob Sheridan with art by Barnaby Bagenda - Several centuries after the end of the world as we know it, a fugitive smuggler has to transport a child to a city from which no-one has returned.

Safe Sex written by Tina Horn with art by Mike Dowling - Sex workers rebel against a totalitarian regime that regulates sexual pleasure.

Second Coming written by Mark Russell with art by Richard Pace - God returns Jesus to Earth to team up with the mighty superhero Sun Man to save humanity. Christ is appalled with his legacy.

And thus, Vertigo enters a new era of hanging round the back of Image Comics and rooting through their bins to find something that might be able to dent their independent rival's dominance of the creator controlled comic market.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Those last two sound interesting.

Doesn't Vertigo also have superheroes? Or is that Image?

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

Wait, that Zoe Quinn?

Otherwise... I dunno, most of those sound pretty woke.

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

Garbage and trash.
I wont read them, and if I were a betting man I'd bet this to become another failed social propaganda project.

They really tried to cover all bases, huh. Racism, check. Illegal Immigrants (Aliens), check. Communist Utopia, yet still manages to need to be a special hero, check. Patriarchy & Sexism, check. Illegal Aliens (again), check. LGBTQIPN(etc), check. Shade against Christianity, check.

 

[09philj]

Those last two sound interesting.

Doesn't Vertigo also have superheroes? Or is that Image?

Vertigo is DC's imprint for creator controlled series. Superheroes never played a big part in the line up, although there were exceptions like Black Orchid and Sandman Mystery Theatre The independent publisher Image had a greater proportion of superhero comics in the past, especially when it still owned WildStorm, but fantasy and sci-fi comics make up the bulk of it's modern output.

Wait, that Zoe Quinn?

Yes.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

Some look neat, some look...not.

But it all looks very Vertigo.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Garbage and trash.
I wont read them, and if I were a betting man I'd bet this to become another failed social propaganda project.

They really tried to cover all bases, huh. Racism, check. Illegal Immigrants (Aliens), check. Communist Utopia, yet still manages to need to be a special hero, check. Patriarchy & Sexism, check. Illegal Aliens (again), check. LGBTQIPN(etc), check. Shade against Christianity, check.

I was going to post this exact sort of thing as satire. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that someone already wrote it in earnest.

 

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

Well, I wouldn't read any of them, but I'd watch the movie adaptation where Jesus joins forces with this guy to fight crime.

 

[anthony87]

I'll be interested to see what they blame if/when they fail to sell.

 

[Zontar]

I'll be interested to see what they blame if/when they fail to sell.

Honestly I don't think they care, rumour has it this is just a means of distracting the press from the fact the head of DC has been fired, and that that's what her "leave of absence" has been this whole time (which, if true, could mean Cathlyn Kennedy's similar "leave of absence" is for the same reason)

 

[09philj]

I'll be interested to see what they blame if/when they fail to sell.

Since they're following Image's lead so closely, there's nowhere to hide. On the upside, it does mean their target audience exists. On the downside, they're directly competing with the the dominant force in creator owned comics. (While technically Dark Horse is larger than Image, fewer of their comics are original IPs)

 

[Zontar]

I'll be interested to see what they blame if/when they fail to sell.

I mean, really, all comic books are failing to sell at all times. It's just a matter of how bad.

But we all know uhhh...sjws Are to blame

Jawbreakers and My Hero MAGAdemia have sold like nobodies business, selling so well they should be considered honorary Manga.

 

[Zontar]

I'll be interested to see what they blame if/when they fail to sell.

I mean, really, all comic books are failing to sell at all times. It's just a matter of how bad.

But we all know uhhh...sjws Are to blame

Jawbreakers and My Hero MAGAdemia have sold like nobodies business, selling so well they should be considered honorary Manga.

is my hero magademia a pun or is it some weird indie comic parody i havent heard about

The latter, and it's amazing, which is why it sold so well they had to make a 2nd and 3rd printing order.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

is my hero magademia a pun or is it some weird indie comic parody i havent heard about

It's a pro-Trump parody of My Hero Academia. [https://antarctic-press.myshopify.com/collections/new-releases/products/my-hero-magademia-wall-might]

Also, that Jawbreakers comic hasn't actually been released yet. It's on IndieGoGo tho, with about 8800 backers.

 

[Callate]

I think my feeling about most comics these days can be summed up as: if it's worth reading, it will be out later in a trade paperback collection, with luck well after they get their s#%& worked out.

I would not put hard money on the majority of these being around in two years. A lot depends on the strength of the writing, and Quinn, in particular, whatever else might be said about her, has no background in comics. Otherwise, the list collectively kind of reads as "Persecution Complex: The Comics". We're Putting Big Issue Front and Center, Applaud Us. Hopefully, some of them can dig their way out of that hole. You can certainly broach "big issues" with strong characters, solid writing, and a little tact and subtlety; I think Saga is brilliant, by way of example. Doing it this way is putting the cart so far in front of the horse that it's going to have to gallop to catch up. It's like expecting people to shell out for Chick Tracts.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

I think my feeling about most comics these days can be summed up as: if it's worth reading, it will be out later in a trade paperback collection, with luck well after they get their s#%& worked out.

Ironically, that's the attitude that's going a long way towards killing floppy comics. Moreso than anything about "SJWs" at least.

Nobody wants to pay 4 bucks for 20 pages of a comic book, with 6-ish comics in a story arc that may-or-may-not be resolved in a single title line. They'll wait for the trade, which means fewer comics pull in enough numbers starting out to last long enough to still be on the shelves when their first trade comes out.

Like, Squirrel Girl was on the chopping block before it's first trade of the new run came out. Only latent nostalgia kept it in the game long enough for trade sales to save it.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

is my hero magademia a pun or is it some weird indie comic parody i havent heard about

It's a pro-Trump parody of My Hero Academia. [https://antarctic-press.myshopify.com/collections/new-releases/products/my-hero-magademia-wall-might]

Also, that Jawbreakers comic hasn't actually been released yet. It's on IndieGoGo tho, with about 8800 backers.

Hah, it's put out the the same company that dumped Jawbreakers. That's hilarious.