#i like to think that between the sandman and umbrella academy shows gerard way and neilman have met at a bad netflix corporate party

[cranialaccessory]

between my sandman reread and going to see mcr i’m feeling very 2006 in this chili’s tonight

bonus made up internet points if you can name the mcr song that opens with a sandman quote

[about-faces]

This is the end of an era, and also a great loss of something that cannot be replaced. Not exactly.

DC started making comics "for mature readers" (one's definition of "mature" may vary) in the early 80's, starting with Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing which then directly spun off or influenced titles such as "John Constantine: Hellblazer," Neil Gaiman's "Sandman," and Grant Morrison's "Doom Patrol." The person credited for shaping the post-Moore DC with a new wave of UK-import writers was Karen Berger, who then built upon these successes to give them their own line. Thus, Vertigo was born.

While the pre-Vertigo DC books took place in the DC Universe, superheroes rarely showed up, focusing instead on the dark fantasy, horror, and human drama in a less technicolor fashion. This was especially important in the early 90's, when comics were taken over by a sensibility of style-over-substance that was so aggressive, the biggest company at the time was literally named Image Comics.

With the establishment of Vertigo, the lines between it and DC proper were firmly established. Swamp Thing very, very rarely went back to DC proper for about fifteen to twenty years, and when he did, it was thus a brief and remarkable occurrence. Otherwise, Vertigo was the playground for these creators to use these characters--both DC originals and their own OCs--free from the constraints of DC's stranglehold status quo.

Vertigo then went on to tell a number of original stories, set outside of the shared canon of Sandman/Hellblazer/etc. I'm sure you've heard of a few, like "Preacher," "Y: The Last Man," and "Fables." Vertigo was the best mainstream showcase for books like these, reaching audiences that never would have found them before.

To be sure, there were a lot of stinkers too. There always are. It's comics, after all. But even these were often, at least, INTERESTING stinkers. Over the past decade, DC started chipping away at Vertigo. They brought Swamp Thing and John Constantine back to the DC proper, having them pal around with superheroes in PG-13 antics. When Karen Berger was fired, we all saw the writing on the wall. I'm amazing it took this long, given that DC has wanted to do this for so long now.

This isn't the death of all imprints. Gerard Way of "My Chemical Romance" and "The Umbrella Academy" fame has his own imprint, where I assume he's carrying on the Morrisonian traditions of Vertigo. Other creators may get the same special "pop-up imprint" treatment.

But otherwise, DC will now be in three different sections: a young readers title (an essential idea that they've consistently fail to nurture and cultivate), the regular PG-13 DC Comics, and their mature readers imprint, DC Black Label. You might think "Oh, okay, so the name is just changing, but it's the same thing, right?" Except it isn't. Black Label has been for one thing and one thing only: darker DC Comics stories, almost entirely about Batman, the Joker, and Harley Quinn, set out of continuity and free to say "fuck" and show tits. A notable example of "Batman: Damned," where Bruce Wayne's penis was shown, and Harley explicitly tried to rape Batman.

For "mature" readers indeed.

Thing is, maybe we don't need Vertigo anymore. These days, several companies are putting out truly great, creator-controlled (and often owned!) "mature readers" comics. In a twist, one of the best companies is Image Comics, of all places! These places allow more freedom than the WB-controlled DC would have otherwise granted, which is almost always a good thing (an exception being what uncensored Garth Ennis does for laughs). It's probably for the best that they're spread across different publishers with a variety of styles and sensibilities. Perhaps Vertigo has already done its job and passed along the torch.

The real loser here is DC itself. By focusing entirely on their superheroes, with their vary narrow ideas of what constitutes "mature" superhero storytelling, they continue to circle the drain of relevance in favor of comics where Batman can say "fuck."

There will still be great stories. And if Two-Face is in them, I know I for one will be happy. But there's no place for the future "Preacher" or "Y: The Last Man" books at DC. There's the poorer for it. And maybe we are too.

[artsy-alice]

How about comics/graphic novel recs?

Off the top of my head, the ones I’ve read and loved are–

Saga (Fiona Staples, Brian K. Vaughan) - an adult sci-fi fantasy space opera with a set of diverse lovable characters and an exciting arc. Saga’s storytelling is amazing, combining galactic war hijinks with domestic and heartwarming family moments on top of great art. Seriously - THE ART IS GOALS. Trigger warning though, it’s rated M and can get quite graphic in terms of language, sex and violence..

Lumberjanes (Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis and co.) - Five super cute and rad and awesome girls have summer camp adventures. Also addresses issues like sexuality and gender identity in a positive way, never feeling too heavy. It’s wholesome fun and just an over-all feel-good story. I LOVE LUMBERJANES SO MUCH..

The Wicked + The Divine (Gillen and McKelvie) - problematic teens awaken as reincarnations of various gods and become even more problematic celebrities. But also they’re all destined to die in 2 years. Of course everything goes smoothly. This has a good ensemble of characters that you’d either love or hate, and an interesting story that takes its own pace, and of course delicious spins on mythology. Good commentary on fame, relationships and mortality..

Princeless & Raven: The Pirate Princess (Jeremy Whitley) - Princeless follows a princess who gets tired of waiting in her tower, befriends her dragon and goes on an adventure of her own, rescuing other princesses on the way. Raven The Pirate Princess is a spin-off which follows Raven, princess of pirates, supreme badass, and her all-female crew. Both stories are A+..

Monstress (Marjorie Lu and Sana Takeda) - i picked this up because the art was breath-taking??? But the story also turned out to be amazing. It’s steampunk and fantasy, in an Asian-inspired setting, with priestesses and cats and half-humans and gods and demigods and cthulhu… The world is just so rich in detail, like the art! And the MC is a badass disabled asian woman. READ MONSTRESS..

Sandman (Neil Gaiman) - I faithfully collected all volumes of this series as soon as I started on my first job. This one’s kinda old, and a hella long read but it’s also hella good. It’s by my dude Neil Gaiman, and it’s about Dream of the Endless and his siblings Death, Destiny, Desire, Despair, Destruction and Delirium. Who are… metaphysical entities. It’s a story about stories. And about uhhh… existence and dreaming and death and… stories? Y’know, Neil Gaiman stuff..

The Umbrella Academy (Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba) - This one’s getting a Netflix adaptation real soon and I’m excited~ :D Anyways it’s a fun two-volume romp about a dysfunctional family of superheroes. First volume is great family action-drama. Second volume reads like a swag-filled Doctor Who episode. The narrative voice is very… Gerard Way-ish. Has some lines you’ll swear you’ve heard on an MCR song..

Space Battle Lunchtime (Natalie Riess) - A COOKING SHOW! IN SPACE! WITH ALIENS! A CUTE GIRL! WITH A CYBORG GIRLFRIEND! AND ALIEN FRIENDS! IT’S SO CUTE! AND FUN! READ SPACE BATTLE LUNCHTIME!.

Legend of Korra: Turf Wars (Michael Dante DiMartino & Irene Koh) - C’MON IT’S AVATAR KORRA AND HER GIRLFRIEND ASAMI AND THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY ON ANOTHER GREAT STORY.

Marvel titles that are my faves:

Angela: Queen of Hel

Ms. Marvel

Runaways

Young Avengers 

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur

Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat

Loki: Agent of Asgard.

Backstagers (James Tynion IV & Rian Sygh) - queer theater nerds, where you at? I’ve seen this described as the male equivalent of Lumberjanes, and I have to agree. It’s wholesome fun adventures of a bunch of nerdy theater kids who discover weird supernatural stuff in the basement. With many theater and anime references! There’s a character basically described by the authors as their “Momiji” and of course he was the best character. Fun!.

Hopeless Savages (Jen Van Meter) - two 70′s punk rock icons got together, settled down and had four children. Plot twist: THEY WERE GOOD AT IT. This is a family drama-comedy with quirky lovable characters getting thrown (and sometimes running headfirst) into ridiculous plots. The message of family resilience and defying expectations is great. I loved everything about this series..

Nimona (Noelle Stevenson) - shapeshifting girl employs herself to be an evil villain’s sidekick so they can take down a great hero. My copy of this at home is now worn out because it’s been borrowed by countless younger siblings, cousins and siblings’ friends..

The Prince and the Dressmaker (Jen Wang) - strong ambitious dressmaker gets hired by a crossdressing prince to make him dresses. Prince’s dress-wearing alter-ego becomes a fashion icon. Cue drama and coming of age. THIS IS SUCH A SWEET AND GREAT READ GUYS I’M IN LOVE WITH IT..

Daytripper (Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba) - this one is a profound story about an obituary writer, who reflects on his life’s possibilities - how things could have gone differently had he made different choices, and how it might change how he’s remembered (or not) after his own death. It’s hard to describe exactly, but it’s a very cathartic read..

Sunstone (Stjepan Sejic) - whenever someone asks me what I think of 50 Shades of Grey, I always go “50 what? I’ve read Sunstone. Nothing can come close to that.” So. Yeah. Sunstone is a funny, sexy and sweeet romance story between two women done superbly. Plus, seriously, the bdsm community rep here is great. Thanks Mr. Sejic, it’s what they deserve.

Special Mention:

Mythspace ( Studio Salimbal ) - because HELLS YEAH, Space Opera, Filipino Style! I supported this series back when it came as individually self-published issues in the local comic cons, and I was so proud when they got picked out by a publisher and I saw a bound volume on bookstore shelves. - Anyways, it’s a kid and a bunch of Filipino mythological creatures in space battles and other standalone adventures set in the same universe. It’s published in English, and you can check it out in Tapas or buy issues in gumroad!