The Vertigo Imprint for DC Comics serves both as an out-of-universe brand name, and an in-universe means to tell both darker stories starring characters that congregate on the fringes of the DC Universe, and standalone stories with no relation to the DCU proper. While this began unofficially with Alan Moore's Saga of the Swamp Thing (1984), Hellblazer (1988), Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol (1989) and The Sandman (1989), the imprint was not made official until 1993.
What was notable about the early titles is, inherent in the fact that they were spinoffs from DC, they shared a world together. Constantine was introduced in the pages of Swamp Thing, and appeared in both The Sandman and The Books of Magic. There was even an ill-advised massive crossover event from 1993-1994 called The Children's Crusade, that featured the Deadboy Detectives from Sandman as well as Tefé from Swamp Thing and Tim Hunter.
Starting with Preacher (1995), however, a trend began of Vertigo becoming more of a brand than a universe. I do not lament this at all, however, because it allows a high degree of creative freedom, and brought such classic titles as Y-The Last Man and 100 Bullets. What I do regret, however, is the loss of the sandbox that Alan Moore created and Neil Gaiman went on to nurture. With the cancellation of The Books of Magic: Life in Wartime and Swamp Thing in 2005, as well as Lucifer ending in 2006, those characters have either disappeared into limbo or been reappropriated back into the DCU proper.
Sandman (most notably the Daniel version) has made a few sporadic appearances in DC; Swamp Thing showed up in Infinite Crisis albeit briefly; and Death of all characters will be seen in Action Comics with Lex Luthor on his deathbed. The nature of Vertigo allows for stories with a beginning and end (I actually LOVE the ending of Lucifer, in which the title character leaves Creation to explore the Unknown), but with that in mind I want them to either be given a proper ending (which Swamp Thing and Tim Hunter were never allowed), or left out of DC entirely so as not to be neutered.
Which brings me to my point: Matthew Sturges and Bill Willingham's House of Mystery. What an incredible comic this is, with characters from every time and reality boarding together in what is essentially the cavern from At World's End. While the A plot involves the characters trying to figure out what the house is and how they got there (with a few shout-outs to Cain, who wonders what happened to his house), the B plot has the characters telling stories that usually tie back into the A plot thematically.
Awesome, a whole lot of fun, but it makes me sad because the only Vertigo comics that still acknowledge each other's existence, however loosely, are House of Mystery and Hellblazer. Where have you gone Swamp Thing, Tim Hunter or even Merv Pumpkinhead? I remember a whole line of Sandman Presents mini-series from the late '90s, early 2000s that were a lot of fun, but now...nothing.
Sorry for this long winded rant, but I worry that with the death of Wildstorm and the talk of those characters being appropriated ala the Dakotaverse, my favorite Vertigo characters will either be neutered or cease to be. I give credit to House of Mystery for keeping up the tradition, but I ask wouldn't it be fun to have Constantine show up in Fables?
What was notable about the early titles is, inherent in the fact that they were spinoffs from DC, they shared a world together. Constantine was introduced in the pages of Swamp Thing, and appeared in both The Sandman and The Books of Magic. There was even an ill-advised massive crossover event from 1993-1994 called The Children's Crusade, that featured the Deadboy Detectives from Sandman as well as Tefé from Swamp Thing and Tim Hunter.
Starting with Preacher (1995), however, a trend began of Vertigo becoming more of a brand than a universe. I do not lament this at all, however, because it allows a high degree of creative freedom, and brought such classic titles as Y-The Last Man and 100 Bullets. What I do regret, however, is the loss of the sandbox that Alan Moore created and Neil Gaiman went on to nurture. With the cancellation of The Books of Magic: Life in Wartime and Swamp Thing in 2005, as well as Lucifer ending in 2006, those characters have either disappeared into limbo or been reappropriated back into the DCU proper.
Sandman (most notably the Daniel version) has made a few sporadic appearances in DC; Swamp Thing showed up in Infinite Crisis albeit briefly; and Death of all characters will be seen in Action Comics with Lex Luthor on his deathbed. The nature of Vertigo allows for stories with a beginning and end (I actually LOVE the ending of Lucifer, in which the title character leaves Creation to explore the Unknown), but with that in mind I want them to either be given a proper ending (which Swamp Thing and Tim Hunter were never allowed), or left out of DC entirely so as not to be neutered.
Which brings me to my point: Matthew Sturges and Bill Willingham's House of Mystery. What an incredible comic this is, with characters from every time and reality boarding together in what is essentially the cavern from At World's End. While the A plot involves the characters trying to figure out what the house is and how they got there (with a few shout-outs to Cain, who wonders what happened to his house), the B plot has the characters telling stories that usually tie back into the A plot thematically.
Awesome, a whole lot of fun, but it makes me sad because the only Vertigo comics that still acknowledge each other's existence, however loosely, are House of Mystery and Hellblazer. Where have you gone Swamp Thing, Tim Hunter or even Merv Pumpkinhead? I remember a whole line of Sandman Presents mini-series from the late '90s, early 2000s that were a lot of fun, but now...nothing.
Sorry for this long winded rant, but I worry that with the death of Wildstorm and the talk of those characters being appropriated ala the Dakotaverse, my favorite Vertigo characters will either be neutered or cease to be. I give credit to House of Mystery for keeping up the tradition, but I ask wouldn't it be fun to have Constantine show up in Fables?
