Vertigo is officially dead

[LP22]

Nothing is lost in my opinion.

[Adset]

I mean, I agree, it's really not that big of a deal... but... the nostalgic in me is still disappointed. Vertigo was so, so good. It's slow decline over the years was tough to watch.

[Frontier]

The new labels seem more direct and to the point, so I guess from a branding perspective I get it.

Does DC Kids include both Ink and Zoom? Because it kind of sounds like it's just Zoom.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

As someone with kids, seeing something branded kids is 100x easier to recognize than something branded zoom.

This likely was not related to anything specific other than constant shuffling in the offices overseeing everything and someone wondering why they had 15 different brands of comics and not being able to find anyone who could tell them what any of them meant.

Aside from the diehard fans here, the wider (potential) audience could care less if Sandman was printed with DC Black or Vertigo, but WB sure cares because the brand is stronger.

How old are your kids, though? As a parent, I could see you buying something labeled "DC Kids" for your kids if they're young -- say, under 10, but would kids buy it for themselves especially if they were a bit older?

if I were 10 or 11, and I saw the "DC Kids" label, I might avoid it because it would seem like something I outgrew. I think that's why DC had both Zoom for younger kids and Ink for older ones because I don't think kids who are 12 want to read material with the same brand as the books for 7 year olds.

[Frontier]

How old are your kids, though? As a parent, I could see you buying something labeled "DC Kids" for your kids if they're young -- say, under 10, but would kids buy it for themselves especially if they were a bit older?

if I were 10 or 11, and I saw the "DC Kids" label, I might avoid it because it would seem like something I outgrew. I think that's why DC had both Zoom for younger kids and Ink for older ones because I don't think kids who are 12 want to read material with the same brand as the books for 7 year olds.

Yeah, one good thing about Ink and Zoom is it helped define the age groups the books were meant for.

I'm not even sure if DC Ink stuff will still fit in with "DC Kids."

[Godlike13]

They seem to be streamlining DC.

[cranger]

How old are your kids, though? As a parent, I could see you buying something labeled "DC Kids" for your kids if they're young -- say, under 10, but would kids buy it for themselves especially if they were a bit older?

if I were 10 or 11, and I saw the "DC Kids" label, I might avoid it because it would seem like something I outgrew. I think that's why DC had both Zoom for younger kids and Ink for older ones because I don't think kids who are 12 want to read material with the same brand as the books for 7 year olds.

Yeah, one good thing about Ink and Zoom is it helped define the age groups the books were meant for.

I'm not even sure if DC Ink stuff will still fit in with "DC Kids."

If it is for 8-12 year old it will be DC Kids. If it is mature it will be DC Black Label. Everything else will be just DC. Can it get any simpler than that?

[Vampire Savior]

With Vertigo-style books at Image gaining success, there is really no point to Vertigo anymore, anyway. Vertigo won't be able to compete with the deal creators can get at Image. The only upside is that your project may stand a bit of a better chance of being adapted into television, streaming, or whatever at Vertigo. The downside is that DC/WB/ATT are going to take a sizable chunk of the rights and overall pie if that were even to happen. And if someone wanted to tell a mature or bizarre Batman title, or something, that can just be done under the Black Label imprint.

So again, no real point to Vertigo in 2019.

[Vordan]

Vertigo was pretty much dead once Karen Berger left. She was the guiding hand behind Vertigo’s success and with her departure the label basically declined into nothingness. Image is basically Vertigo these days, but it’s still sad that DC is basically just superhero books now.

What about properties created under the Vertigo umbrella? For instance, THE KITCHEN is coming out soon as a motion picture--that's a Vertigo property--how do they get around that?

From what I understand (which isn't much), Karen Berger was able to make Vertigo such a critical success by giving a bigger piece of the pie to creators--so they had an incentive to come to Vertigo. Then Warner Brothers didn't like that they were giving creators these good deals and they cut that out--resulting in not as many creators bringing their best ideas to the imprint. But those old creator deals still exist--and Vertigo had some pretty good stuff back then.

That’s part of why Vertigo died. Why go to Vertigo when you can go to Image and keep all the rights to your stuff? WB basically destroyed Vertigo out of greed, and now they have got nothing. Some Vertigo stuff like American Vampire will continue under Black Label but for the most part I suspect that Image will reap the benefits of Vertigo’s demise.

[JonaX]

I wonder if the Vertigo brand will still exist for things like Lucifer and the film adaptation of The Kitchen?

DC Kids sounds like it'll be for things like Scooby Doo and Looney Tunes as well as more kid oriented stuff like DC Super Hero Girls.

[Lee Stone]

DC Kids sounds like it'll be for things like Scooby Doo and Looney Tunes as well as more kid oriented stuff like DC Super Hero Girls.

Which would be more Y7 than 9-12, IMO.
When I was 9-12, I was reading regular DC and Marvel super-hero comics.
Of course, they weren't the comics equivalent of TV-14 back then.

But I think that kids over 8 may feel somewhat insulted if everything targeting them is cartoonish.

[Lee Stone]

I mean, I agree, it's really not that big of a deal... but... the nostalgic in me is still disappointed. Vertigo was so, so good. It's slow decline over the years was tough to watch.

The reason why it was so, so good was Karen Berger.
It was her baby.
It died the moment DC made the changes that led her to give it up.

[madmodpoetgod]

Guys. I need consolation.
I was a poor kid from the ghettos of Istanbul, and Vertigo Comics meant everything to me. I cleaned toilets in order to make some money for a single floppy. I am also a person of literature, so to me, Vertigo was poetry in pictures, with all of its references to Italo Calvino, or Marques de Sade. Shade the Changing Man, Enigma, the Invisibles.... Today I cried for 2 minutes -remembering all those lonely hours in my bed trying to understand all the texts written in English...

I'm sad. Vertigo was special. Also, I don't think we are going to see collected editions of Shade or Sandman Mystery Theatre. Black Label won't touch anything other than Swamp, Hellblazer, or Transmetropolitan.

Thanks, Vertigo. You and the British indie band Suede were my backbones.

x

[9th.]

The new labels seem more direct and to the point, so I guess from a branding perspective I get it.

Does DC Kids include both Ink and Zoom? Because it kind of sounds like it's just Zoom.

I'm curious about this as well. Where would their YA graphic novels fall under. Just DC?

[iron chimp]

Guys. I need consolation.
I was a poor kid from the ghettos of Istanbul, and Vertigo Comics meant everything to me. I cleaned toilets in order to make some money for a single floppy. I am also a person of literature, so to me, Vertigo was poetry in pictures, with all of its references to Italo Calvino, or Marques de Sade. Shade the Changing Man, Enigma, the Invisibles.... Today I cried for 2 minutes -remembering all those lonely hours in my bed trying to understand all the texts written in English...

I'm sad. Vertigo was special. Also, I don't think we are going to see collected editions of Shade or Sandman Mystery Theatre. Black Label won't touch anything other than Swamp, Hellblazer, or Transmetropolitan.

Thanks, Vertigo. You and the British indie band Suede were my backbones.

x

Console yourself with https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/22-8...an-McCarthy-HC

And all of the UK writers 2000ad reprints.

Equally as good as vertigo