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  1. #1
    Extraordinary Member superduperman's Avatar
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    Default Vertigo is officially dead

    Welp, DC made it official. Vertigo is officially no more. From now on, any and all DC projects will fall under three distinct labels. DCKids, DC, Black Label. Depending on the age range of the audience.

    https://www.cbr.com/dc-retires-vertigo-new-labels-2020/

    There've been all kinds of pieces written about the death of Vertigo and how it happened and I won't rehash those here. But I will say this was completely unavoidable and another sign of mismanagement at DC. Titles like Sandman will still be published but they'll probably fall under the Black Label line or something.
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  2. #2
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    I said this in another thread, but I'll place this here as well

    "So I'll be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about DC retiring the Vertigo line. Their logic makes a lot of sense, but their wording is false. They stated that nudity, edgier violence and etc is more mainstream over the years. But then I recall the censorship over batman damned where they decided showing a nude batman was going too far. And this was regarding DC's "mature lineup" So safe to say I'm highly suspect that vertigo is going to have their content neutered after the merger."

  3. #3
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    It it’s just the imprint. I take it to mean the titles will be folded into DC BLACK LABEL.

  4. #4
    BANNED spirit2011's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by leo619 View Post
    I said this in another thread, but I'll place this here as well

    "So I'll be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about DC retiring the Vertigo line. Their logic makes a lot of sense, but their wording is false. They stated that nudity, edgier violence and etc is more mainstream over the years. But then I recall the censorship over batman damned where they decided showing a nude batman was going too far. And this was regarding DC's "mature lineup" So safe to say I'm highly suspect that vertigo is going to have their content neutered after the merger."
    Violence seems to be ok,

    male nudity, sex and religiosity seems like a big no.

    I really not sure if the problem is the brand. I think it is editorial and behind the scenes

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by spirit2011 View Post
    Violence seems to be ok,

    male nudity, sex and religiosity seems like a big no.

    I really not sure if the problem is the brand. I think it is editorial and behind the scenes

    I think it's a combination of both. The main question is what's happening behind the scenes. Very rarely do brands get merge and yet nothing happens to the staff. If vertigo's editorial now fall under DC's black label, they will most likely fall under the same restrictions as well.

  6. #6
    Titans Together!! byrd156's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by spirit2011 View Post
    Violence seems to be ok,

    male nudity, sex and religiosity seems like a big no.

    I really not sure if the problem is the brand. I think it is editorial and behind the scenes
    That's just how American media is in general.

    It's okay to watch people die in horrible ways but you can't see anyone naked because that would taint your innocence.
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by byrd156 View Post
    That's just how American media is in general.

    It's okay to watch people die in horrible ways but you can't see anyone naked because that would taint your innocence.
    It is sometimes really strange if you look how differently movie ratings in US are in comparison to Europe.

  8. #8
    Ultimate Member Lee Stone's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by byrd156 View Post
    That's just how American media is in general.

    It's okay to watch people die in horrible ways but you can't see anyone naked because that would taint your innocence.
    True...

    When it's extreme violence and gore, the defenders say, 'why protect our kids? they're going to see worse in the real world. might as well prepare them'.

    But when it's sex and nudity, they say, 'that just glorifies sex and deviant behavior!'

    As if the extreme violence and gore doesn't 'glorify' anything.
    Especially nowadays where most villains are made to be sympathetic victims of society, for viewers to relate to.
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  9. #9
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    In the 80s you could pick up comics that had the full spectrum of sexuality in graphic detail. Then they slowly starting disappearing from the shelves and new titles stopped appearing. People talk about Image like it's some hotbed of artistic freedom and experimentation - I like image but the books are beyond tame compared to what you used to be able to buy.

    And at least vertigo went out in a blaze of glory - never forget those 200,000 emails - that's what you are up against as a comic book reader.

  10. #10
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    Some DC titles are now T (Teen), some are T+ (Teen Plus). I haven't checked whether the rating tends to change according to the issue, or if a title retains a rating for the whole run.

    The current definitions DC publishes are:

    https://www.dccomics.com/ratings

    T - 12 and up (May contain mild violence, language and/or suggestive themes.)
    T+ - 15 and up May contain moderate violence, mild profanity, graphic imagery and/or suggestive themes.)

    The new DC line will be 13 and up. And this will match Marvel's T+ rating. Marvel also has a 15+ (Parental Advisory) rating, which DC won't have anymore.

    Looks like DC will match film PG-13, and Black Label will match film R. That alignment might make things easier for parents, teachers, and retailers. But, the standards for scoring will likely be different, since no one is quite sure how decisions are made when films get rated.

    And who at DC is going to be carefully monitoring this? Many books have so many editorial mistakes, you wonder when they would have time to rate books. Or maybe it's that they are so busy rating them that they have no time to check them for errors.

  11. #11
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    Seems very odd to relaunch it alongside black label (or after?) then say.. oh we are cancelling it to sort branding and age limits out. Hmmm... quite the u-turn.

    Sales looked pretty weak but I wouldn't be surprised if second coming killed the imprint - gotta get all that sweet family value summer blockbuster movie merchandise cash.

  12. #12
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    Vertigo being gone was known, but I'm surprised for them shuttering Zoom and Ink as well. DC Kids just sounds boring compared to Zoom, and Ink was off to a strong start with its own identity. I wouldn't be surprised if both of those efforts to gain new readers will be neutered and lose direction soon.
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  13. #13
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    "That kind of material is now mainstream across all genres"

    If only... I can't find anything today in floppies to rival vertigo at its finest.

  14. #14
    Ultimate Member Mister Mets's Avatar
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    This is messy.

    Vertigo is one of the best brands in comics history, associated with some of the best mainstream comics ever. Sandman. Preacher. Y The Last Man. 100 Bullets. Fables.

    And there is a distinction between Vertigo and Black Label in that Vertigo was a decent home for self-contained projects, while Black Label seems to be mainly for mature-audience takes on the iconic characters (Vertigo did have series with existing DC characters like Swamp Thing and Morrison's Doom Patrol but there weren't many projects with JLA mainstays.)

    However, there hasn't been anything that recent that got that level of acclaim.

    Odds are good there will be some kind of relaunch, although I wonder if it's just too much of a headache for Warner Brothers, to deal with bad publicity on all sides with mature audience books that are often meant to be controversial.

    Quote Originally Posted by leo619 View Post
    I said this in another thread, but I'll place this here as well

    "So I'll be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about DC retiring the Vertigo line. Their logic makes a lot of sense, but their wording is false. They stated that nudity, edgier violence and etc is more mainstream over the years. But then I recall the censorship over batman damned where they decided showing a nude batman was going too far. And this was regarding DC's "mature lineup" So safe to say I'm highly suspect that vertigo is going to have their content neutered after the merger."
    The problem there was likely Batman nudity, rather than male nudity.
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  15. #15
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    I too thought vertigo hadn't had a hit in ages but actually they gave Tom king his break into comics and he's gone on to shift at least 7 million units for DC which is way more than any other writer recruitment initiative elsewhere in DC in the same period. And I think they gave Sean Murphy his break at DC and he can shift massive numbers too.

    So in last 10 years or so 2 of DCs biggest names
    Last edited by iron chimp; 06-22-2019 at 12:42 PM. Reason: 10 years not 5!

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