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The New Vertigo

 
 
Captain Zoom
21:30 / 02.05.02
I don't know if it's been covered already, and I did look.

Vertigo's really perking up a bit. I know a little while back everyone was sort of bemoaning the state of Vertigo, but there's a whole bunch of cool stuff coming out from them now. Aside from The Filth, which I'm sure we're all very excited about, there's Midnight, Mass. about a husband and wife monster-hunting team. The first issue was good enough that i'll be checking it out for a while. Fables, a series about exiled fairy tale characters has all the earmarks of becoming Sandman-esque, and hopefully it will fulfill that promise. Depending, of course, on your opinion of The Sandman. And Paul Pope's 100% sounds really cool. Coupled with the Vertigo Pop stuff that sounds cool and all the existing titles that are cool, it seems that Vertigo are experiencing a renaissance. Anyone else reading Vertigo titles regularly?

Zoom.
 
 
Mr Tricks
22:08 / 02.05.02
100 Bullets:
of course!!!

Hellblazier:
There's still something about it i like... habit?

Midnight Mass:
Wasn't too impressed with it... Art was only OK... & the Story, well supernatural hunters have gotten pretty old... the husband & wife angle just doesn't seem stimulating.

Fables:
This looks really interesting to me... I hope it works.

There was 1 or 2 other upcomming titles I'm curious about...

Oh Yeah, that one The Durt...
 
 
Murray Hamhandler
00:24 / 03.05.02
I definitely plan on checking out Midnight, Mass., if only because it's written by John Rozum. Rozum wrote the HIGHLY underrated Xombi years ago. Well worth checking out. Apparently, he's also writing the Scooby Doo monthly. Don't know what to think about that.

I don't know what to think about Fables. I really have been highly unimpressed by Bill Willingham's former work, especially that Mervyn Pumpkinhead special.

Hunter is a really good book, and the only monthly Vertigo title that I read anymore. I really liked Books of Magic and Hunter is a nice continuation while also being a strong book that stands on its own merits.

And, of course, there's The Filth. Ohhhh, yeah.

Vertigo seems to come in waves. It has high and low points, but it never goes out of the game completely. There's always something interesting brewing around the corner. Comicon recently interviewed Karen Berger about the state of Vertigo in general. I'm looking forward to that tenth anniversary celebration, myself.
Arthur Sudnam, II
 
 
A
03:31 / 03.05.02
Vertigo has a new comic coming out soon called "Y- the Last Man on Earth", or something like that, which looks like it might be quite good.
 
 
Mr Tricks
23:08 / 03.05.02
wasn't that bythe guy who did the revived Swamp Thing v2.0?

Wasn't very fond of his writting...

I remember Xombi thought it ROCKED!!!

Stillnot sure about Midnight Mass. though... maybe I'll check out the 2nd issue.
 
 
Captain Zoom
20:14 / 04.05.02
Y is indeed by Brian Vaughn, but y'know, I've got to check it out just based on the premise. I've always had a weak spot for last man on earth stories, and this one's got a bit of a unique take on it. Literally the last man. Not human. Though, I have to admit, the Tefe Swamp Thing did very little for me. Though the one where she makes the guy choose between his wife and his daughter is just fucking creepy. Especially for a parent.

Zoom.
 
 
Ganesh
22:43 / 04.05.02
The use of "Sandmanesque" as an adjective emphasises the trouble with Vertigo: it's a rather sad, dignity-free scrabbling for crumbs from the plates of real creators ie. Neil Sodding Gaiman. They need to drop the pathetic, diminishing-returns spin-offs and risk a little on a new Moore or Gaiman or Morrison.
 
 
rizla mission
15:51 / 05.05.02
I'll be getting 'Midnight,Mass.' if only for the pun-tastic title and subject matter, but I don't have high hopes.

I think with Grip, 100% and The Filth they've got a few goers. Mini-series by extra-cool, name creators seem to be the way to go regarding goodness.
 
 
Our Lady of The Two Towers
18:26 / 05.05.02
Well, to be fair they have risked a bit and the one thing you can say is that Vertigo now is not like it was four or five years ago. Unfortunately I don't really like it now, but I think the style the 'Berger books' had was accidental not deliberate. The continued plastering of Sandman on stuff is ridiculous and surely will have to stop soon. But rather that than this grim noir '100 Bullets' stuff which leaves me cold. It's still the line I buy, though when Transmet finishes I'll only be buying 'The Filth', maybe I'll give this new titles a look, surely they must be able to put out something that appeals...
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
16:48 / 06.05.02
Brian Wood's next project, Fight For Tomorrow, is coming out via Vertigo? That's some kind of modern day kung-fu/crime story set in New York's Chinatown. That, together with 100%, gives me the hope that at least somebody over at Vertigo is trying to push things in the right direction (and obviously, The Filth is a big coup, and any more work via Morrison, or indeed the newly DC-friendly Warren Ellis, will probably be worth a look).

Fables strikes me as exactly the kind of book they should *not* be doing, I have to say, although obviously that's judging it before I've read an issue - but the very premise sounds like a parody of what used to be, and still often is, typical Vertigo fare. The same basically goes for Midnight, Mass - although I thought there was hope for this one, a scan of the first issue proved my more cynical instincts right.

Judd Winnick is doing something with vampires in it for them, called Blood and Water - this, much like Y-Last Man, I feel, could go either way. And Joe Casey is writing an "X-Files meets James Bond" (er...) thing for them called The Darwin Theory - nice title, but Casey is a very variable prospect....

I just wish they had the nerve to go with more stuff that doesn't have any sci-fi or fantasy element to it. Realise that despite some old-school former Vertigo fans not liking 100 Bullets, that realise is their best title at the moment and should be their 'flagship' title, and push for more stuff that shares some of that book's qualities. Look at what Oni are doing right, learn from them.
 
 
Mr Tricks
19:03 / 06.05.02
Can anyone say anthing more about 100%
 
 
Jack Fear
19:11 / 06.05.02
100%?

Two words:

Paul.

Fucking.

Pope.
 
 
Margin Walker
22:25 / 06.05.02
Count Adam wrote: Vertigo has a new comic coming out soon called "Y- the Last Man on Earth", or something like that, which looks like it might be quite good.

(immediatly is assaulted by horrible flashbacks of "The Omega Man")

Dear God, make it stop!! Make it stop!!!!

Whew, guess I don't need my coffee after that fright. But for curiousity purposes only, 1) what's this about & 2) how can it not resemble said shitty Heston movie (sorry about the redundancy).
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
19:48 / 07.05.02
Can I just say that the three preview pages of Fables available at Mile High Comics have confirmed my worst suspicions. "Hello, Jack, been climbing any beanstalks recently?" - do you GET it, do you, do you SEE, ha ha clever funny funny clever ha. Jesus Christ.

As for 100%:

"100% follows the romantic exploits of three couples in neo-Manhattan. Ensconced in the underbelly of futuristic boxing, hardcore performance art and underworld crime, the passionate 20-something characters experience sex, love and entertainment — and their unsettling repercussions — at 100% impact."

And it looks like this:



Oh yes.
 
  
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