It’s weird, to think, but I think I can actually be described as a “longtime” Vertigo reader.
I say this because I was decidedly not a part of Vertigo when they first split off from the DCU. I wasn’t the most adventurous comic reader back in the day. I was pretty much sticking with DCU back then.
I wasn’t reading Swamp Thing, which, pardon the pun, planted the seeds for what became Vertigo. I didn’t pick up Sandman when it launched either. But I did come close to Vertigo with Animal Man and Doom Patrol. Let me explain.
At the time I was a huge fan of the Justice League franchise. I read Justice League Europe, Justice League America and even Justice League Quarterly. And since Animal Man was a founding member of the Justice League Europe, I was really going to give the book a shot. Plus it had covers by Brian Bolland! What more could you ask for?
Well for one thing, a store that carried it. I couldn’t get it at a newsstand, therefore I couldn’t get it. But I wanted it, so I get some “it’s the thought that counts” points right?
With Doom Patrol, I came much closer. I actually remember reading some issues of Doom Patrol early on. First off, the Doom Patrol concept is so crazy and I knew more about them because they had serious ties to the DCU. Between New Teen Titans and Robotman’s various appearances, the Doom Patrol has some serious roots in the DCU.
Plus those early issues had art by Steve Lightle, whose work I’d enjoyed mainly on covers. And when Erik Larsen jumped on the book things got really interesting. There was a pretty awesome villain named Shrapnel who was a menace and then there was Karma, who was quite the interesting character. I remember the various team ups and crossovers that occurred with the Doom Patrol at that time.
Then Invasion! happened, Grant Morrison took over and the Doom Patrol got weird. And that’s how I missed the boat on Vertigo the first time around.
If I’m being honest I missed the second go round too, because I didn’t read Preacher. But third time was the charm, because I was onboard for 100 Bullets and Y the Last Man. From then on I’ve pretty much never looked back. I’ve at least tried the majority of the Vertigo’s new titles and stuck with probably half of them.
Which is why I’m pretty excited for the new era of Vertigo that has just begun. Well, the whole Collider/Federal Bureau of Physics fiasco didn’t really instill confidence. Maybe I should say that I’m cautiously optimistic about things. Since Fables and The Unwritten are the last vestiges of Vertigo, here’s to hoping that Vertigo will return to this former glory.
I really am looking forward to seeing how these new Vertigo will pan out. Hopefully we’ll get some gems with them.
Well, it’s Wednesday, so go out and get some fresh new comics from your local comic shop. And enjoy them.
