Posted in: Comics, Conventions, Events, NYCC, Pop Culture | Tagged: Fanatic, Grace Ellis, Hannal Templer, new york comic con, vertigo

DC Vertigo At NYCC: Fanatic by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer

DC Vertigo At NYCC: Fanatic by Lumberjanes co-creator Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer

Published Fri, 10 Oct 2025 08:57:07 -0500

by Rich Johnston

Comments

Article Summary

Fanatic is a new DC Vertigo comic by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer about dangerous fan obsession.
The story explores how parasocial fixations on creators can spiral into deadly territory.
DC Vertigo, once shuttered in 2020, is returning with new series and a creator-owned focus.
Grace Ellis, known for Lumberjanes, and Hannah Templer of Cosmoknights, helm the Fanatic series.

Announced yesterday at New York Comic Con from DC Comics, amongst a number of new DC Vertigo comic books, Fanatic by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer in which a woman's obsession with a comic book spirals into a deadly parasocial fixation on its creator, and how such can warp your reality. Grace Ellis is the co-creator of Lumberjanes, her very first comic, which won her two Eisner Awards in 2015, as well as one in 2023 for Flung Out of Space. She has also created Moonstruck, written for Bravest Warriors, and worked on DC Comics' Lois Lane and the Friendship Challenge and more recently, Diana and the Hero's Journey, and Poison Ivy. Hannah Templer is the graphic novelist behind the Cosmoknights series and has worked on Overwatch titles.

: Fanatic by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer

In 2020, Bleeding Cool broke the news that DC Comics was to 'shutter' Vertigo. We stated that some books would move to Black Label, and some would no longer be published. American Vampire moved to Black Label, Image Comics announced they'd be publishing the comic SFSX (Safe Sex), and finally, DC made it official. The creator-owned or creator-participant contract had been made more DC-friendly in recent years, which saw a number of creators such as Garth Ennis leave for other, more creative-friendly publishers, but now Vertigo was done. The command came from the previous big boss Pamela Lifford, who had an aversion to imprints.

In 2023, at Thought Bubble Comic Con, Bleeding Cool got the scoop that "in 2024 (or at this stage, more likely 2025), DC Comics will be bringing back Vertigo". In 2024, at New York Comic Con, they announced that a) this was indeed happening and that b) the creator-owned series Nice House By The Sea by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez Bueno was pivoting from being a Black Label series to being a Vertigo book to launch the imprint. And now a critique of the very fans of Vertigo itself. Probably.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!