Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics | Tagged: thought bubble, vertigo

Thought Bubble Gossip: Vertigo To Return To DC Comics in 2024/2025

The biggest gossip in Mojo's bar in Harrogate last night was DC Comics bringing back their mature readers iumprint, Vertigo.

I'm currently working from Bettys in Harrogate after the conclusion of the Thought Bubble Comic Con. With the wine and the beers and the shots, came the hot gossip at Mojo's Bar. Comic book publishers that haven't been paying. New conventions that may be starting. Lawsuits that have been launched against creators. Lots of stuff to dig into . Last year I managed to find what would eventually become Dstlry – and yes, they were all here last night as well. But the biggest gossip of last night was DC Comics. And the gossip that in 2024 (or at this stage, more likely 2025), DC Comics will be bringing back Vertigo. This was a mature readers line that brought together darker takes on existing DC Universe characters such as Swamp Thing, John Constantine, Doom Patrol, Animal Man, Swamp Thing and Sandman, as well as semi-creator-owned series such as Preacher, Transmetropolitan, The Invisibles, Scalped, Testament,  and so much more.

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. We were told, repeatedly, that we were wrong, and we were talking nonsense. Well, American Vampire moved to Black Label, Image Comics announced they'd be publishing the comic SFSX (Safe Sex), previously announced as coming from Vertigo, and finally, DC made it official that they were going to shutter Vertigo – and more besides. The DC Ink and DC Zoom imprints, launched with such pomp and circumstance a few years ago, would also be done away with. The command came from the previous big boss Pamela Lifford, who had an aversion to imprints. Certain projects were folded into the DC Black Label line, intended only as a reading age signifier.

Well, Pamela Lifford is gone now and in her wake, DC Comics is looking to bring back the Vertigo line. The Black Label line is generally for short-run comics, but Vertigo – which will encompass the Sandman Presents line – will include ongoing series. Right now, they are just talking about DC Comics characters and IP treatments, but there is talk about returning to the creator-owned sphere for long-running titles. Apparently, some of the impetus for this has come from DC and Warner Bros. executives nostalgic for what Vertigo used to bring to the company – and it can't have been hindered by the recent success of Bodies, only made into a Netflix series when the rights had eventually been returned from DC Comics/Vertigo, and hindered before that. If, and when Vertigo returns, the lesson learned is that DC and Warners should be more open to such projects.

This is just the very early stages of course. But it's enough that enough people are talking about it. Maybe we will learn more at San Diego Comic-Con 2024? Or will we really have to wait another year for San Diego 2025 like we had to with Sandman Presents? Certyainly the return of the Elseworlds imprint at DC is a sign that DC Comics is no longer averse to bringing back its classic imprints.

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