Speaking with The New York Times, Vertigo executive editor Shelly Bond spoke of rebuilding and rebranding the DC Comics imprint, a line that has been struggling over the last few years. With DC’s main line relaunching in its entirety in 2011, the company revealed four new titles for October that hope to increase attention on the long-running mature readers line.
The Sandman: Overture
Written by returning legend Neil Gaiman, with art from the incomparable J.H. Williams III, the flagship of the new Vertigo will drop on 30 October. This marks Gaiman’s return to the series after his initial run from 1988 through to 1996. The often reprinted work is considered some of his finest, and the combination of this award winning writer and artist should make this one fly off the shelves immediately. Overture, a prequel to the original series, will be published bi-monthly over the course of 2013 and 2014, and the early cover art we have seen looks gorgeous. To think: we only had to wait 17 years.
Hinterkind
From Ian Edgerton, “which focuses on a post-apocalyptic world in which the creatures of myth and legend have returned“.
The Discipline
Hellblazer‘s Peter Milligan brings us “an erotic thriller about a woman at the center of an shadow war that spans eons. No capes or utility belts are to be found in the mix“.
The Dead Boy Detectives
This one is due out in November. The Times says it “is tied to the “Sandman” mythos. It features two characters that were introduced in “Sandman” No. 25 from 1991. The characters, Edwin and Charles, are boarding school students who died tragically and returned as ghost detectives. (In the new series, a girl, whose mortality status is unknown, will join them.)”
T hese certainly sound like the kinds of titles that Vertigo needs to put them back on track. Many had been prematurely predicting the death of the imprint, although some small critical and commercial successes in the last few years have slowly put them back on track. Scott Snyder‘s American Vampire, although currently on hiatus, has been a hit. Punk Rock Jesus exposed us to the talents of Sean Murphy, who is currently teaming with Snyder for Vertigo’s The Wake. The debut issue’s 45,000 sales make it one of the most successful Vertigo books in over a decade.
We look forward to seeing what the imprint has in store for us next!
