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Wednesday, June 05, 2019 

DC may close the Vertigo imprint

Cosmic Book News says DC, with plenty of disastrous steps already on record, is shuttering the Vertigo line, which, from what's told here, sounds like it was another cynical attempt to serve as movie fodder:
Back in February, I reported how DC Comics is cutting their line even further, and now it is learned their Vertigo division may be closing.

The info/rumor comes from Bleeding Cool who reports after 26 years, DC Comics is rumored to close Vertigo, which is their alternative and mature line of comics.

[...] Reasons cited for the closure of Vertigo include that things started to go south when Warner Bros. realized they couldn't adapt the comics into other forms of media, such as television or movies, because the comics are creator-owned, so execs at WB demanded the contracts get changed, which saw big-name talent leave Vertigo for better contracts and jobs elsewhere, including Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis, Grant Morrison, and Neil Gaiman.
And they're mostly leftists. This is another report strongly hinting the imprint was yet another only seen as a means of developing movie material, not escapist entertainment with merit. In that case, what was the point of its being? It was originally launched in 1993 to serve as a self-contained line for at least a few DC titles like Swamp Thing and Sandman, but several years later, they turned it into more of a line for creator-owned titles instead. Now, with only so many smaller publishers who could offer better deals, that's why it's no longer needed, and Marvel stopped their own Epic imprint by the mid-90s.
Former DC Comics artist Ethan Van Sciver also offers insights via YouTube in that Vertigo really didn't pay out anything worthwhile and that Warner Bros. always wanted to take TV and movie options out on the creator-owned titles for years to come that weren't worth much. Van Sciver also blames the closing on the "catastrophic relaunch" of Vertigo last year that saw the publisher recruit "SJWs" that attacked white males and President Trump supporters.
That too was a grave error. One of the leading editors of the line, Andy Khouri, may have been let go by DC, and should never be hired again by any company, after all the damage he caused.

Considering how bad DC's become, this was actually deserved. If Marvel's no longer publishing creator-owned books under their own imprint, it stands to reason DC shouldn't do the same anymore. If the lights go out in the Vertigo office, it's for the best.

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". Now, with only so many smaller publishers who could offer better deals, that's why it's no longer needed, and Marvel stopped their own Epic imprint" Marvel released some creator owned material for some of their biggest talent but that was back when the name of creators actually sold comics and their comics output was borderline profitable. That was when their biggest talent was helping Hollywood translate their IP into movies. Bendis wrote every comic like a low budget tv show. Mark Millar was writing every comic like an edgy movie aimed at teenagers.That was 20 years ago.

Marvel's movie division no longer needs any expensive input from comics creators.
As the industry continued to lose readers, I am certain wages were cut at Marvel and DC.
Now, they can't afford to pay popular creators a decent wage and take a loss on a comic and have limited control over the IP. Marvel has put all its eggs in one basket, the basket being superheroes, and DC has finally realized that not just that no one wants to watch a movie based on the Vertigo comics they have been making.
Having control over the IP, so they can do a number of movie proposals I mean reboots, won't make the Vertigo IP anything but something that appeals to a small niche of people.

Smaller publishers, who have even LESS readers than Marvel and DC, undercut Marvel and DC's creator-owned inprints by offering even lower wages, operate as non-profits,which allows them to give creators more money for movie options. Without options, they will get into financial trouble. There is only so much trust fund money out there to support these low paid creators. Investors will stop funding these small comics publishers if they don't see any creators getting any options from Hollywood.

Some of the Vertigo titles, like the Sandman family stories, are company owned, others, like the Zoe Quinn book, are owned by the writer and artist. The revival of the line was probably a response to Karen Berger's new line of books over at Dark Horse. Berger was Vertigo, and it lost its soul once she was pushed out. DC figured they could undercut the new competitor by relaunching Vertigo.

"Marvel's movie division no longer needs any expensive input from comics creators." not sure about that one! Kelly Sue DeConnick had a lot of input into the captain marvel movie, including some ideas for the hero's origin that had been rejected by the comic book editors but made it into the movie. She had a cameo appearance in the film. Jim Starlin gets special credit in the last two avengers movies and also had a cameo appearance in endgame.

"DC has finally realized that no one wants to watch a movie base on the Vertigo comics They have been making"
On the other hand, people do seem to want to watch the Preacher and Lucifer tv shows, although I grant you the Swamp Thing and Constantine movies weren't wild successes.

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