Sunday Trade: Vertigo

Swamp Thing: The Curse written by Alan Moore, art by Stephen Bissette and John Totleben, Alfredo Alcala or Ron Randall, colors by Tatjana Wood, letters by John Costanza


Sandman: A Game of You written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Shawn McManus, Colleen Doran, Bryan Talbot, George Pratt, Stan Woch and Dick Giordano, letters by Todd Klein and colors by Danny Vozzo


Animal Man: Deus Ex Machina written by Grant Morrison, pencils by Chas Truog and Paris Cullins, inks by Doug Hazlewood, Mark Farmer, Steve Montano, colors by Tatjana Wood, letters by John Costanza

So the original intention here was to do a series of posts over January covering various aspects and noteworthy series of DC's Vertigo imprint. Then I got laid out by the plague for most of two weeks. And I realized I didn't want to do that much work. Oh well, que sera sera. But here is the post that was meant for last Sunday...

DC's Vertigo imprint is one meant to showcase their creative talent. Allowing writers to develop stories outside the super-hero box and targeted at more mature audiences. Helped into creation by three titles with their root's firmly in DC's main universe and all pre-dating the imprint. Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Alan Moore's legendary run on Swamp Thing and Grant Morrison's revival of Animal Man...

We'll start with Swampy. A simple enough tragic hero origin. Scientist is mutated by explosion and chemical exposure into plant monster. Ends up defending an area of Louisana swamp from various threats, many of them supernatural in origin. And then Alan Moore takes the title and makes it into one of the most respected horror titles in years. In The Curse Moore further distances the title character from it's human origins, creating an elemental creature that comes into existence throughout history. And he also introduces the English mystic and general all-around asshole John Constantine. A character whose own book is approaching its 300th issue...

One of Grant Morrison's earliest writing gigs for DC was on Animal Man. A z-list hero with vague "animal" powers. Over twenty-six issues Morrison would use the character to explore themes of religion, revenge, animal rights, time travel and the meta-story aspects of DC's "Crisis on Infinite Earths". All culminating in volume 3. Where the titular hero goes after the conspiracy that murdered his family and then ends up meeting the person behind all the grief and angst in his life. Grant Morrison. A bit heavy-handed at points, but here you can see the early concepts that Morrison will become best known for...

And finally Neil Gaiman's epic run on Sandman. Close to a decade's worth of stories about stories, modern and ancient fables and explorations of the fantastic. And from that, one of my favorite arcs is collected in "A Game of You". Minor character Barbie from "A Doll's House" takes center stage. A recent divorcee after the culminating events of that storyline, Barbie is desperate to remake herself. Face painting, bohemian friends and single life in New York. Which comes to a halt when one of her childhood imaginary friends dies at her feet in the streets of New York. Soon Barbie is gone, a traveling into the fantasy kingdom from her childhood dreams. A realm taken over by the malevolent being known as The Cuckoo. Who has minions willing to attack Barbie's neighbors in the "real" world to keep them from helping her...