Who Is Charles Webb?
A frequent contributor to Comics Bulletin, Twitchfilm, and his own blog, Monster In Your Veins, I do more than write about comics, movies, and games – I make my own. I was the lead writer on the horror-mystery mobile game “Exile,” and contributing writer to several other titles for both classic mobile and home platforms. Most recently I’ve taken on the Lead Game Designer position for the North American arm of Advanced Mobile Applications where I hope to have some interesting projects to tell you all about soon.
Vertigo News and Commentary
By Martijn Form
Hi Vertigolovers,
Well, the San Diego Comic Con is over and done with, and there was some exciting Vertigo news that I'd like to highlight in this column. Vertigo had three one hour panels with a lot of their creators taking the stand. If you weren't there, you can go to DC's website to listen to podcasts of the panels: Bill Willingham spotlight, Vertigo View of the Future, and Vertigo Voices: Fables.
There will be a 10 issue mini-series by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá that Vertigo will produce in spring 2009 titled Daytripper. The Brazilian creators are known for Dark Horse's The Umbrella Academy, which was a great success and hyped all over the net. I read the first two issues, and even though it wasn’t my cup of tea so to speak, I liked the art. It's in the tradition of Mike Mignola's art.Honestly, the tagline Fábio Moon provided during the panel didn't get me real excited about this mini:
"[Daytripper is about] a guy who wants to be a writer and how the things you do in your life every day, there's stuff that can determine what you're going to do the rest of your life."Even though the tagline may not look very strong or special, it will be a Vertigo book, so that means a good story with great characters. The series will be out next spring.
Vertigo will launch a new imprint called Vertigo Crime. The imprint will publish black and white graphic novels showcasing a wide variety of crime writing. Filthy Rich will be one of the imprint's first books. It's written by Brian Azzerello, which means it's a book I definitely will be picking up. I have read almost everything by that genius, and solely based on his 100 Bullets , Filthy Rich should be a great crime book to read.Dark Entries will be the second graphic novel under the Vertigo Crime imprint to be released in 2009. It's written by UK's number 1 bestselling crime author, Ian Rankin . Famous for the acclaimed Inspector Rebus series which has topped the Sunday Times bestseller lists and been adapted into a major TV series by the BBC. His books are harsh, dark and gloomy to read, so again I can't wait to see what this writer can bring to the Vertigo graphic novel world.
Lately, Vertigo is focusing more on original graphic novels, but I haven't made up my mind if this is a good or a bad thing. Well, it can't be bad, of course; It's just that I'm just a big fan of the serial monthlies. But why did Vertigo choose to create a new imprint? Scalped is a crime book, as is 100 Bullets . And to some degree, so are The Un-Men and Vinyl Underground. And Sandman Mystery Theatre has presented some of the best crime stories ever. Maybe the black and white Vertigo Crime books will lean more towards crime noir? We have to wait to find out.
There was also some news coming from San Diego that I didn't like. Andy Diggle will be leaving Hellblazer; his last issue will be #249. When Mike Carey stepped down from this series, and novelist Denise Mina took over, the series took a little dip for me. I loved the grand scope of Carey's run, and Mina made Constatine's saga much smaller. Her run wasn't bad or anything, and I will re-read it in the next couple of weeks to make a better comparison, but when Andy Diggle jumped on board, Hellblazer hit the spot again for me.
Diggle's overlapping arc's about "the laughing magician" are some of the best Hellblazer stories I years. But there is light glooming here. Writer extraordinaire Simon Oliver (The Exterminators) will be Hellblazer's new writer. It seems Leonardo Manco will continue to do the art for this book, and that's more than okay for me. His black ink pen creates moods that strike directly into your soul, confiscating your rational mind, and meditate on your fears and nightmares. So congratulations to Simon Oliver on his assignment on Vertigo's flagship title.
Joshua Dysart and Alberto Ponticelli will revamp the classic DC character Unknown Soldier. My dear colleague Matthew McLean beat me to it, and did a lovely interview with Joshua Dysart, which you can read here. I'm really interested in seeing Ponticelli's art in a Vertigo book because I became a fan of his when he did the "Witchcraft" story arc for Image's Sam and Twitch title. His composition is grand, and the way he draws the characters are very gloomy.
Two great books.Northlanders #8
This issue concludes the eight part Sven saga. Me, and my CB colleagues slugfested this book last Sunday and you can read the reviews here.
The Un-Men #12
The more I read this book, the more I love it. It started out slow, but issue #11 was so well written, full of drama and suspense that I hate to see this book end. Issue #13 will be the last of this lovely freakish story. Writer John Whalen and artist Mike Hawthorne brought us a great series, and it's only because of me that this book will end. I didn't buy a few thousand copies, and I apologize for that. This series also has some of the most disturbing covers I have seen in a while.
Well, it seems like a full plate for me this week:
DMZ Vol. 5: The Hidden War: is a book that you should pick up. This is Brian Wood's best series so far, I think. The political and civil war issues are written with so much power that this book doesn't read like fiction; it seems it really can happen!
Hellblazer Presents: Chas – The Knowledge #2 (of 5): Ahh, my Simon Oliver fix for this week. This will be the first book of my stack that I'm gonna read.House of Mystery #4: This book is getting better and better.
Jack of Fables #24: I think I made a mistake by reading this series in trade form, because this issue sounds like a lot of fun. Maybe I should rethink my decision and start jumping on the monthlies.
The Vinyl Underground #11: Writer Si Spencer's work on this book reminds me of Grant Morrison's The Invisibles . Is it a coincidence that the main character of Vinyl Underground is named Morrison? Spencer weaves some intriguing mysteries here, people. So start reading.
Army@Love: The Art of War #1 (of 6): I'm not sure if I'm going to pick this one up. I love Rick Veitch, but the first Army@Love "season" didn't quite do it for me. Oh well, you can't like all Vertigo books, right?
Well that's it for this week's Vertigo Spotlight. I think I am going to read me some Sandman Mystery Theatre because when I typed that title in the beginning of the column, I flipped through "The Night of The Butcher" arc, and it gave me chills. So that will make some good bedtime reading, I guess.
So you in seven, and remember, Vertigo can be your North, South, East and West, your working day and Sunday's rest…(a bad alliteration after Funeral Blues by W.H.Auden).
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