A Midsummer Night's Vertigo Dream
By Martijn Form
Prologue
Hello Vertigolovers,
I had a dream…last night. It was a wonderful dream: Vertigo books are sold out all over the country. Every comic reader and non-comic reader rampaged the comic stores and bought all available copies. And their hunger wasn't satisfied, so like comic-eating-zombies they went through those back-issue long boxes, and picked out Seekers Into Mystery, Swamp Thing, Lucifer, Sandman, The Losers and Kid Eternity till even the back issues were completely sold out.
What a wonderful world this would be.. if my alarm clock didn't start ringing.
But was it all a dream I wonder? No. Vertigo announced that House of Mystery #1 and Young Liars have sold out. Halleluiah! Somebody did actually hear my prayers. During the San Diego Comic Con Vertigo panel Karen Berger announced that these sold out books would be collected in Vertigo Double Shot #1. This comic contains both sold out issues, but only costs one. For those of you who aren't good in math, like me, that's $2.99 for two whole comics. What a genius idea!Vertigo Double Shot is in your favorite comic store now.
I love going to the comic store and picking up my new books. It's one of my favorite pastime activities, besides reading the actual books of course, and clipping my toenails.
The cover to The Vinyl Underground #11 is the first cover that I really love in this series. Sean Phillips is a great artist, and if you ever see a copy of his visual conversation Intersection (Image Comics) with fellow artist Duncan Fegredo, you should pick it up. It shows his diversity with his pens and brushes, and his keen eye for drama. But his covers for Vinyl Underground don't grab me as the kind of strong imagery that helps sell a book (if a cover alone can even sell a book). Did you ever pick up a comic just by looking at the cover? I haven't. It's not Playboy. But the cover to The Vinyl Underground #11 is strong. Morrison looks almost emotionless as blood stained feathers scatter above him. It's a sad image that gets stronger when you finish reading the actual story which focuses on Morrison and his mother. Is she dead or not? She seems to be because she appears to Moz as a fallen angel. Her wings are now broken bones, while she cries tears of blood. In the last issue Moz jumped off a bridge. Suicide was on his mind. On my mind is a scene from the movie Misery, where Kathy Bates tells James Caan about an unpleasant experience she had at the movies. As I recall it, she saw a serial show where a car went off a cliff, and she felt there was no way that any of the passengers could survive. The next week the show continued and the passengers had miraculously survived. Bates felt betrayed by that continuation of the story because that's not what should have happened. I feel a bit of the same with Moz supposedly being rescued by his mother. We don't see it, and it's not clear if this is imaginary or real. That being said, I feel a bit cheated by the cliffhanger of issue #10. Back then I liked it, but now it feels forced and unrealistic. Getting Morisson's mother back into play feels forced here.Writer Si Spencer tries hard to create a realistic base for his story, by incorporating some of London's geography and illustrious history into the game. That I like, but the fact remains that I don't like the character of Morrison. I just can't relate to him. I don't understand his motivations for what he does or doesn't do. Then again, I like Spencer's dark mystery that doesn't have a lot of suspense but compels me to read the final issue, which comes out next month.
The mix of fantasy, horror and mystery is something I liked since I was a kid when I watched my first Twilight Zone episode. House of Mystery has all these elements and artist Luca Rossi. With every issue I'm liking Rossi's style more and more. He draws and inks his own work. He provides good faces, and his scenery is detailed and quite superb. I noticed that Bill Willingham is no longer credited as the series' writer, leaving writer Matthew Sturges on his own. Will this only be for one issue or has Willingham left the House of Mystery? And if the latter, how did he do that? Because once you enter the House, it seems impossible to leave. Well, it is for most guests, especially for Fig Keele. Whatever she tries, the House throws back at her. The House of Mystery format (the story within the story) is clever, but I do wonder how this will affect the main story's pace and development. So far the cohesion between the two is lovely. And what a wonderful cover by Sam Weber, again. Go to his website to see what a marvelous talent this guy has. I hope he gets to do some interior art as well someday.When I first heard the term, "the knowledge," I thought was about my wife. When I'm late for something she always seems to know the why and where I was and what my excuse will be. But the knowledge is all about cabdrivers. In Amsterdam every putz who can hold a steering wheel can be a cabdriver. In London, however, you have to study for several years in order to memorize 25,000 streets before you can get your cab license. The knowledge. Hellblazer Presents: Chas – The Knowledge #2 (of 5) is all about Chas, the cabdriver, who shows us readers around London, and the mystery behind connecting streets and the knowledge. An ancient rock has been cracked open by sheer accident. An ancient ,dark entity has been released, and Nicky--studying the knowledge to become a cabdriver--has been taken over by this dark matter. Evil lurks in the person of Nicky through London, while John Constatine is on the other side of the world, seeking another demon.
Simon Oliver 's story intrigues me, and Goran Sudzuka's pencils are always pleasant to look at. This comic is a good exercise for Oliver for when he takes over Vertigo's flagship title, Hellblazer.
100 Bullets #94 : Okay, let's have it. Let me say something negative for a change about this series! The title: 100 bullets. I have counted all the bullets from issue #1 until now and I can safely say there are more than hundred bullets flying around. The exact number is 665. (You can count them yourself if you don't believe me!) And where the hell is Graves' suitcase by the way? All joking aside, I can't wait to read this next installment in the best crime story ever.Young Liars #6: I'm really loving this kaleidoscopic story that David Lapham is producing. This weekend I plan on re-reading his "City of Crime" Batman run, but I did check out his blog. There you will find some interesting posts on how Young Liars came about. Did you know that early on the proposed title of the series was Bullet Girl? I didn't, and I read the early proposal of what became Young Liars. Lapham is not a firce blogger, but what he posts is interesting.
Testament Vol. 4: I have been waiting for this one for quite some time. Testament. A highly intelligent story with so many Biblical references that it made me read parts of the Bible again. Not a bad thing for an atheist like myself. Of this book Grant Morrison said: "Make no mistake, the Greatest Story Ever Told continues right here." Rushkoff weaves the fast history of the Bible and draws parallels between elements in our time and a future time. This is a comic that really deserves the motto "food for thought." There is so much subtext going on that I embrace Rushkoff's commentary in the second and third trade, Testament: West of Eden and Testament: Babel. I hope Rushkoff's helpful commentary is also included in this fourth and final trade.
I have a dream… that one day--and let's make this soon people--that one day a Vertigo book will be number one in the comic sales chart. And that there will be ticket parade on 5th Avenue with all the Vertigo creators riding in those big open top Cadillacs, waving to all the men, women and children who read Vertigo. Correction…ehm not children, of course, because Vertigo books are suggested for mature readers. A ticket parade for those brave men and women with their bold imaginations. What a wonderful world that would be.
See you in seven long nights.
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