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.
Un Autre Introduction
By Charles Webb
Welcome back to Vertigo Spotlight, returning readers, and greetings and salutations to new readers. My name is Charles Webb and some of you may know me from my reviews here on Comics Bulletin, including True Believer Tuesdays and Wednesday Comments. In addition to writing about comics, I'm also a writer and designer for games. 
Bona fides out of the way, I'm here to talk to you all about Vertigo Comics and what springs to mind when we think of that venerable stalwart of the artful (or arty depending on how you feel about it) side of comics. I'm going to spend the next few hundred words talking about Jason Aaron's Scalped, how this excellent book represents the new face of Vertigo, and how that might not be a good thing for the line.
The Vertigo line has been around for over 15 years now – 16, actually since it bowed in '93 under the stewardship of Karen Berger. It's been the launch pad of many now-prolific creators and artists, starting with the so-called "British Invasion" of the mid-90's and continuing to the "Unnamed Period of Creator-Owned Work" of present day. Vertigo has given the spotlight to creator-owned work, caused a bit of a tangle involving character use with DC (where's my DCU Swamp Thing?), and generally been one of the more successful independent lines in modern comics. 
Scalped is Jason Aaron's second project at Vertigo, following up his much-acclaimed Vietnam mini The Other Side. Released to critical acclaim for both Aaron's writing as well as artist R.M. Guera's moody pencils, the book has been described as The Sopranos on the rez. This intriguing book is also the only project Aaron will have at Vertigo for the foreseeable future having since signed an exclusivity agreement with Marvel last year.
Aaron's contract with Marvel allows him to continue his work on Scalped, but his defection also represents the dulling of the cache of the Vertigo brand. Historically, Vertigo has been the home (albeit briefly) of so many of the industry's rising stars. The early American works of Peter Milligan, Paul Pope, Grant Morrison, and of course, Neil Gaiman, were produced here under the able eye of Ms. Berger. However, in many cases, these creators stuck around, working on their ongoing books or creating new projects. This had the dual effects of enhancing their in-house rock star status as well as making Vertigo the hot label (to belabor the music industry metaphor) where you could find more mature, non-traditional work. 
But who are the creators associated with Vertigo today? What writers and artists are identifiably the core creators for Vertigo? Bill Willingham, I suppose, whose Fables will reach 100 issues by next year. Anyone else? Peter Milligan and Mike Carey are still kicking around. However, after those two names I'm drawing a blank.*
Once upon a time, Vertigo had an identity which even extended to its trade dress. For long-time readers, who can forget the distinctive Vertigo border which branded the books back in the 90's? Even lacking that, one could easily identify a Vertigo book on the shelves. There was a certain mystery and inscrutability to their covers which was appealing to readers looking to get their first taste of the mature stuff. 
I was one of those readers back in high school, hooked by Neil Gaiman's Sandman run, and later Ennis's Preacher. I remember seeing Glenn Fabry's painted Preacher covers and itching to know what was inside--well before I developed my creator's crush on Garth Ennis.
What other titles draw the eye like that? The aforementioned Fables works the spell (but not so much the Jack of Fables spin-off) and Brian Azzarello's 100 Bullets, but again, I'm drawing a blank after only a couple of titles. 
For me, very few of Vertigo's titles draw my eye because they lack the essential mystery and maturity of earlier books (at least at a first glance) and in part because I don't recognize them as Vertigo books. The imprint actually carries a lot of weight with me--I can't qualify that as a matter of persistent quality or nostalgia. In the recent past, I have been excited by some titles including Crossing Midnight and, to a certain extent, American Virgin (the obvious connection between these two being their low-sales motivated cancellations).
More often than not, barring the tiny label in the upper corner, it's not easy picking Vertigo titles out of a lineup of Wildstorm or Max books. Again, this is not a reflection of the quality of Vertigo titles (or those of Wildstorm and Marvel Max, for that matter) but instead an indictment of the brand's diffusion. I don't know exactly what a Vertigo book is anymore besides one where you can get some sex and violence and no capes. 
So here's what I hope to do in the coming weeks, months or however long I'll be on this column: I'd like to look at the current Vertigo output as well as some titles from the past to perhaps discern the real identity of the line. I'll return to Scalped in a later installment to look at this book in-depth, but I'd also like to take a critical eye to titles like The Unwritten, and Fables, and talk about what they're doing right and where they can help Vertigo grow.
So join me in the coming weeks as I talk about all things Vertigo.
You can find the first issue of Scalped here on the DC Site: http://www.dccomics.com/media/excerpts/7722_1.pdf
*I implore you to visit our mighty Comics Bulletin Forums and let me know if you can think of any talent right now that's identifiably the new face of Vertigo.
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