Greetings ladies and gents!

While I was reading MR. Wolff’s rant about “Smallville” yesterday, I couldn’t help but to think what comic books would make great TV shows. So, as usual, I made a list about it. Now if I had my druthers, every show would be put out by HBO or Showtime, just because they have so much freedom in terms of content and presentation (just look at “Carnivale”),  but I know there are those of you out there that love you some ABC shows, or FX shows (hey, “Sons of Anarchy” is great), there might even be some of you out there that love CW shows (shudder) so feel free to envision the following list on any network you want (but it would be better on HBO).

1) SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE: This book had a great noir feel month after month, focusing on the mystery solving adventures of Wesley Dodds, the original Sandman, and his girlfriend Dian. Take the stories and ambiance from this book, and it would make for must-see TV.

2) NO HONOR: The story of a thief and the Samurai ghost that shares his body. If you were to mix “Kung-Fu” with the odd couple this is what you would get. A new setting every week and a series of wacky adventures (“This ghost is gonna get me killed!”) would make this a hit.

3) 1602: Imagine a John Adams-esque mini-series with all the same great costumes and set pieces of any other historical drama, but then add in super-powers. You could probably even get Neil Gaiman to write the screenplay.

4) CRIMSON: Vampires are hot right now. “True Blood” is great and “New Moon” is coming out soon. If you are going to have a vampire show work though it has to be different that what is out there, and CRIMSON is that. It’s more like a coming of age tale with crazy goth vampires, and buckets off blood.

5) POWERS: This one is a bit of a cheat, as both a POWERS movie and TV show have been announced at some point, but I still think it would make for great TV. Think “NYPD Blue” with capes.

6) HITMAN: This one would have to be on HBO to be done right. HITMAN is about a hard-drinkin’, crude-talkin’ Irish-American assassin who has super powers but usually doesn’t use them. Irreverent, bizarre, and violent as all get out, HITMAN would be a great TV show that would probably offend a lot of people.

7) DANGER GIRL: The whole team-of-spies-on-weekly-missions genre has fallen on hard times. Where once there were shows like “Charlie’s Angels”, “Mission Impossible” and “The A-Team”, now there is nothing but a valley of Blech. DANGER GIRL could be a return to glory for the genre if handled right. Stay away from the corny late night “She-spies” or “V.I.P.” vibe, and put some production value behind the show, and it could go places. Oh, and get attractive women, that never hurts.

100 BULLETS: If you took all the violence that was in “OZ” and a story as dense as “Lost”, you would get 100 BULLETS. YOu could get some mileage out of the series as well, with the book running 100 issues.

9) SCALPED: A story about an undercover FBI agent infiltrating a nasty Native-American crime syndicate. Drugs, sex, lies, and gambling, its like “Las Vegas” but good.

10) THE FRESHMEN: College hi-jinx + new hero hi-jinx+ some french dude who calles himself “squirrel” and collects nuts = greatness.

That’s what I would like to see on TV. What would you like to see?

Thanks for stopping in folks, see you next time!

Greetings all!

Today I am going to be starting a new column called “Spotlight”. In this column, I will, well, spotlight a different company, imprint, and maybe even a comic or two. You will get a little bit of history and a little bit of opinion, and hopefully, a lot of enjoyment.

As you might have been able to guess from the title, today’s Spotlight topic is going to be DC’s Vertigo imprint. So, let’s get started!

DC comics officially launched Vertigo in 1993, but the groundwork for the imprint was laid down well before that. The architect of Vertigo was an editor by the name of Karen Berger, who had started with DC in the late 1970’s as an assistant to editor Paul Levitz. Throughout the 1980’s Berger, now and editor, began amassing the (largely British) talent that would soon form the core of the Vertigo imprint. Berger was responsible for bringing names like Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis, Jamie Delano and Peter Milligan to DC. Berger placed the Brits on a variety of titles from DOOM PATROL, to SHADE THE CHANGING MAN, to HELLBLAZER. These titles, along with a few others (including Alan Moore’s SWAMP THING) would eventually form the core of the Vertigo imprint. What set these titles apart was that they were almost entirely for mature readers only.

ANIMAL MAN was one of the first Vertigo titles. He was also apparently afraid of mandrills.

In 1993, the big wigs at DC, including publisher Jenette Kahn and managing editor Dick Giordano, mandated that Berger take these titles and use them as the base of a new imprint that would “Help comics grow up.” And thus, Vertigo was born.

Gingers from space in coats made of insanity, these are the things Vertigo are made of.

Vertigo grew steadily over the next few years with a steady stream of titles in a variety of formats, from ongoing series like SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATER, to mini-series like KID ETERNITY, to one-shots. The imprint was given a distinct trade dress to distinguish Vertigo from other DC books.

The strip on the side means “No Kids Allowed”

Two other things helped Vertigo grow over the next decade. One was a commitment to creator owned work, such as Y: THE LAST MAN, and 100 BULLETS. The other was that Vertigo was able to cherry-pick properties from defunct DC imprints and print them. Some examples of this are TRANSMETROPOLITAN, which started out under the Helix imprint, and A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, which was printed under the Paradox Press imprint, but all reprints had the Vertigo tag attached to them.

Vertigo stole this man.

Vertigo has also experimented with several sub-imprints, such as Vertigo Pop! (focusing on pop culture) and Vertigo Verite (trying to capture the spirit of cinema verite), over the last 15 years, with varied results. The most recent sub-imprint is the newly formed Vertigo Crime imprint.

FILTHY RICH is the first title of the Vertigo Crime line. I’m guessing that woman is both filthy and rich.

Today Vertigo puts out about 20 titles a month, between graphic novels and regular books. Of the seven initial titles put out by the imprint, only HELLBLAZER is still ongoing, but new series such as DMZ and SCALPED are continuing the Vertigo tradition.

SCALPED. Despite appearances, this man does not have a head full of feathers.

Vertigo is an imprint with many strengths . With the impetus of the imprint being a rather vague “helping comics grow up”, the line can (and does) explore a wide variety of genres, from crime to horror to science fiction. And by carrying a mature reader label, creators have the freedom to tell their stories, not some watered-down kid-friendly version.

If this were a DC book, you’d never get to see breasts. What is SWAMP THING without breasts?

Another strength is that Vertigo does not have any distinct art style which means that each title can have an artist that best suits it, there is no need to have someone who fits the “house style”. From Chris Bachalo’s page-filling craziness to Edwardo Risso’s heavy blacks, each book gets the artist it needs, not the one the company wants.

This is Death. She’s Perky!

The importance that Vertigo places on creator owned work helps draw top level talent consistently. Vertigo also seems to maintain a good relationship with it’s creators, increasing the odds that they will continue to come back.

Anywhere else and this book would probably never get published.

For as great as Vertigo is, the imprint also has its flaws. With a mature readers tag, there is a somewhat limited base of readers that can be reached. If a book doesn’t sell, it doesn’t matter how great it is.

No matter how spectacular it is, a comic named LUCIFER is only gonna sell so many copies…

Also, while the lack of a particular art style keeps the books looking unique, many of the Vertigo books do not look very good. There have been a few series over the years that I have dropped (no, I will not name them) due to the lackluster art. The art styles are also rarely similar to what young readers get in their superhero books, so the change in styles could dissuade DC readers from becoming Vertigo readers.

What is going on here?

Vertigo is an imprint that has helped to change the landscape of comics. For all the shortcomings of the line (which aren’t really that many), the ability to expand the audience of comic book readers from mainly kids to anyone with eyes is huge. People may not like some of the comics that Vertigo has put out, but that is a part of the line’s beauty, there is something for everyone. Not to mention, some of the best comics that I have read in my life have come from vertigo. PREACHER, Y: THE LAST MAN, and 100 BULLETS are some of my all-time favorite series. I also think I can safely say that without Vertigo, there would be no Semantink today.

Thank you Vertigo, for the man with the dong-shaped head.

Thanks for stopping in all, and if you have a particular company/imprint/comic that you would like to see spotlighted (spotlit?), let me know.