Well, a few issues into production on the new book, I'm told that the work came down from on High. Co-publisher Dan DiDio decreed that Swamp Thing was to return back to the purvue of the DC Universe, the superhero line. There will be a new Swamp Thing series, creative team as yet unconfirmed, interacting with the Justice League and the like, something generally frowned upon at Vertigo these days.
When proto-Vertigo titles began, they commonly interacted with the rest of DC Comics. Swamp Thing guest starred Batman and Superman, the Justice League appeared in Sandman and Books Of Magic saw Tim Hunter on a tour of the whole DC magical universe. But the Vertigo line mostly put a stop to that sort of thing, a separation between suitable-for-younger-readers and mature readers was deemed necessary, especially by Paul Levitz.
Although with recent DCU storylines, that difference is pretty moot right now, aside from occasional flashes of nudity and the odd "fuck" or two.
I understand from speaking to a number of people that the new policy is that any character that came from the DC Universe can and will be used by the DC Universe. Prez, Black Orchid, Shade, they're all back up for grabs.
Not exactly sure how that will affect John Constantine though... though I'd probably buy a Constantine/Batman book if they ever came up with one.
This is actually going to be funny. DC Universe Editorial clearly has no idea what it's doing. So they have no idea how to find and hire new real talent so they've decided to cannibalize their entire catalog in a vain attempt to stir-up sales successes. BWAHA - HA - BWAHAHA. HA.
GET RID OF DILDO-DIO NOW. If you want to save the DC Universe DILDO-DIO MUST BE FIRED AND ANYONE ELSE WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GREAT IDEA.
In general, I'm for this, but... probably not at the expense of that canned Mieville book. Why couldn't they just.. y'know, have done both? Oh and DC has to really start censoring itself because it's getting ridiculous. It's not even the content I'm worried about(though I probably am since I've got a kid and all). It's the desensitization. You have one gory scene a year and it can be striking and powerful. You have one every month (or even every week) and it becomes self-parody.
This seems worrying news - I thought the shake-up at the top of DC would give Karen Berger more flexibility and it seems the core of the Vertigo Universe is being merged back into the DCU, jut at the moment when there is possibility they had found the right person to successfully sip from the poisoned chalice Swamp Thing had become. If someone can't come up with a decent Swamp Thing story at Vertigo where the gloves are off, then what chance is there when you are adding capes to the mix? I await the torpedoing of my trepidations but I also won't hold my breath.
So they push Vertigo down to a MAX imprint? I think Didio is scared of the whole line, and I predict the dissolution of Vertigo as a label within the next couple of years. Why would a big company like Warner have interest in pushing so many creator-owned books anyway?
@nilskidoo Do you think Didio is scared of Vertigo or do you think he doesn't care about it? Creator owned properties aren't good for Warner Bros. pictures... and it's not like Didio cares about producing good comics.
Oh, jeez, didn't he spearhead the Firestorm relaunch?
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Swamp Thing Returns To The DC Universe. And He's Bringing His Friends
Bleeding Cool just published a piece about how a new Swamp Thing series may have been binned at Vertigo. But why?
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