Well, I don't know why we haven't done this before, but we need a Vertigo
item. This we now have a place to talk about DC's finest story like Sandman,
Swamp Thing, Junk Culture, Pride and Joy, Preacher, House of Secerts, Fualt
Lines, Hellblazer, 2020 Visions, The Dreaming, Sandman Mystery Theatre, Weird
War Tales, The Ivisibles, Animal Man, Black Orchid, Books of Magic,
Breathtaker, Death, Dhampire, Dog Moon, Doom Patrol, Enigma, Jonah Hex, Mercy,
The Mystery Play, Mythos, Vamps, Tell Me Dark, V for Vendetta, and
Witchcraft... (did I mis anything???)

18 responses total.

You forgot Moonshadow, Dr. Occult, The Geek, and the Children's Crusade (the
only Vertigo crossover).

Sandman is some of the finest work in comics I've ever read. Neil Gaiman has
shown his great ability in creating a unique mythos in the Dreaming.
The Dreaming is an excellent follow-up to the original series.

The Doom Patrol and The Invisibles are two of the most surreal comics I've
read. Where else can you find things like the Brotherhood of Dada, Danny the
Street (one of the heroes), and King Mob but in the bizarre mind of Grant
Morisson.

I agree that Sandman is very well-written.  It it so outside the typical fare
of the comics genre, it's refreshing.  The main characters are neither
superheroes, nor are they gods.  They are more embodiements of philosophical
concepts, so Gaiman is free to use brain and wit instead of the usual brawn.
I'm not saying superheroes are dumb, but they usually aren't quite as deep.
Gaiman is very well-read himself and it's typical to find obscure references
to novels, religious texts, and folklore.  Also, although his characters are
on a par with godlike entities, they are subject to pain, death, and other
factors of the mortal experience.  Death herself is made a mortal from time
to time so she can empathize  with the humans she draws from life.  The first
Sandman is dead, and another has replaced him.  Finally, sometimes the
characters themselves symbolize the human condition.  Justice, another one
of the siblings (Sandman, Death, and the others are related) has disappeared.

I thought all of the Sandman's siblings (Death, Delirium, Destiny, Desire,
Destruction, etc.) had name that started with D. I don't mean to nitpick,
but how does Justice fit into that?

I agree with lumen's review of Sandman. It's very rare to see a comic that
deals with godlike beings that actually works. Usually, the stories I
read that use such characters just have the gods do something to save the
day or it just becomes a souped-up superhero story. I'm glad that Gaiman
has the ability to create a tale that transcends the superhero universe
and create something truely unique and separate from the DC Universe
(I mean the non-Vertigo universe here.)

i don't know anything about Vertigo, maybe I'll check some of this stuff our.

That's true, Mike.  Most all of the siblings have names starting with D.  I
don't recall reading about Justice, but a friend pointed out to to me (the
same friend who introduced me) that he was there-- just not in the storyline,
I guess.  He had a poster depicting them all-- Justice was wearing an
old-style military uniform and two-corner hat.  He was also bearded.  I am
also supposing that a point is being made that while he was mentioned, he
never shows up in the storyline.  no justice in the world.

That's just sooooooooo cool!

*Legend's Mike Allred, creator of Madman, is working on a book for Vertigo
called Big World. More later...
*A Vertigo holiday special? I'm sure it won't be a cheery and full of holy.
Vertigo: Winter's Edge will offer readers their first look at Peter Milligan
and Sean Phillips' The Minx.
*In November we see the premier of Uncle Sam from Alex Ross and Steve Darnall.
Also from Alex Ross, Paul Dini and him are going to do a comic in a modified
animated style much like DC's Batman and Robin Adventures, Superman
Adventures, and Adventures In The DC Universe.
*Vertigo Editor Lou Stathis died from brain cancer on May 4th. Stathis worked
on Animal Man, Black Orchid, Hellblazer, Doom Patrol, Industrial Gothic, Prez,
The System, along with other books.
*From the Endless family in Sandman, Destiny gets a three issue mini-series
starting in September. Destiny: A Chronicle of Death Foretold is about the
high price of knowing the future. Written by the Dreaming's Alisa Kwitney and
art by various artist including Kent Williams, Micheal Zulli, Scott Hampton
and Rebecca Guay.
*Dean Motter and Micheal Lark bring back their popular Terminal City. Terminal
City: Aerial Graffiti picks up six months after the events in the first
mini-series. This five issue mini-series starts in September.
*Slightly off subject, Marvel is starting a line of horror comics by revamping
Werewolf by Night and Man-Thing and creating a new book, Satana (Satan's
daughter). Editor Ralph Macchio stated "I want to stress that these are not
Vertigo books. We're doing true horror here and we're not going to tiptoe
around the gruesome parts." So I ask, when has Vertigo ever "tiptoe around
the gruesome parts?" Is Macchio trying to say that Vertigo isn't "true
horror?" What do you guys think?

i picked up my first Vertigo titles ever yesterday..
I got Death: The High Cost of Living #1,3 and the new
Sandman Mystery Theatre #1-5 for 50 cents each..
I'll let you guys know what i think..

Dust Covers, an oversized book will colect all of the Sandman covers by Dave
McKean. This will also feature an all new eight page Sandan story.

The Invisibles keeps getting better and better. The Dreaming still produces
good stories with great art. I'm still catching up on my back issues of
Hellblazer and Doom Patrol (the Grant Morrison issues, not that crap they
wasted almost 20 issues on). If only Helix was as consistent as Vertigo,
someone besides Garth Ennis would be asked back to write more comics.
(Don't forget, Michael Moorcock is writing a Helix book based on his
novels.)

Re: The Sandman 'Justice' question.  I'm by no means an expert, but I've
been reading enough Sandman to know *I'VE* never heard of Justice as
a sibling, and the character described in those above responses sounds
mostly like Destruction to me, who DID leave behind his responsibilities
as one of the Endless.

As for Vertigo-
The titles falling under the Vertigo heading are mostly all I read of comics
these days.  I'm a follower of The Dreaming as well as House of Secrets,
and I generally pick up any of the mini-series, such as Pride & Joy,
2020 Visions, or Fault Lines.

The Dreaming seems to be holding it's own, coming *sorta* into it's own
feel, rather than feeling like a Sandman tribute.  I'd like to see more
stories focusing on the Corinthian, Nula or Matthew.  The first Corinthian
story was pretty good, and indeed, a bit more darker than most of
The Dreaming to date.

House of Secrets is on a bit of 'iffy' ground with me.  They really need to
get past this 'Book of Law' storyline and get back to telling Rain's story.
I was especially happy with this book up through about issue #8, but this
Juris storyline is, for the most part, boring me.

2020 Visions has been fairly good, and I liked the first story arc best.

The Destiny mini-series was also pretty good too.

(_Uncle Sam_ was really good, both in art [gotta love Alex Ross!] and
in writing. Steve Darnall was able to write a very political story
that seemed preachy at times, yet ended up being more patriotic than
anything I've read in a long time. Darnall also writes _Empty Love
Stories_ for Slave Labor Graphics, so I wasn't sure of *what* to 
expect from _Uncle Sam_; I think you'll be as pleased as I was.)

(_V For Vendetta_ was pre-Vertigo. it's dated now, and is pribly
more relevant to England's politics than the United States, but it's
also a great showcase for what Alan Moore is capable of writing when
he puts his mind to it.)

(was I the only one who found _The Dreaming_ completely uninvolving?
the first story arc was written by Terry Laban, who used to be the
political cartoonist at the Ann Arbor News; I figured with him and the
characters from _Sandman_, the series was worth following. as it is,
I barely made it through the first issue and haven't bothered to pick
up any others.)

The Dreaming is hard going, I'll admit.  And it's NOT Sandman.
I'm actually not sure if I'll continue with it or not, but if they
give me a few more things like the last Corinthian story I probably
will.

(a Corinthian story? *there's* an interesting character. I'll have to
see if I can find that story. I'm also trying to find my copy of _The
Dreaming_ #1 so that I can re-read it and see if I connect now.)

(I did pick up the _Sandman_ TPB "A Game Of You," and read it last night.
I'll have to re-read it before commenting on it; a Gaiman story is
never a light read.)

yeah.. there's a lot to Gaiman's stories..
what little i've read..

The Corinthian story starts in #17.

I've picked up all the Sandman TPBs, except for The Kindly Ones.
I'd have to say that A Game of You was certainly the deepest going.
Hmm.  Maybe it'll make for a good re-read.

I'd heard of Justice-- I saw a pic of him in a poster a friend of mine had.
And yes, he left early on, or so he told me.

I've read a lot of Vertigo in the last 10 years. Preacher, Transmetropolitan,
Y The Last Man, American Virgin, The Filth, The Exterminators...

I've just started reading Jason Aaron's SCALPED. And have been hearing a lot
of good things about David Lapham's YOUNG LIARS and G Willow Wilson's AIR.
Think I'll read Air #1 now.

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