Happy Holidays, Everyone

Well, the title says pretty much everything, doesn't it?

Thanks to everyone who's made V for Vertigo something of a success--by which I mean we have some listeners on a regular basis--since August. We do this mostly for ourselves, but it's cool that people want to listen to us ramble and argue about stuff. We're going to try to come up with some new segments and such for the show, so stay tuned in 2009. If you can get other people to listen, too, that's even better.

And just a reminder that there will be no new episode this weekend, but episode 11--in which we review Sandman vol. 1 and War Stories vol. 1, and probably talk about what we got (and didn't get) for Christmas, among God-knows what else--will be out sometime in the first week of January.

In the meantime, send us some emails, or post some questions on the forum, or leave us a voicemail. It can be about anything. No, really...ANYTHING.

So, merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, and so forth. Hope the holidays are good to all of you.

Episode 10: Pop Culture

In this episode, Rebecca's as sick as a dog. The boys go on without her and talk about books, movies, television shows, and everything else.

They eventually talk about a couple of comics: Preacher: Dixie Fried (Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon) and It's a Bird...(Steven T. Seagle, Teddy Kristiansen).

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Episode 9: The Unicorn Cometh

We talk about Black Friday and the craziness of what goes down during it, especially this year. And which would be better to have: a unicorn or Lou Ferrigno?

We also discuss Fables, vol. 2: Animal Farm (by Bill Willingham & Mark Buckingham) and Bigg Time (by Ty Templeton).

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Northlanders Rocks

I bought Northlanders vol. 1: Sven the Returned a couple days ago, mostly because I had some Borders Bucks to spend and a 30% coupon ($2 trade!). I'd heard a lot of hype about it, kinda like with Scalped, so I wasn't sure what I was getting into, but it's by Brian Wood (DMZ, Demo) so I figured I'd give it a shot. I love it. We're reviewing it on the show soon, so I'm not going to say much more than that, but you should definitely pick it up. It's only $10 for 8 issues, and you can get it for around $6 through In-Stock Trades. Northlanders for best new series of 2008!

Episode 8: Blame Jonathan

Rebecca talks about how cheating isn't cheating, Marc doesn't understand how people can get uberfat, and Jonathan's back...sort of.

We cover The Exterminators: Bug Brothers (by Simon Oliver, Tony Moore) and Sgt. Rock: Between Hell & A Hard Place (by Joe Kubert, Brian Azzarello)

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Episode 7: Odds and Ends

We discuss pretty much everything there is to discuss over this crazy Halloween weekend. Marc goes on a lot of rants as he can't control his ADD, and Rebecca has to deal with him all by her lonesome.

We also somewhat discuss True Faith (Garth Ennis, Warren Pleece) and Preacher: Ancient History (Garth Ennis).

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Out in November

11/5:
Absolute Sandman vol. 4
Army@Love: The Art of War #4 (of 6)
Hellblazer Presents: Chas: The Knowledge #5 (of 5)
House of Mystery #7
The Sandman: The Dream Hunters #1 (of 4)
Un-Men, vol. 2: Children of Paradox
11/12:
100 Bullets #97
The Exterminators vol. 5: Bug Brothers Forever
Fables #78
Fables: Covers by James Jean
Young Liars #9
11/19:
Air #4
DMZ #36
Fables vol. 11: War and Pieces
Greatest Hits #3 (of 6)
Hellblazer #249
Scalped #23
11/26:
Jack of Fables #28
Madame Xanadu #6
Northlanders #12
Sloth (OGN)
Unknown Soldier #2

Episode 6: Raging Racist

Rebecca talks about her Mid-Ohio Con experience. She also reminds us about Sweetest Day. Yeah, we've never heard of it either. There's also plenty of talk about the Civil War, racism, politics, the election, voting, and free-range chickens. Somewhere in between all that we talk comics.

We review, discuss, and argue over Y: The Last Man, vol. 1: Unmanned (by Brian K. Vaughn & Pia Guerra) and Loveless, vol. 1: A Kin of Homecoming (by Brian Azzarello & Marcelo Frusin).

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Episode 5: The Brodeo

We're without Rebecca today so it's just the dudes. We talk TV. You talk TV? We talk about the fall season, especially Heroes and why it sucks. Don't watch it!

We go over John Constantine, Hellblazer, covering both Original Sins (by Jamie Delano & John Ridgeway) and the Keanu Reeves movie, Constantine (whoa). We're trying a new, shorter format; let us know what you think.

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Episode 4: Cowboys and Indians

Howdy, Pilgrim! In this extremely long episode (sorry folks), we take a look at Cowboys and Indians—it's hard to say which book is which though. Mosey on down as we read Scalped: Indian Country (by Jason Aaron, R.M. Guera) and Preacher: Proud Americans (by Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon).

Marc talks about his disappointment with the Wii, his excitement with getting a 360, and what else is going on in the gaming industry. Not to mention he offends even more creators, religious folk, listeners, and yes, even God too. The only one he doesn't offend is Garth Ennis (he loves him).

Jonathan talks about why he was missing last episode and how he went on a holiday. He also talks about what he thought about the last episode and why he doesn't like Catcher In the Rye (what's wrong with him?)

We talk about who could possibly be starring in Y: The Last Man and why Rebecca doesn't like him. We also go over a few errors and corrections and Rebecca sure knows her porn.

Come join us as we discuss and argue over all sorts of stuff. And there's man love. Lots of man love.

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Off Topic: Big Box o' Books

I received 2 months of comics from DCBS due to a shipping snafu, including about 10 trades. Some of these aren't Vertigo titles, but y'all might find them interesting:

Scud the Disposable Assassin: The Whole Shebang
I remembered hearing about this book in middle school, but when I got back into comics a few years ago, it wasn't even on the radar, not having been published for almost 10 years. So when he finally finished the series and this came out, I snagged it to see what the hubbub was about. I was a little disappointed. It's very funny in places, but the story is very disjointed, and the art is almost impossible to decipher half the time.

Hawaiian Dick, vol. 1 & 2
Heard about this series on a variety of podcasts, so picked it up. It's really good! The premise is that a cop gets forced into retirement and moves to Hawaii, where he becomes a private detective, which causes him to get mixed up with organized crime and supernatural stuff.

Exterminators vol. 4
Really good series, and it's a shame it got cancelled 10 issues before it was due to end anyway. Vol. 4 won't make any sense without reading the first 3, but as a series it's worth picking up.

The Faker
A sci-fi/horror thriller from Mike Carrey. Screws with your head, but the payoff is worth it. Kind of a cop-out ending, but it's good. And art by Jock, so you can't go wrong there.

It's a Bird...
Hard to talk to much about it without ruining the story, but the basic premise is that a comic book writer who hates Superman gets offered the job of writing it, and the story is him trying to come to grips with the character. Actually, that doesn't sound very good, but it is. It's one of the more depressing books I've read in a while.

AFUI presents award to David Lloyd

The AFUI (Association of Italian Comics Bookshops) gave its first annual "Comic Bookshops Career Prize" for comic books artist and writers to penciller David Lloyd (V for Vendetta, Hellblazer). The award was presented to Lloyd at Narnia Fumetto, a comic convention held annually in Narni, Italy since 2005.

Official Site (it's in Italian)

Episode 3: One Man Down

In this rather long episode, we're one man down. We don't know where the hell Jonathan is but he does leave us his thoughts and prayers. Sans prayers. Rebecca and Marc sure do a lot of talking about nothing.

Marc cries since HBO is pulling the plug on Preacher. However, they cover his favorite trade of the series, Preacher: Until the End of the World (by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon), and Jesse's messed up background brings another tear to his eye.

Rebecca sure gets giddy as we cover her favorite series, Fables: Legends in Exile (by Bill Willingham and Lan Medina). She could spout about it for hours, and believe me, she sure tries.

Enjoy this two plus hour episode as we talk about religion and fairytales. Not that there's a difference between the two.

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Episode 2: Cat Fight(s)

We talk about the little feedback left from Episode 1 and Marc goes on a little rant about a couple of the listeners. We also go over some listener questions and argue a bit about Secret Invasion & Watchmen.

We review Jonathan's picks for the episode, Pride of Baghdad (Brian K. Vaughan & Niko Henrichon) and We3 (Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely). There's debate over the merits of each, especially We3 (which only Jonathan liked). Who is right? You decide!

This episode has been brought to you by Booty Sweat with music by Cat Noises and Skype Drops!

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2008 Eisner Awards for Vertigo

Vertigo titles and creators did pretty well at the 2008 Eisner Awards, winning for best ongoing series, best letterer, best penciler/inker team, and best cover artist.

Best Ongoing Series: Y the Last Man
Best Penciller/Inker Team: Pia Guerra/Jose Marzan, Jr. (Y the Last Man)
Best Cover Artist: James Jean (Fables)
Best Lettering: Todd Klein (Fables, Jack of Fables, Crossing Midnight)

Creators of note to Vertigo readers were added to the Eisner Hall of Fame, as well, including Arnold Drake (creator of Deadman) and Len Wein (co-creator of Swamp Thing, and edited Watchmen).

See the full story here.

Episode 1.1: Here We Go (Remastered)

Now with significantly less noise!

In our first episode we introduce the show and ourselves, talk about some Vertigo News and get into a debate on the merits of black and white comics, answer a question from Thomacus, talk about the history of Vertigo Comics, then review and debate Preacher vol. 1: Gone to Texas.

Visit our website and blog at www.vforvertigo.com; email us at vertigocast@gmail.com; join the discussion at thecomicforums.com.

Thanks for listening!

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50 Most Important Issues Ever

Comic Book Resources has posted a list of the 50 most well-known, important, single issues in comic book history. Most of them are mainstream superhero books from the 50's-60's, but a few Vertigo titles made the cut:

Swamp Thing #37
Written by Alan Moore
Penciled by Rick Veitch
Reason:
The first appearance of John Constantine. Constantine would go on to star in his own series, Hellblazer, beginning in 1989. Hellblazer is the only Vertigo title that has been in print continuously since the imprints inception.

Animal Man #26
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Truog & Framer
Reason:
In this final Morrison-penned issue of Animal Man, the story that Morrison is now renowned for comes to it's weird finale, with Morrison interacting with the title character. Breaking the 4th wall in comics at its most bizarre.

Swamp Thing #21
Written by Alan Moore
Pencilled by Stephen R. Bissette
Reason:
This was only Alan Moore's 2nd issue, but he went ahead and made some sweeping changes to the character, which set up his now-epic run on the title. Namely, (spoilers--highlight to reveal)that Swamp Thing was not Dr. Alec Holland, transformed by a chemical explosion, but rather a plant elemental formed from swamp goo transformed by the chemical explosion that killed Holland (/spoiler).


Doom Patrol #19
Written by Grant Morrison
Pencilled by Richard Case
Reason:
Grant Morrison's first issue on Doom Patrol started another landmark run. More significantly, rarely has a creator made such drastic changes to a title with his first issue on it, but Morrison went to town.

Watchmen #12
Written by Alan Moore
Pencilled by Dave Gibbons
Reason:
Well, it's Watchmen, the best comic book ever, so it's kind of a given that it's going to appear somewhere on any list of most important comics. Issue 12 was the finale of the maxi-series, and helped set the precedent for 12 issues being the standard maxi-series length.

Sandman #8
Written by Neil Gaiman
Art by Dringenberg & Jones
Reason:
The first appearance of Sandman's sister, Death, and, by extension, the Endless, which go on to play a major part in the Sandman series. Plus, the story, "The Sound of Her Wings," is really good, too.

See the full list, plus explanations for all of 'em, here.

In August Previews

The Exterminators vol. 5: Bug Brothers Forever
The finale of The Exterminators, one of my favorite Vertigo series. "It's the explosive final battle between Bug-Bee-Gone and the killer cockroaches! The fate of humanity hangs in the balance"
$8.99 through DCBS.

Fables vol. 11: War and Pieces
"The war for Fabletown heats up! Cinderella heads out on a cloak-and-dagger mission to bring a mysterious package back into town. But when the Empire heads after the same prize, there's no telling who will be left standing when the smoke clears. "
$10.79 through DCBS

Kill Your Boyfriend
A new printing of the "cult classic" by Grant Morrison. (I've never read it, but for $3.50, why not?) "Originally published in 1995, Kill Your Boyfriend is an over-the-top black comedy of rebellion and teen romance topped with a heady mix of random violence and dark humor."
$3.59 through DCBS

The Unknown Soldier #1
I love the original Unknown Soldier series, so I'm looking forward to this one. I'm going to read it in trade, as I do with all Vertigo titles, but if you're a single issue person, pick this one up.
$1.49 through DCBS

Hellblazer News from San Diego

Simon Oliver (The Exterminators) will be taking over writing duties on Hellblazer with issue #275; Leonardo Manco will continue as series penciller.

There will be 2 original graphic novels next year starring John Constantine. Dark Entries, by Ian Rankin and Werther Dell'Edera, will be released under Vertigo's black & white graphic novel imprint, Vertigo Crime. The plot revolves around a television show called "Haunted Mansion" that goes "horribly wrong." Dark Entries is expected in June of 2009.

Hellblazer: Pandemonium will be written by series creator Jamie Delano and drawn by Jock (The Losers, Green Arrow: Year One). The OGN celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Constantine character with the return to Constantine by series originator Delano. "When members of the Iraqi insurgency are found to be demonically possessed, intelligence specialists smell a supernatural rat. As parallels are drawn between the seemingly supernatural violence, ancient Babylonian legend and a remote, heavily guarded desert temple, it soon becomes clear that no one in the agencies is qualified to handle this problem: a private contractor must be employed. Databases identify only one potential candidate: John Constantine."

Vertigo News from Comic Con

There will be a new line of Vertigo Comics, "Vertigo Crime," which will specialize in black & white noir-ish OGNs. The first two will be Dark Entries by Ian Rankin and Werther Dell'Edera, and will star John Constantine; and Filthy Rich, by Brian Azzarello and Victor Santos. More titles will be announced later this year.

The classic DC series, The Unknown Soldier, will have a new ongoing series later this year. The new Unknown Soldier will be a man born in Uganda but raised in America who returns to his native country to help his people. Another revamp of a classic DC title, The Haunted Tank, is expected later this year as well, from creators Frank Merraffino & Henry Flint. The spirit of JEB Stuart will be haunting a tank in modern-day Iraq.

Other announcements include a second volume of Demo from Brian Wood & Becky Cloonan; hardcover collections of Swamp Thing & Preacher; Sandman: The Dream Hunters comic adaptation; The Compleat Death hardcover collection, collecting all of the Death mini-series and stories from various anthologies; Grant Morrison's WarCop, "slightly futuristic tale about a soldier stuck in a war"; Madame Xanadu by Matt Wagner; a 10-issue limited series by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon called Daytripper; and Greatest Hits, Vertigo-style superhero story.