Press Release
What better way is there to kick off the week than with some major, exciting news?
This morning, DC Entertainment’s Vertigo Comics imprint not only confirmed that the New York Times bestselling series AMERICAN VAMPIRE will be returning this December, but also announced the following all-new, bold, and exciting series:
- o HINTERKIND – Decades after “The Blight” all but wiped out the human race, Mother Nature is taking back what’s hers and she’s not alone … all the creatures of myth and legend have returned and they're not happy. After her grandfather disappears, Prosper Monday must leave the security and seclusion of her Central Park village to venture into the wilds to find him, unaware of how much the world has changed. An epic fantasy adventure set in a post-apocalyptic world, HINTERKIND is written by Ian Edginton and illustrated by Francesco Trifogli, and debuts this October.
- o THE DISCIPLINE – Launching this December, THE DISCIPLINE is a dark, erotic thriller about a privileged young woman named Melissa who is thrust into a centuries old battle between good and evil. She begins an affair with a mysterious man named Orlando who opens her eyes to a sexually sinister world she never knew existed. Through this ritualistic seduction (“The Discipline”), Orlando unlocks Melissa’s inner power and then enlists her into a shadowy war that has been fought for centuries. THE DISCIPLE comes to you from writer Peter Milligan and artist Leo Fernandez.
- o DEAD BOY DETECTIVES - Spinning out of the pages of Neil Gaiman's SANDMAN, two dead British school boys star in their own monthly series and solve crimes in the 21st century with the help of a new female accomplice. Premiering in November, DEAD BOY DETECTIVES is written by noted British novelist Toby Litt with layouts and painted covers by Mark Buckingham (FABLES).
- o SUICIDERS – Hitting the spinner rack this December, this new series marks the incomparable Lee Bermejo’s (JOKER; BATMAN: NOEL; BEFORE WATCHMEN: RORSCHACH) debut as an ongoing series comic book writer and artist. SUICIDERS follows the lies of two futuristic boxers – one on top of the world, the other trying to fight (and kill) his way there. Set in Los Angeles after “The Big One,” “Suiciders” is the wildly popular reality sport that contestants are literally dying to be a part of … and to be the best, you have to murder the best.
- o COFFIN HILL – When she was 15, Eve Coffin summoned a darkness that had been buried since the Salem Witch Trials. Now Eve’s back to harness the evil that destroyed her friends and is slowly taking over the sleepy town of Coffin Hill. This is a series full of magic, madness and murder via a twisted family of New Englanders. Arriving in stores this October, COFFIN HILL combines the talents of artist Inaki Miranda (FAIREST: THE HIDDEN KINGDOM) with writer Caitlin Kittredge, a young, dark fantasy author whose writing includes the Nocturne City, the Black London, and the Iron Codex series of novels – which include the recently published titles Dark Days and The Mirrored Shard.
- o THE WITCHING HOUR – Just in time for Halloween, this anthology-style one-shot collects short stories exploring witchcraft written and drawn by some of the most talented veterans and newcomers in the business – including Kelly Sue DeConnick, Cliff Chiang, Lauren Beukes, Emily Carroll, Matthew Sturges, Shawn McManus, Tula Lotay and many more.
And of course, how could you talk about all of the exciting projects on Vertigo’s plate in 2013 without discussing the highly anticipated SANDMAN prequel miniseries from writer Neil Gaiman and artist J.H. Williams III?
THE SANDMAN: OVERTURE will officially launch on October 30. The miniseries will be published every other month, with a special, oversized issue (including interviews, rare artwork, and more) hitting stands in between the release of each new issue.
“The most peculiar thing for me about returning to ‘Sandman’ is how familiar it all feels,” Gaiman recently said. As for Williams’ art? “They are the most beautiful pages I have ever seen in periodical comics,” Gaiman continued. “I ask him to do the impossible, and he gives me back more than I asked for.”
Attached for inclusion in your coverage, please find a series of covers and promo art for some of the above new Vertigo offerings. Please credit these images as courtesy of DC Entertainment. For more information, please visit the official Vertigo news blog.
Replies
Looking forward to the Dead Boy Detectives and the Sandman mini.
I will most certainly check out Suiciders. Hinterkind sounds interesting as well.
I'll definitely be checking out a few of these. Of the new series, Hinterkind is the most interesting to me, but as we hear more about the others, some of them will probably grab me, too.
They all look interesting to me (natch!). It's great to see that the imprint still has lots of life left in it, apparently. The Witching Hour is another of the anthologies they've been doing for the last couple years, and The Sandman: Overture is a miniseries. I wonder if some of the others might be miniseries as well. The descriptions are a bit vague, but that would be a lot of new ongoings to launch at about the same time.
Couldn't have asked for a better collaborator for Gaiman. Tasty! I think Williams being new to the franchise will be a good thing, and help make the mini a little more contemporary rather than nostalgic.
I wonder to what extent these are 'creator owned'?
Obviously Sandman, beginning in the DCU, is DC-owned, but I've read interviews with Gaiman from not too long ago, where he insisted DC were offering him far too little of a cut of the profits for him to do anything like Sandman again for them on those terms. They must have 'sweetened the pot' since then. I'm seeing a bit of 'quid pro quo' too, in that Gaiman was one of the few 'A-listers' to line up to heap praise on DC's Chief Creative Officer for a recent landmark issue of GL.
And I wonder how much 'Quid Pro Quo' was involved with the green-lighting of Lee Bermejo's creator-driven project?
I may have to wait and just get the Sandman book in hardcover. I have all of the books in SC, with the exception of P. Craig Russell's adaptation of Dream Hunters and Endless Nights in HC, and Death in one complete oversize Deluxe Edition.
I'd love to just put Overture alongside them.
Here's more on the Sandman project:
Press Release
Bestselling author will revisit groundbreaking comic book series in October with new story
One of the most popular, groundbreaking, bestselling and award-winning comic books of the last twenty-five years, Gaiman’s THE SANDMAN stands tall as one of the few graphic novel series ever to be on the The NewYork Times Best Seller list and lauded by critics the world over for its transformative storytelling in the comic book industry.
On October 30th, Gaiman returns to his beloved universe for the first time in more than 10 years since ending the series. The story will explore Morpheus’ world before he was captured, which is bound to captivate the hearts and imaginations of the most loyal fans and new readers alike. Brought to life by renowned artist J.H. Williams III (BATWOMAN, PROMETHEA), THE SANDMAN: OVERTURE #1 will be an oversized issue and will showcase his talent with a spectacular interior gatefold.
“This is the one story that we never got to tell,” Gaiman told The New York Times today. “In SANDMAN #1 Morpheus is captured somehow. Later on in the series, you learn he was returning from somewhere far, far away - but we never got to the story of what he was doing and what had happened. This is our chance to tell that story, and J.H. Williams III is drawing it. It’s the most beautiful thing in the world.”
"Neil Gaiman returning to the lush, evocative world he created with Sandman is a literary event," said Diane Nelson, DC Entertainment President. "We're honored to have Neil back for a story only he and J.H. can tell. It's a testament to the lasting power of Vertigo, Sandman and Neil's amazing creativity. "
THE SANDMAN: OVERTURE will be published bi-monthly with issue #1 arriving on October 30th, 2013. Each issue of THE SANDMAN: OVERTURE will feature stunning covers by Williams and original series cover artist Dave McKean and will be published on the same day digitally.
Also bi-monthly and alternating with the main OVERTURE series, Vertigo will publish THE SANDMAN: OVERTURE Special Edition. These deluxe issues will include original scripts by Gaiman, additional concept art and sketches by Williams, Q&As with the creative team and more, starting in November.
More details about the series – including artwork - will be revealed at this year’s Comic-Con International: San Diego 2013. Gaiman, Williams and McKean are special guests of the convention, during which Vertigo will host a 25th Anniversary all-star panel featuring Gaiman, Williams and artists Dave McKean and Sam Kieth. Gaiman will also be spotlighted at his own standalone panel. Additionally, the cover of the Comic-Con International: San Diego 2013 Souvenir Book features all-new Sandman art by Dave McKean, which will also be featured on an official convention T-Shirt.
ABOUT THE SANDMAN:
With more than 7 million copies sold in nine different languages, Gaiman’s multi-volume magnum opus THE SANDMAN features literature’s Endless family—Death, Desire, Despair, Delirium, Destruction, Destiny and Dream. The critically acclaimed Vertigo fantasy series transformed the landscape of comics, helping usher in an era of more compelling and sophisticated storytelling. Combining mythology and literature in an epic story, it is one of the most popular, groundbreaking, bestselling and award-winning comic books of the last twenty-five years. It has garnered nineteen Eisner and six Harvey Awards and is the only comic book to win the World Fantasy Award.
ABOUT NEIL GAIMAN:
Neil Gaiman is the New York Times best-selling author of this summer’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane, as well as the Newbery Medal-winning The Graveyard Book and Coraline, the basis for the eponymous hit movie. His other books include Anansi Boys, Neverwhere, American Gods and Stardust (winner of the American Library Association’s Alex Award as one of 2000’s top novels for young adults) and the short story collections M Is for Magic and Smoke and Mirrors. He is also the author of The Wolves in the Walls and The Day I Traded My Dad for Two Goldfish, both written for children. Among his many awards are the Eisner, the Hugo, the Nebula, the World Fantasy and the Bram Stoker. Originally from England, he now lives in the United States.
ABOUT J. H. WILLIAMS III:
Williams is the co-writer as well as the co-artist of the GLAAD Award-Nominated title BATWOMAN for DC Comics-The New 52 and the artist on PROMETHEA, DESOLATION JONES and other titles. His many accolades include two Eisner awards for his spectacular, visionary artwork as well as a pair of Harveys for his work on BATWOMAN and PROMETHEA.
Figs said:
Not quite as good as it used to be. DC changed the Vertigo contracts back in 2010. Before royalties on the monthly and trades were separate. Now they are tied together. If you don't reach a 50,000 unit threshold (which no Vertigo comic has done since the mid-90s are so) then you don't get royalties on the trades until it makes enough money to start paying. Which of course could be never. Also, DC now gets 50% of the media rights. The page rate they get paid is less than work-for-hire obviously, but still the highest for creator owned work.
It isn't retroactive though, so whatever deal Kurt Busiek had with Wildstorm for Astro City would still be in effect. As well as Bill Willingham with Fables.