Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 12:55:38 -0500 
From: Edward Liu <el24+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: DC: A critical view of VERTIGO

Just had to get my two cents in on the Vertigo line.  I *WAS* eagerly awaiting
this line.  After reading the preview (and after getting far too much _Cerebus_
over break), I am not so eager anymore.

GENERAL GRIPE:  To me, it looks suspiciously like DC just wants to put more
comics on the shelves per month to drive down space for indies/alternatives
(definitely too much _Cerebus_ over break).  While comics like _Swamp Thing_
(Moore, natch) and _Sandman_ are genuinely WEIRD and wonderful, the stuff I
see in the preview all seems like "See, I can be weird too!  Really!  Look, the
comic isn't making any sense at all!  The writing is cryptic, contains no
semantic meaning, and drops big hints that there's more to this than
meets the eye!  Isn't that weird?"  Well, no.  Stuff like
the _Black Orchid_ mini, _Sandman_, and the Moore _Swamp Thing_ run have
cryptic writing and weird occurrences on the surface, but there is always
a bizarre sensibility underneath.  It seems to me that a lot of the writers for
the VERTIGO line are all copying the external weirdness without the
underlying sensibility.

Now, we've got the SPECIFIC GRIPES (all IMHO, going book for book in the
preview):

1.  _Death_:  Well, OK, this one gets me excited.

2.  _Enigma_:  _Phantom of the Opera_ meets puncheminnaface.  The writing here
    seems to me to be especially "wannabe-weird."

3.  _Sandman Mystery Theatre_:  I was thinking about getting this -- it didn't
    sound too good when I first heard of it.  However, the atmosphere is
    fantastic, and the preview is just tantalizing enough that I want to see
    more.  Plus it's Matt Wagner.  OK, this one gets me excited, too.

4.  _Mercy_:  Yes, please, mercy -- this one is so "wannabe weird" it hurts.
    Beautiful art, but the story just doesn't do it for me.

5.  _Kid Eternity_:  First off, I HATED the mini-series; this preview looks
    even worse.  Marvel expository dialogue at its worst.  Yes, telling people
    what's going on is important (especially where Grant Morrison is
    concerned), but this preview seems to do it in the worst possible way.

6.  _Sebastian O_:  Gotta say first that I hate Grant Morrison.  This comic
    looks like typical Grant Morrison => Ed hates it.  Naked women &
    pointlessly weird/sociopathic people.  Great.  Just great.

7.  _Black Orchid_:  I was looking forward to this.  Unfortunately, this looks
    like puncheminnaface without the punches -- more like pseudo-psychology-
    em-inna-face.  If this is the best the first issue has to offer, then maybe
    I won't get it after all.

8.  _Animal Man_:  Again, this seems like weird-wannabe stuff.  I don't know
    what's going on and the preview didn't make me want to find out.  The fact
    that it was Grant Morrison's title doesn't help.

9.  _Doom Patrol_:  See _Animal Man_

10.  _Hellblazer_:  Garth Ennis is a 50/50 gamble, but he's pretty doggone good
     when he's "on."  I'll keep getting this.

10.  _Shade_:  OK, this seems a bit weird-wannabe, but I have to say that my
     interest is piqued by the preview.  This is a definite maybe.

11.  _Swamp Thing_:  Sorry, but post-Alan Moore, it just seems that there ain't
     anybody else who can do the title justice.

12.  _Sandman_:  Need you ask?

   So, the final Ed score for Vertigo is 4 hits, 8 misses, and 1 near-miss (or
near-hit, depending on your point of view).  Not good.

   Just noticed that there are 13 titles in the initial release.  Any meaning
in that, I wonder?  Hmmmmmm.....

---
Edward C. Liu		|  "Why is it that whenever Cerebus gets a straight
el24+@andrew.cmu.edu	|   answer from someone, it only makes him more
(E-L, not E-One)	|   confused?"
			|	-- Dave Sim, _Cerebus: Church & State I_