Hellblazer Cancelled?!
PaulPhelan
Posts: 45
Just seen on iFanboy (sorry, no direct link) that Hellblazer is to be cancelled with #300, and replaced with stories of a younger John Constantine. I echo the sentiments there that this is a shit move by DC, Hellblazer is the one longstanding title that I own the complete run of in floppies, but accept the fact that sales probably dictated the need for something new for the title.
Do I carry on collecting the title? Honestly I don't know. The creative team doesn't inspire me in any way, and the neither does the basis of the new title. But a good story, is a good story so, I guess I'm going tohave to wait out and see what the word is
Do I carry on collecting the title? Honestly I don't know. The creative team doesn't inspire me in any way, and the neither does the basis of the new title. But a good story, is a good story so, I guess I'm going tohave to wait out and see what the word is
Comments
This is a further reminder that Didio can't share. And once he was promoted above Karen Berger, he no longer has to share. There can't be a Vertigo Swamp Thing series if there is going to be a DCU one. We saw that when the China Mielville Swamp Thing at Vertigo got cancelled before publication, as Swamp Thing was going to be in the DCU. And now, it seems, there can't be a Vertigo Hellblazer series for mature readers if there is going to be a DCU Constantine.
I can't say I am that surprised. Between sales numbers, and the solicitations leading up to #300, I was getting the feeling that 300 would be a wrap. But, perhaps stubbornly, if Hellblazer had to end, I would be happier if it was not to clear the way for a DCU Constantine. Because if Hellblazer simply ended, then I would be left imaging that Vertigo might still do the odd OGN, mini, or anthology story about John Constantine.
But the idea that he is getting a DCU ongoing means he is a magic-using, right-hook punching superhero now. And I expect that is where he will stay.
Well. It was a good run. Especially given the years and markets it survived through, 300 issues of Hellblazer is a remarkable and unusual thing. Glad we got that many.
Also a link to more information at The Beat here.
In a word? Boooo.
It's an amazing thing for ANY Vertigo title to reach 300 issues, though.
This is the stand-alone, aging in real time 20+ year, rated R horror title getting cancelled to allow for a shared-superhero-universe, PG-13 reboot with a younger actor. (And probably no more stories about religion or the darker horror themes, I would guess-- as not all mature-rated content is to do with swearing and nipples).
It is sort of like the transition from Punisher MAX to a Punisher In Space ongoing.
Personally, no thanks.
And, again, it is a privilidged complaint, as we did get 300 issues of the real book as well as several OGNs and minis, and that is a lucky, long run with a lot of great stuff in there. But it is still a bummer.
Hellblazer was the last of the original DC titles pulled together to form the spine of the Vertigo line. The others were Sandman, Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol and Animal Man. Swamp Thing and Animal Man are back, but weren't reintegrated into Vertigo.
*Yes I said 'when', I think it's only a matter of time now.
It's a shame to see DC allow Vertigo to die this slow death, though. For years I kept wondering what the next big push would be for the imprint, but now I don't think it's going to happen.
Of course, it may be a purely business thing, that the market won't really bear 2 John Constantine solo books and they'd rather back the one that fits better with the rest of their major publishing effort rather than an imprint in apparent decline.
I know it's fashionable to blame Didio for everything we don't like, but the sign over the door doesn't say Dan Didio's Comic Book Emporium. He reports to other people, and they're exactly the kind of people that say things like this:
"Why don't you have a book about that guy from the Keanu Reeves movie?"
"You want a book about Ted 'Theodore' Logan?"
"No. The devil movie."
"Oh, the Devil's Advo..."
"Don't be a smart-ass."
"We do have a book about Constantine. It's called Hellblazer. The movie lost a ton of money, so the more we distance from it, the better!"
"We've got shiny discs that say Constantine, and they're the only way we made any cash on that dog. Besides, we'll probably reboot it. It's been 7 years, so it's a whole new audience now. Maybe we can get that shiny vampire kid. Change the title on the book."
"But we've got a pretty loyal audience on that book, it's been going for 20 years"
"How big an audience?"
"It sells just under 10,000 a month. It's really different. He ages in real time, so he's in his 50s now."
"The shiny vampire kid is in his 20s, so that means your guy has to be in his 20s. Less than 10,000? Kill the book, change the title."
I just think that the culture under the DC Entertainment banner is more Warner Bros driven than it is DC Comics driven, and that means a whole different way of looking at things.
Under the Levitz regime, Vertigo enjoyed prestige status. That's because the company was run by a guy who had worked for DC since he was a teenager, a guy who was a writer and creator of comics first, and an executive second, even when he was only an executive. Then he was replaced by a Hollywood suit. Diane Nelson ran the Harry Potter franchise, and she's going to put up with a book with as dismal a P&L as many of the Vertigo titles? Everyone often says that the single issues are just there to finance the placement in the bookstores for the trades, but sadly, it's only a few titles that are having decent sales in that space.
I pretty much thought Vertigo's days were numbered as soon as Warner decided to pay more attention to what happens in the funny book space. Warner doesn't want a prestige line of books, unless they sell a crapload.
I think Top Shelf would be very lucky to get someone like Karen Berger, with her connections and her long proven ability to shepherd great talent, and quality books.
I agree about the sales etc, but like as mentioned the odd miniseries picking up form 300 would of been good. I have been sat here thinking how can they wipe out 25 years...then I remembered they have done that with everything else - what is one more title! Ah well DC until Wally West, the real Tim Drake, a fat Amanda Waller, and Donna Troy nuke the new 52 universe you have pretty much killed any interest I had in it. I can't believe I was so pro the new 52 at the start, maybe I should go put my trust in a little pony!
So while they are definitely in the shadow of where they used to be, they are not just an imprint for Fables. At least not yet. But it does seem like their best days are behind them.
I think the main reason for Vertigo no longer being the go-to place for creator-owned work is the ascendence of Image in the last 10 years. What you hear about the deal Image offers the creators that publish with them is that they may leave it to the creators to foot more of the bill, and to do more of the promotional work for their book. . . but they also take 0% of the media sales money (from what I heard BKV say at the Saga panel at NYCC). So if you are a creator, especially one who already has enough capital to wait for the back end (or even buy out collaborators at a page rate), and who already has a name to help move the book, then I am not surprised that Image is the destination. Because if your book becomes the next Walking Dead, do you really want to have to share that money?
But the earlier question was whether Fables was the only thing "worth getting", and I definitely disagree that when it comes to work worth getting Fables was it. Quality-wise there is still things worth getting, and probably will continue to be. They are just fewer are further between then back in the day.
That doesn't make him any better, it's just that I think people too easily dump corporate decisions (and only the bad ones) at his feet.
And I've fallen behind on Unwritten, but loved what I'd read of it. Another title that, while it does okay, doesn't have the buzz that something like Saga gets.
Sorry, I'm in political ad withdrawal.
I would buy that every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
I still check out their books (and Punk Rock Jesus is amazingly good), for the most part, it seems like the line has been forgotten by DC. Maybe Karen Berger has lost interest and is working toward retirement.
Frankly, with a few notable exceptions, I always thought the Vertigo line generally tended towards the pretentious. For every key, thought-provoking series they put out (Sandman, Books Of Magic or Hellblazer, for examples), they would put out another series that was notable only for some dark vision or freedom to use 'adult language' or just being pretty full of itself. There was some great stuff in the Vertigo line, but it had its share of stinkers as well, and I rarely found much of the line to be as entertaining as the mainstream DC line.