Karen Berger leaving Vertigo

chrisw

comicsbeat.com/karen-berger-steps-down-at-vertigo/

I'm not surprised, but it's still a shame. Is this the beginning of the end of Vertigo, at least as we've known it?

SolitaireRose

I think so... I also think that ANY publisher would be jumping at the chance to hire her just for her rolodex.

nweathington

Not for her rolodex, because anyone in publishing can get that easily enough these days, but for her relationships with the people on that rolodex. I'm not so sure she’ll stay in comics, though. It depends on how entrenched she is in New York and how much of a pay cut she’s willing to take.

Marathon

I don't like say 'I called it' when it's disappointing news like this, but in the Hellblazer cancelled thread I did say I was expecting this. I'm now expecting Vertigo to be closed down by San Diego. Expect any remaining titles to be plastered with the DC logo and labelled Teen+. It's already happening, look at Lot 13, an obvious Vertigo book that didn't come out under the Vertigo banner.

electric_mayhem

chrisw said:

comicsbeat.com/karen-berger-steps-down-at-vertigo/

I'm not surprised, but it's still a shame.

ditto... and so it goes...

David_D

I think the clock was ticking on this once Dan Didio, and by extension the whole DCU, was moved above her on the org chart.

Here's hoping wherever she goes next will be an opportunity to take even bigger risks.

I credit Vertigo, perhaps combined with Alan Moore's From Hell, with being the things that kept me from jumping off comics completely when I got to comics.

Chuck_Melville

Not a surprise; for some time now it's been looking like Vertigo was leaving Karen Berger.

Chuck_Melville

Having just read the press release on her departure, it's difficult to be absolutely certain that the diminishing role that Vertigo is playing at DC is the reason, though I would be greatly surprised if it wasn't... but it's only fair to note that she's been at DC for 33 years, twenty of them as the head of the Vertigo line, and that's quite a long tenure at any company, and a very impressive one at that. If she were inclined to simply retire at this stage, she'd certainly be entitled.

And while I'm sure the folks at DC Comics know what a loss her departure is going to be, I sure hope the folks at the larger DC Entertainment establishment know that as well.

David_D

Chuck_Melville said:

Having just read the press release on her departure, it's difficult to be absolutely certain that the diminishing role that Vertigo is playing at DC is the reason, though I would be greatly surprised if it wasn't... but it's only fair to note that she's been at DC for 33 years, twenty of them as the head of the Vertigo line, and that's quite a long tenure at any company, and a very impressive one at that. If she were inclined to simply retire at this stage, she'd certainly be entitled.

And while I'm sure the folks at DC Comics know what a loss her departure is going to be, I sure hope the folks at the larger DC Entertainment establishment know that as well.

It certainly is a graceful and, I would would guess, amicable-enough exit, given that they are announcing this now and she is staying on and overseeing transition until March 2013.

I do hope she stays in comics after that. She started very young, and despite the long tenure, she is not yet 55. That would be a pretty young retirement.

mguy1977

Aww man, this makes Monday even worse for comic fans than usual. I enjoy my Fables, Fairest & American Vampire in collected edition format these days. Thanks Karen for making Vertigo a all in one shop for great comics all these years.

Matthew

WetRats

OK... How long now before The Triumvirate turns upon each other?

SolitaireRose

WetRats said:

OK... How long now before The Triumvirate turns upon each other?

Well, DC is having a series of meetings around "efficiency matters".

Corporate speak for "you people need to take on more work because we're firing people.: