The Sunday Spotlight: The ‘What An Absolute Beeeeeeeeeep!’ Edition
by Richard Bruton
As the lights go down on the week, time for our weekly news bit, where I grab whatever’s taken my fancy this week and go with it. Yep, it’s The Sunday Spotlight…
The big news? DC Comics brings back Vertigo…
It’s been gone since 2019, but New York Comic-Con had the announcement that DC Comics was bringing back the Vertigo imprint. It’s coming back in 2025. It’s going to be called DC Vertigo, and will publish creator-owned series and, it seems, some series with existing DC characters – just like the original imprint did.
And what an imprint that was. It came about from a number of impressive series that were ploughing a more adult furrow, the likes of Hellblazer, Animal Man, Doom Patrol, The Sandman, and the rest. And of course, through Vertigo, we got Preacher, Y: The Last Man, and Fables, The Invisibles, Scalped, 100 Bullets, and a hell of a lot more.
What was Vertigo sort of transitioned into the DC Black Label imprint, which will continue to publish more mature DC heroes tales will be published.
The first new Vertigo title? Well, just as with the original imprint, that’s already being published – The Nice House By The Sea by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez Bueno will go forward under the DC Vertigo label.
The new overseer of DC Vertigo is Chris Conroy, an executive editor who oversees Black Label, Milestone, and Sandman Universe labels right now. Going forward, he’ll be looking after both Vertigo and Black Label.
Of course, a return of the imprint does not a success make. The white-hot heat of the original Vertigo from the off was all down to the vision of editor Karen Berger, and later, Shelly Bond. Will they catch the wave a second time? Who knows. But damn, it would be great if they could – there was a time for many years after it launched that Vertigo was a guarantee that a book would be worth looking at. Right now though, I’m not holding my breath from the company that’s busy flogging the last breath from the Sandman Universe and decided that Doomsday Clock was a good idea.
.
Jamie McKelvie’s One For Sorrow – Gosh Signing – 9 November…
Jamie Mckelvie, he behind the art on The Wicked + The Divine and Young Avengers, has a brand-new series coming out with DSTLRY, his first as writer and artist since Suburban Glamor. It’s called One For Sorrow, it’s a supernatural thriller, it’s out 6 November, and of course it looks absolutely gorgeous.
Jamie will be signing at Gosh Comics London on Saturday 9th November 2024, from 1-2pm, to celebrate the release of the first issue of One For Sorrow. Here’s what publisher DSTLRY say about it…
‘London, 1900. The capital hums with the energy of the new era, but something darker lurks beneath the surface. A monstrous figure stalks the city’s criminal underworld at night, leaving a trail of bloody corpses in its wake. Rumors about the mysterious killer spread like wildfire. It’s a demon. A phantom. An angel of vengeance. Nothing can kill it. Nothing can stop it. And once it picks a new target, well, he better have a coffin picked out, because he’s already dead.
‘The only clue that a baffled police force has to work with is the black and white feather left on each corpse, leading the press to dub the killer The Magpie. Is the Magpie killing at random, or is there a pattern that no one else can see? Three individuals, strangers to each other, might together have the answer.
‘Madame Hendrikov, the Russian medium with an upper-class clientele desperate for the secrets of the dead. Bess Turner, the East End barmaid caught up in the schemes of an organized crime gang. And Ignatious Thorn, the world’s most famous consulting detective, brought to ruin by horrific tragedy.
‘One for Sorrow is an intensely stylish, supernatural suspense thriller, full of kinetic action, bloody revenge, and ghostly mystery.’
.
Headed to Thought Bubble? Not headed to Thought Bubble? Have a look at what’s happening & all the debut books … 16 & 17 November…
Yes, yes, yes, I do keep going on about Thought Bubble. But that’s because it’s honestly one of finest comic conventions you’ll find on any continent. It’s a proper comic show, comic makers and creators everywhere you look, hundreds of them. None of that comics are secondary sense you get at some pop-culture/media-cons that still call themselves a comic con. No, this one’s all about the comics. I went there for many years and had a great time. And if it wasn’t for the fact we’re several thousand miles away, I’d be headed there this year as well.
But for me, and for you if you’re not headed to Harrogate this year, or as a handy guide if you are experiencing the T-Bubs delights in 2024, there’s an advance look at all the events happening over the weekend in the programme guide. Don’t worry if you are going, there’s plenty of hardcopy versions available – treat this as just a little look-see. 24 pages of the best in comics for you to peruse!
Have a read: thoughtbubblefestival.com/printedprogramme.
Also, Thought Bubble is so darned big that pretty much everyone who heads there tries to time the release of their new books for T-Bubs weekend. And this year is no different – the list of creators and new works they’re releasing this year is here.
.
Another Gosh! signing? Oh, why not – it’s the 2000 AD Annual 2025 signing – Saturday 30 November…
Yep, Gosh! sure do put a hell of a lot of great signings on. So no apologies from me for highlighting them. Anyway, with the release of the first 2000 AD annual in three decades on 27 November, Gosh are putting on a signing with four creators from the annual – Alex Paknadel and Jake Lynch, the creative team behind an all-new Rogue Trooper story; alongside Strontium Dog writer Si Spurrier and Lawless artist Phil Winslade.
.
Another great Brit comics convention? Hi-Vis Comic-Con happening in 2025…
Yep, it’s been a while since Birmingham, the second city in England, had a good comic-con. Well, all that should change in 2025 with the launch of Hi-Viz Comic-Con.
And it’s organised by Comicon’s very own Olly MacNamee, who’s been running the highly successful Hi-Vis Street Culture Festival for a few years now. That’s all about celebrating all things street art, graffiti, and illustration. But Olly’s a comics guy and you can sense this one’s been percolating a while, the desire to see a quality comic-con back in Birmingham again.
More details as it gets closer of course, but right now we know Olly’s running it and it’s happening in the Brum suburb of Kings Heath, a place that’s getting quite the reputation for a vibrant arts scene.
