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DC Retiring Vertigo, Ink and Zoom in Favor of DC Kids and Black Label

By | June 21st, 2019
Posted in News | % Comments

This article has been updated since its publication.

DC Comics have officially announced they are retiring the Vertigo brand in favor of the Black Label. They are also rebranding the middle grade DC Zoom imprint in January as DC Kids, while books published under the young adult DC Ink label will move to the adjectiveless DC banner. The news comes after writer Scott Snyder’s admission last week that his Vertigo series “American Vampire” would return in 2020 as a Black Label book.

Founded by editor Karen Berger in 1993, Vertigo became the home for the company’s adult-aimed titles, whether they were ostensibly set in the DC Universe (like “The Sandman” and “Hellblazer”), or previously published titles that were not (“Watchmen,” the Helix imprint’s “Transmetropolitan”). The imprint became better known for the latter, publishing creator-owned works like Grant Morrison’s “The Invisibles” (1994–2000), Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s “Preacher” (1995–2000), Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso’s “100 Bullets” (1999–2009), Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s “Y: The Last Man” (2002–2008), and Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham’s “Fables” (2002–2015).

Vertigo launched their latest wave of titles last fall, and almost all of them have ended or moved to other companies. Of that group, only Bryan Hill and Leandro Fernandez’s “American Carnage,” and Rob Sheridan and Barnaby Bagenda’s “High Level,” remain, and both are set to conclude next month. Currently, the only Vertigo titles solicited for September are the “Sandman Universe” titles, namely “The Dreaming” #13, “House of Whispers” #13, “Lucifer” #12, and “Books of Magic” #12.

The Black Label, which began last year with the first issue of Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo’s “Batman: Damned,” previously saw reprints of other, non-canon DC classics like “Kingdom Come” and “All-Star Superman” being folded under its banner. The Ink and Zoom imprints only began earlier this year with the release of Danielle Page and Stephen Byrne’s “Mera: Tidebreaker.”

It is unclear what is planned for other imprints at the company, like Brian Michael Bendis’s Wonder Comics and Jinxworld, or Gerard Way’s Young Animal.


Press release:
DC DOUBLES DOWN ON ITS BRAND, UNITES ALL PUBLISHING UNDER A SINGLE BANNER

Beginning in 2020
All Content will be Organized Under Three Age-Specific Labels:
DC Kids, DC and DC Black Label

Vertigo Publishing Imprint to be Sunset at the End of the Year

DC announced today that beginning in 2020, all of its publishing content will be organized and marketed under the DC brand, creating three age-specific labels – DC Kids, DC and DC Black Label – that would absorb all of its existing imprints and focus DC’s publishing content around characters and stories that evolve and mature along with the awareness and sensibilities of DC’s readers. As a result of this new labeling strategy, DC will sunset the Vertigo publishing imprint at the end of the year.

The new segmentation, featuring the new age rating system, will launch in January 2020. Books currently being published under the recently launched DC Zoom and DC Ink imprints, which are focused on the middle grade and young adult segments, respectively, will be assigned to the DC Kids and DC labels depending on the content and intended audiences.

“We’re returning to a singular presentation of the DC brand that was present throughout most of our history until 1993 when we launched Vertigo to provide an outlet for edgier material,” said DC Publisher Dan DiDio. “That kind of material is now mainstream across all genres, so we thought it was the right time to bring greater clarity to the DC brand and reinforce our commitment to storytelling for all of our fans in every age group. This new system will replace the age ratings we currently use on our material.”

The three labels will be structured as follows:

– DC Kids will focus on readers ages 8-12 and offer content created specifically for the middle-grade reader
– DC, focusing on ages 13+, will primarily be the current DC universe of characters
– DC Black Label will focus on content appropriate for readers 17 and older

“What we’ve done here is apply an ages and stages organizing philosophy that will strengthen what we’re already doing well, whether that is our move into the young adult and middle grade audience or our long track record of success with creator-driven pop-up lines,” said DC Publisher and Chief Creative Officer Jim Lee. “We will also continue to publish creator-owned projects, and will evaluate and assign to the appropriate label to help our fans find the best books for their interests. These new labels not only bring greater consistency and focus to our characters, but they also open up a wealth of new opportunities for the talent working on our books.”


Christopher Chiu-Tabet

Chris is the news manager of Multiversity Comics. A writer from London on the autistic spectrum, he enjoys tweeting and blogging on Medium about his favourite films, TV shows, books, music, and games, plus history and religion. He is Lebanese/Chinese, although he can't speak Cantonese or Arabic.

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