NYCC 2008: Vertigo: Welcome to the Edge

Written by: Ron Bricker

Vertigo has always been on the forefront of comics, moving the medium forward and forever banishing the "comics are for kids" stigma. Moderated by Executive Editor Karen Berger, the massive panel included: Grant Morrison, Brian Wood, Brian Azzarello, Amy Hadley, G. Willow Wilson, Jason Aaron, David Tischman, Russ Braun, Shelly Bond, and Mark Buckingham. Read on for all the exciting new (and old) projects coming from Vertigo in the future!

After a brief greeting, Berger wasted no time leading us into the new slate of Vertigo projects. It's slideshow time! First up, a House of Mystery relaunch, but no longer in an anthology format. Written by Bill Willingham and Matt Stern, the new series follows a waitress that winds up in the house, which acts as a certain part of hell. Everyone is forced to tell a story, and Bill Willingham will be writing an inset story within each issue drawn by different artists each month. Covers by new cover artists Sam Webber. Coming in May!

 Next up was a new Madame Xanadu, featuring Amy Hadley and Matt Wagner that are bringing forth an origin  story, giving her a more human side than has been seen before. The story spans several centuries. Berger then thanked Hadley for her work at Vertigo.

A new series by Cairo author G. Willow Wilson was announced, entitled Air. Wilson told an anecdote about a confrontation she had in an Amsterdam airport that turned into this book. According to her, it's a "surreal look at how flight has remained magical to us" that follows a stewardess and her involvement in a hijacking, and a terrorist plot.

Continuing on, we got glimpses of DMZ, and the future of Northlanders. 

A new series, Greatest Hits, written by David Tischman is more or less a Vertigo superhero book, featuring a band called "The Mates", The Beatles of their respective world. The book follows a director making a documentary on the group, and how superheroes, if they really existed, would be equated to rockstars. All the covers will be take-offs on rock albums.

Scalped was next, quite briefly. Following that was a pair of new Hellblazer projects. The first being Hellblazer: Chas – The Knowledge a story written by Simon Oliver following Constantine's driver. Hellblazer Pandemonium written by creator Jamie Delano and drawn by Jock is an OGN about Constantine being sent by England's secret service to Iraq because of an ancient force arising.

A Fables cover book was next in line, with a Q&A with artist James Jean by writer Bill Willingham. This quickly led to discussion of Fables #75, a double sized issue but mum was the word as per threats from Bill Willingham.

Other things mentioned includes: Unknown Soldier, Youn iars, Vinyl Underground, 100 Bullets, American Splendor, Army@Love, Seaguy, and a couple of new series by Grant Morrison, including Warcop, a commentary that considers the post 9/11 soldier's role as a hero, and compares them with emo kids. 

Also, Berger assured audiences on the fourth edition of the Sandman Absolute, as well as P. Craig Russell's comic adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Dream Hunters. 

Lastly, after some lame questions from the audience, we got the cancellation confirmed of both The Un-Men and Loveless. 

 There was some question of OGNs from Vertigo, which will be discussed at tomorrow's panel.