Vertigo 2015 Preview (Halloween Part Two)

I know I stated that my next Halloween post was going to be a massive blog post. In hindsight that was more out of desire to get the whole thing out of the way. Instead, I'm splitting them into several entries. Think of it as a post-celebration of Halloween into several, more manageable, portions.


Vertigo has long been associated with horror comics in my mind regardless of whether or not such a distinction fit. So on Halloween, I finally read the 2015 Preview pamphlet that DC put out to advertise Vertigo's twelve brand-new #1's that roll out over the course of three months beginning in October. Yeah, I am a little late reading said previews haha! Anyway, the Preview contained sample pages from The Twilight Children, Unfollow, and Lucifer. There's lengthy boiler-plates that go beyond mere solicitation copy for the remaining nine titles.


The Twilight Children - written by Gilbert Hernandez (of Love & Rockets fame) and Darwyn Cooke (DC's The New Frontier among other projects) as artist is set in a Latin American village where a group of children find a strange orb. The sample pages included introduce a handful of characters and ends when the children discover the strange orb inside a cave. The ad copy states afterwards a strange woman appears and all sort of shenanigans happens. Okay, everything after the word 'and' is not exactly what the ad copy describes. That said, in perfect world where retailers stock every single comic in more than adequate copies, I'd buy issue one. The preview intrigues me, the storytelling is impeccable, and the art top-notch. However, I read the preview after the first issue had already hit the stands. I could order it but since its a mini-series I'm more inclined towards the trade paperback.


While The Twilight Children doesn't fit a Halloween-motif well, Unfollow and Lucifer practically scream Halloween. Unfollow is about a social media mogul who writes 140 people into his will. Whomever survives, as tracked by an app, when the mogul dies inherits his fortune. As the preview demonstrates, things get rather sinister as the designer of app is bumped off after adding himself to the list by a mysterious masked man. Scattered throughout are various postings by a couple people as they express various ideas using a social media app. Art passes muster and fits the Vertigo style. If I see a copy, I'll pick it up. It starts in November. Lucifer is about, well, Lucifer. Can't get more Halloween than that. The preview contains the new set-up. Lucifer's new status quo, and flicks to his now-mortal brother, Gabriel, where he's offered his wings back. From the preview, I have enough of impression on the writing and art style that I am heavily-inclined to pick up the title. Lucifer comes out in December.


There weren't preview pages for the following titles.
Survivors' Club and Clean Room - have already hit the stands. I'll provide reviews as soon as I get around to them. The former is about survivors of classic '80s horror stories and the latter is about a room that subjects one against one's innermost secrets.
Art Opus - is about art that comes to life and an agency tasked to protect and track down said rogue artwork. It came out already...
Red Thorn - A Scottish demigod is released into modern times and encounters relics of Scottish myth. Another book that may check out, which debuts in November.
Jacked - a smart pill, think Limitless, that not only does that but it gives a neurotic, middle-aged family man super strength and powers. Intriguing. However, I rarely buy 6-issue mini-series in pamphlet form nowadays except on impulse. Jacked starts in November.
The Sheriff of Babylon - written by a former CIA analyst who uses his experience from the Iraq War to write about a police officer from Florida who arrives in Iraq to help train its police force. An 8-issue mini-series that begins December. Not sure if I want to buy it as it comes out or wait for the trade.
The Last Gang in Town - a 7-issue series that hits the stands in December concerns a gang that is about to commit its last heist.
New Romancer - a 12-issue series launching in December is about a romance app that accidentally brings some of history's most notorious lovers back to life. Quirky.
Slash & Burn - debuts in November. A drama about a recovering pyromaniac whose penance is that she's trying to become a firefighter. Sounds like an F/X drama too edgy for F/X. Impulse buy.