Karen Berger Steps Down from Vertigo

I was shell-shocked at yesterday's news that Vertigo chief Karen Berger was leaving her position, after 30-some odd years at DC Comics. All good things must come to an end, but the news was a bitter punctuation mark on a year that's seen DC take financial liberties with the work of a protesting Alan Moore, the man inadvertently responsible for Vertigo, as well as cancel the imprint's longest-running title, Hellblazer, to fully shift that "for mature readers" character over to the superhero-friendly DC Universe.

I don't know if this was Berger's way of saying, "Enough is enough," but something seems to be going on behind closed doors over there. Some of the creatives, most vocally Rob Liefeld, have complained about the shifting nature of DC editorial, and if these rumors are to be believed, that more New52 books are rotating writers of their books against their will, then there's more to this story than meets the eye. Berger's Vertigo brand was not involved with the New52, of course, but there's a perception that all energies are being expended to promote the new superhero line, leaving Vertigo as DC's afterthought.

Vertigo's impact on comics is massive, and the brand could definitely use a push (like the DCU got with New52 or like Marvel's doing with Marvel NOW). We're seeing a lot of creators take Vertigo-like titles to companies like Image instead. If DC is serious about keeping Vertigo around, post-Berger, they may need to re-examine their agreements with creators and open up their gates as the destination place to bring comic pitches for adults. Strengthen the line, and the readers will come (and it's not what they have now is bad - it's just there are fewer big books). Vertigo has Neil Gaiman reviving Sandman in 2013 (for a mini-series), but how great would it be if they could say, "Hey, you liked Sandman? Well, we've got a bunch of monthly books that might be right up your alley."

I think of Vertigo books as the ones that attract people that don't consider themselves comic fans. Sandman is the big one, but there are others too, like V for Vendetta, Preacher, Y the Last Man, DMZ, 100 Bullets, and Fables. I can relate my love of comics to someone who has read a Vertigo book and enjoyed it; they can understand the storytelling potential in  sequential art. I think of Vertigo as the entry point for a lot of current female comic fans as well (through high-profile, easily-accesible books that didn't feature male power fantasies at their core). These fans are driving a lot of the online conversation right now, as they try to change the "boys club" way of thinking that's soured well past its expiration date. I think of Vertigo books as the ones that muscled into legit bookstores, forever changing the way comics are sold (and read), and turning the mainstream perception that comics are for kids.

We have a lot to thank Karen Berger for.

Bazooka Ditches Comics for Skateboard Culture

Pour one out for Bazooka Joe. The comic strips starring the one-eyed kid, used to wrap Bazooka's cheap pink bubble gum, are getting replaced with activities and puzzles as part of an overall effort to energize the 65-year old brand. This reminds me of the time Cracker Jack swapped their physical toys out for temp tattoos and "fun facts" printed on tiny sheets of paper. It was a change no one was really demanding.

Ken Carbone, one of the marketing gurus behind the change, told the New York Times that the new brand "takes visual cues from comic books and skateboard culture and graffiti." I'm still not sure how taking a visual cue from comic books includes actually removing the comics, but there ya go. Look, I'm all for Bazooka being able to compete with Hubba Bubba, and if a new corporate identity does the trick, then that's great. However, I am against losing yet another place where kids are exposed comics, no matter how small.

Thanks to @shawnlevy for bringing this to my attention.

Rob Liefeld Quits DC Comics; Internet Reacts!

Rob Liefeld, writer of DC's Savage Hawkman, Grifter, and Deathstroke (where he's also the artist), quit DC Comics today, which isn't really the big news, but the sudden manner in which he did it, followed by a Twitter rant with pointed words toward unnamed members of DC's editorial staff. Grant Morrison announced his departure from the company last month after his obligations are fulfilled, and Liefeld stated then (via Twitter) that Liefeld would also be leaving DC in 2013. It just happened a little sooner than expected. I'm not going to re-run all of Liefeld's tweets, but you can read some of them collected on Newsarama. Currently, Newsarama's commenters are chiming in with two flavors of negativity:

1. Rob Liefeld is a big dumb idiot who can't finish anything and a bad artist.
2. New52 was the first step in DC Comic's eventual, swift demise.

Are either of these opinions true? Well, something is going on at DC, though I'm so far removed from the loop, I'm not sure what is happening over there. I know there was a big editorial shake-up in the middle of the New52's first year. I know that George Perez, pretty much Liefeld's opposite as an artist, had trouble writing New52's Superman, hamstrung by Morrison's carte blanche secret plans on Action Comics. I know that the creative team behind Static Shock imploded immediately after the first issue hit the stands. I know Chris Roberson left iZombie and said of DC, "I don't agree with the way they treat creators and their general business practices." And I haven't even brought up the Before Watchmen controversy.

All of this, coupled with anecdotal talk on podcasts and such about how different, how scary, how corporate the Big Two are now make me wonder just how dire everything is behind-the-scenes. (It's all rainbows and lollipops at Marvel, with Marvel NOW on the horizon and coffers full of Avengers coin, but Marvel has also done some hardcore cost-cutting recently, from personnel lay-offs to changing the paper stock of their covers to the same flimsy paper found inside.) Specifically, whatever's going on at DC is causing some long-time creators to look at the company in a completely different light than they ever have before.

There's a new regime at DC Comics,  with Diane Nelson as president, Dan DiDio and Jim Lee as co-publishers, Bob Harras as editor-in-chief, and Geoff Johns as chief creative officer. There are always big changes when there's a massive shift in leadership like the one at DC, and it's hard to believe that creatives like DiDio, Lee, Harras, and Johns would sacrifice the creator at the altar of the bottom line (or their own personal interests). I can't say what's happening, but I hope it shakes out. I like DC and I want to see their characters in exciting, creative stories.

I wasn't reading Liefeld's books so it's no loss to me personally that he's quitting. The comics that Liefeld creates, whether as an artist or a writer, don't hold much appeal to me. I don't mind him on pin-ups or covers -- the stylistic flourishes that drew my attention to his work back in his New Mutants days still exist -- but his actual sequential work tends to play to his fans only, delivering exactly the simple Rob Liefeld action book they expect, filled with angry, gnashed-teeth posturing and women with interchangeable faces (it's pretty much the same opinion I have of Jim Lee, who's widely considered a "better" artist).

The funny thing is, I think Rob Liefeld has good taste in other people's comics. If you look at his Extreme relaunch as it stands at Image, he's assembled quite a line-up of oddball superhero books that are worth taking a look at (I'm reading Supreme and Glory monthly, I liked Prophet and Bloodstrike quite a bit, but I haven't sampled Youngblood). These are all based on concepts he created, but the creative teams in place seem to have free reign to run wild with Liefeld's toys. The books are unusual and a lot of fun. Even if you go back a decade, to his Awesome Comics days, Liefeld was surrounding himself with commercially and critically reliable creators (including Alan Moore) to make his creations look better.

His true calling may be in an EIC capacity, creatively overseeing a stable of books, and I don't think you could say that about just anyone.

Superman and Wonder Woman as a Couple: "This Is the New Status Quo."

DC Comics made the announcement to Entertainment Weekly that Superman and Wonder Woman will officially be a couple, starting with Justice League #12. "This is the new status quo," League writer Geoff Johns intimates. He's clearing away any speculation that this is a one-and-done kiss or an imaginary story. Jim Lee, Justice League artist and DC co-publsiher, knows this news will draw publicity, "Hopefully, this will raise a lot of eyebrows." Mine raised!

I can kinda see Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince as a (short-lived) DC power couple, but not Superman; not Clark Kent. Here's the thing -- Superman enjoys predictability. Now, that doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy excitement or that he's boring; it means he likes to interact with people whose motivations and behaviors he completely understands. Lois may be headstrong and spontaneous, but he can predict that behavior from her. It's comforting. This is why he's able to handle Lex Luthor, while characters like the Joker completely unnerve him.

Wonder Woman is simply too unpredictable for Superman, and I think he's always been slightly apprehensive of her because he can't quite get a handle on her. I'm not saying they would never hook up. Often, men and women who work closely together can form attractions, etc, blah blah blah; I am saying that, from my perspective on Superman, he wouldn't let things get very far once he took into account how Wonder Woman typically does whatever needs to be done in that moment, sometimes leading to seemingly erratic, flexible ethics that Superman would find uncomfortable (this is the woman who killed Maxwell Lord, after all).

There's a 90's movie called If Lucy Fell, in which an NYC artist lands a tryst with his unattainable dream girl only to discover that the fantasy he'd created with her in his head was so much better than the reality. To me, this is a good analogy of the fan relationship to the pairing of Superman & Wonder Woman. We'd like to imagine what it would be like if they'd hook-up, but the reality is simply not the same as the fantasy.