The return of DC Vertigo Comics is here after an announcement from DC Comics at New York Comic Con 2024. With this outstanding announcement we got nostalgic about the great number of previous amazing Vertigo Comics.
First published in 1993, Vertigo Comics gave DC Comics a new place to publish more mature rated comics from some of the best creators in the comic world. These included unique stories based around DC characters or original creator-owned titles. DC Comics discontinued Vertigo imprint in January 2020 but it has since been revived with The Nice House by the Sea.
With the return of the imprint, we thought it might be nice to look back at 10 must-read Vertigo Comics to get you back in the swing of these mature rated comics.
Preacher
by Garth Ennis (Writer), Steve Dillon (Artist)
In this now-legendary graphic novel series that serves as the inspiration for the hit AMC television series, Jesse Custer was just a small-town preacher in Texas… until his congregation was flattened by powers beyond his control and the Preacher became imbued with abilities beyond anyone’s understanding.
Now possessed by Genesis—the unholy coupling of an angel and demon—Jesse holds Word of God, an ability to command anyone or anything with a mere utterance. And he’ll use this power to hold the Lord accountable for the people He has forsaken.
From the ashes of a small-town church to the bright lights of New York City to the backwoods of Louisiana, Jesse Custer cuts a righteous path across the soul of America in his quest for the divine—an effort that will be met by every evil that Heaven and Earth can assemble. Joined by his gun-toting girlfriend, Tulip, and the hard-drinking Irish vampire, Cassidy, Jesse will stop at nothing to fulfill his quest to find God.
The Sandman
by Neil Gaiman (Writer), Sam Kieth (Artist), Mike Dringenberg (Artist), Malcolm Jones III (Artist), Chris Bachalo (Artist)
Illustrated by an exemplary selection of the medium’s most gifted artists, the series is a rich blend of modern and ancient mythology in which contemporary fiction, historical drama, and legend are seamlessly interwoven.
An unforgettable tale of the forces that exist beyond life and death, this first of four volumes—drawn by Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, and Kelley Jones, with spectacular guest art by Chris Bachalo, Colleen Doran, Charles Vess, and Michael Zulli—introduces readers to a dark and enchanting world of dreams and nightmares: the home of Morpheus, the King of Dreams, and his kin, the Endless.
Saga of the Swamp Thing
by Alan Moore (Writer), Stephen Bissette (Artist), John Totleben (Artist), Rick Veitch (Artist), Alfredo Alcala (Artist)
Before Watchmen, Alan Moore made his debut in the U.S. comic book industry with the revitalization of the horror comic book The Swamp Thing. His deconstruction of the classic monster stretched the creative boundaries of the medium and became one of the most spectacular series in comic book history.
With modern-day issues explored against a backdrop of horror, The Swamp Thing stories became commentaries on environmental, political and social issues, unflinching in their relevance. Saga of the Swamp Thing Book One collects issues #20-27 of this seminal series including the never-before-reprinted Saga of The Swamp Thing #20, where Moore takes over as writer and concludes the previous storyline.
Book One begins with the story “The Anatomy Lesson,” a haunting origin story that reshapes Swamp Thing mythology with terrifying revelations that begin a journey of discovery and adventure that will take him across the stars and beyond.
Y: The Last Man
by Brian K. Vaughan (Writer), Pia Guerra (Artist), Jose Marzan Jr. (Artist)
Y: The Last Man, winner of three Eisner Awards and one of the most critically acclaimed, best-selling comic books series of the last decade, is that rare example of a page-turner that is at once humorous, socially relevant and endlessly surprising.
Written by Brian K. Vaughan (Lost, Pride of Baghdad, Ex Machina) and with art by Pia Guerra, this is the saga of Yorick Brown and the only human survivor of a planet-wide plague that instantly kills every mammal possessing a Y chromosome. Accompanied by a mysterious government agent, a brilliant young geneticist and his pet monkey, Ampersand, Yorick travels the world in search of his lost love and the answer to why he’s the last man on earth.
Fables
by Bill Willingham (Writer), Mark Buckingham (Artist), Tony Akins (Artist), Esao Andrews (Artist), Brian Bolland (Artist)
When a savage creature, known only as the Adversary, conquered the fabled lands of legends and fairy tales, the famous inhabitants of folklore were forced into exile. Disguised among the normal citizens of a modern New York, these magical characters created their own peaceful and secret society, which they called Fabletown.
But when Snow White’s party-girl sister, Rose Red, is apparently murdered, it’s up to Fabletown’s sheriff — the reformed Big Bad Wolf, Bigby — to find the killer.
Meanwhile, trouble of a different sort brews at the Fables’ upstate farm, where non-human inhabitants are preaching revolution…and threatening the carefully nutured secrecy of Fabletown.
Hellblazer
by Jamie Delano (Writer), John Ridgway (Artist), Richard Piers Rayner (Artist), Stephen R. Bissette (Artist)
Since his introduction in 1985’s Swamp Thing #37, cynical occult detective/con man John Constantine stands as one of DC’s most uniquely popular characters, being adapted in film, television, and animation, along with starring in some of the most celebrated stories in the comics medium.
Now, fans can revisit—or experience for the first time—his earliest solo adventures in the John Constantine, Hellblazer Omnibus Vol. 1, collecting the first Hellblazer stories from writer Jamie Delano and artists including John Ridgway, Richard Piers Rayner, Stephen R. Bissette, and more.
Hellblazer helped usher in DC’s seminal Vertigo label, and stands as the longest-running series of that imprint—and now the earliest stories of that era are available in the omnibus format, alongside a host of extras.
The Invisibles
by Grant Morrison (Writer), Steve Yeowell (Artist), Jill Thompson (Artist), Various (Artist)
One of Grant Morrison‘s most controversial and trippiest and abstract comic book titles! Follow the adventures of The Invisibles, a secret organization out to battle against physical and psychic oppression brought upon humanity by the interdemsional alien gods of the Archons of Outer Church!
DMZ
by Brian Wood (Writer), Riccardo Burchielli (Artist)
In the near future, with military adventurism overseas bogging down the Army and National Guard, the U.S. government mistakenly neglects the very real threat of anti-establishment militias scattered across the 50 states, and, like a sleeping giant, Middle America rises up and violently pushes its way to the shining seas, coming to a standstill at the line in the sand–Manhattan or, as the world now knows it, the DMZ.
American Vampire
by Scott Snyder (Writer), Stephen King (Writer), Rafael Albuquereque (Artist)
This volume follows two stories: one written by Scott Snyder and one written by Stephen King. Snyder’s story is set in 1920’s LA, we follow Pearl, a young woman who is turned into a vampire and sets out on a path of righteous revenge against the European Vampires who tortured and abused her. This story is paired with King’s story, a western about Skinner Sweet, the original American Vampire– a stronger, faster creature than any vampire ever seen before with rattlesnake fangs and powered by the sun.
100 Bullets
by Brian Azzarello (Writer), Eduardo Risso (Artist)
In the opening chapters, Dizzy Cordova is given the chance to avenge her family’s murders, and a downtrodden bartender receives the opportunity to exact revenge against the woman who ruined his life. Then, as Agent Graves continues to approach and manipulate his “clients,” questions about the ghoulish agent start to arise as people from his past begin to appear, revealing interesting information about their former acquaintance. And in this volume’s third arc, Graves pulls a young man by the name of Loop Hughes into his web of intrigue and deception.
