Karen Berger returns to comics!

I'm sure I don't have to tell most of you this, but Karen Berger edited some of the most innovative and memorable comics published by DC in the 80's and 90's before moving on to create their celebrated Vertigo imprint. She's kept a low profile since being edged out by the current PTB, only emerging to freelance edit Surgeon X at Image. Now she's back big time, with her own creator-owned line at Dark Horse!

Yes, Vertigo struggled in its last few years of her leadership (and still does today), but there's a lot of reason to be hopeful. There were two main causes of those problems: DC requiring a higher level of sales to be considered a success than many of these quirky projects could produce, and DC corporate forcing less enticing terms onto creators in order to grab a piece of media rights. Dark Horse has no history of doing that, and will probably be much more forgiving in terms of what sales constitute a success.

Yes, Image has done most of the heavy lifting in recent years in the territory that Vertigo once rules, but I'm still hopeful that Berger will bring something great to the table. Without the strings that came at DC, maybe she will be able to lure back some of the A-list talent that launched under her aegis to do more personal projects. I'd love to see new comics work from Neil Gaiman, or for Grant Morrison to return to some of his Vertigo-esque work. Peter Milligan also seemed to do his best work under Berger.

I'll definitely have my eye out for solicits when they start rolling the line out... I'll be very interested to see the talent they're lining up to work on these books.

I'm curious to see what happens. I've got a lot of respect for Berger's past work - and it brought a whole new dimension to comics for me.

There's so much content out there right now that I've had to be pretty strict with my budget

But I'm willing to make room for it if it looks good

Definitely something I'll take a look at. Thanks for the heads up.

Books that you can eat as hamburgers?

Made from sanctified cows?

Yum.

Oh, hang on a minute...

In all seriousness, I hesitated to answer straight away, because while I think Berger had a good overall effect in opening up comics to new, more sophisticated, more female-friendly, more-LGBTQ friendly possibilities, the comics themselves (whether edited by KB herself, one of her associate editors from before Vertigo, or as part of the Vertigo line she presided over), are a mixed bunch IMHO:

The great: Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, selected runs of Hellblazer (my personal faves are Mike Carey, Jamie Delano, and Andy Diggle), Peter Milligan & Duncan Fergedo's Enigma and Girl mini-series, Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely's Flex Mentallo mini-series

The good, and sometimes great: Doom Patrol, Paul Levitz's LSH, Animal Man

The overrated: Sandman, George Perez's Wonder Woman, Shade, Amethyst, The Invisibles

The underrated: Diggle & Jock's The Losers, Diggle's Lady Constantine mini-series

The above ratings are, of course, only my opinions, and meant to be taken as such.

I like pretty much all of the ones you do. I consider Diggle's run on Hellblazer to be mind-blowingly good. As much as I loved Delano's run down, hard luck John, it's also become over familiar since every single writer hits the same notes. Diggle returning to the character's Alan Moore roots was a refreshing blast of cool air I didn't even know I needed until I got it. I didn't realize Diggle wrote Lady Constantine. I should check that out.

I haven't read Girl, which I really should since I love Peter Milligan. I'm always recommending Enigma to people. The ending is problematic, but in a good way that makes you think about why it makes you uncomfortable.

I love Shade to pieces, but mostly because how much it mirrored what I was feeling at the time, and each new iteration actually seemed to change to reflect where I was, including the directionless mess of the last 20 issues.

I suppose I could agree Sandman is overrated insofar as it was an excellent book whose reputation has reached a level that no book can really satisfy. And the fact that he was clearly learning as he went. Although watching him grow as a writer is part of what I enjoyed about a recent reread.

I reread Perez's WW at the same time. I certainly found it overly wordy and difficult to plow through at times, something I never felt back in the day. But it unquestionably added a huge amount to the mythos that resonates down to today. I also liked that he created a spunky young ingenue who felt very real. Instead of being constantly precocious and wonderful, she did selfish, thoughtless things, treated people badly, and did other things that painfully resonated with my adolescent memories this read-through. I used to think making her a crazy villain was the worst thing that happened to the character, but I think it's actually the writers who turned her into such a Kitty Pryde clone that I entirely forgot who the character actually was.

Don't let Grant Morrison hear your idea for comic books printed on meat.

I'll add DeMatteis' Dr. Fate to that list, although I'm not sure how much she was involved with that, and how much was Art Young even before he took it over formally.

Beautifully said, BF. The cocky, proactive Constantine was long overdue for a return, yet Diggle wisely resisted the temptation to take it too far over-the-top.



Wonderful stuff, IMHO, that gets a bad rap it's never deserved. It's less ponderous and less talky than the more generic Vertigo books of that time, so I guess a lot of people found it too lightweight or something. Me, I've always been a fan of comics that keep it simple and sincere. Long as there's sincere intent and inspiration, then there's substance to be found, as far as I'm concerned.



I consider Girl a prime example of the way that Milligan refuses to sentimentalize or sensationalize the more squalid aspects of human experience, or the way that escaping that ugliness can be a double-edged sword.



Good point about Nessie, she was quite true-to-life and well-observed. My problems with Perez's take on Diana had less to do with the verbosity and the erratic pacing, than with portraying Diana as a wide-eyed innocent, and eliminating the Diana Prince alter-ego, which I've always felt is crucial to the character (if nothing else, it clearly delineates the differences in attitude and outlook between her and Donna.) I also take issue with the level of gore, which, in hindsight, almost seems to anticipate the carnival-of-horrors DCU of 2003-2015. And finally, I have a sentimental spot for the old-school Pre-Crisis version of Cheetah, thanks mainly to the old "Challenge of the Super-Friends" cartoon, while the Perez Cheetah turned me off instantly, with all the creepy were-cat stuff.

I read the first issue of Invisible Kingdom today. I hadn't noticed it was a Berger Book, until I was putting it away.
It has a science fiction back drop of alien cultures and at least one giant floating city. But, as with all good science fiction, the setting is there to enhance the heart of the story.

An initiate, walks blind-folded through an uncaring city, in preparation of service.
A pilot just manages to save her crew from mechanical damage to their ship.
The first discovers not all is as it seems in her order. The second uncovers a discrepancy when she checks her cargo for damage.

A decent, if not stand out, cast and some strong mysteries get this one off to a good start. It's the trials of the initiate; that attitudes within the place where she had put her faith and the corporate shortcomings the pilot is up against that make this well worth picking up the first couple of issues of.

Invisible Kingdom: An invisible ham-berger book so as not to offend the hyper-sensitive vegetarians nearby.

I'm really enjoying The Girl In The Bay so far

I got a little bit of a Rachel Rising feel from The Girl in the Bay. Mind you, I quite liked Rachel Rising so...

I'm going only on the slimmest of knowledge of any of the Berger Books, but I thought I'd try The Seeds next.

Okay, this time I'm one hundred percent serious -- GREAT interview with Ann Nocenti about her second Berger Books comic, "Ruby Falls." There's a bit about her Daredevil run, too!

https://www.comicsbeat.com/interview-ann-nocenti-ruby-falls/