British creators announced on new Vertigo titles to launch this autumn

By John Freeman on July 10, 2015

Red Thorn, witten by David Baillie, will debut in November

DC Comics has just announced twelve new Vertigo titles at San Diego Comic Con – and there’s a host of British talent involved, including David Baillie (whose credits include strips for 2000AD), Mike Dowling (Death Sentence), Peter Milligan (Resident Alien) and Rob Williams (2000AD, Doctor Who).

12 new #1s are set to be released over 12 consecutive weeks beginning in October 2015, as follows:

OCTOBER

THE TWILIGHT CHILDREN #1 (Gilbert Hernandez, Darwyn Cooke)
SURVIVORS’ CLUB #1 (Lauren Beukes, Dale Halvorsen, Ryan Kelly)
CLEAN ROOM #1 (Gail Simone, Jon Davis-Hunt)
ART OPS #1 (Shaun Simon, Michael Allred)

NOVEMBER

Unfollow – Tablet Cover

UNFOLLOW #1 (Rob Williams, Mike Dowling with covers by Matt Taylor)

This is Rob Williams first ongoing for Vertigo and he says Mike Dowling is doing some “fantastic things” with the interiors. The series follows what happens after the billionaire creator of a Twitter-like service leaves his fortune to 140 strangers. The surprise heirs will “lie, cheat, stalk, protect and murder their way to the prize,” according to editor Shelly Bond.

“Quinton Winter’s colours are going to make a real impression,” he also revealed on Twitter. “He’s new to comics and it’s a very distinctive, European look.”

Rob Williams is currently writing Martian Manhunter for DC Comics, Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor for Titan Comics and “Judge Dredd“ for 2000AD/Rebelllion. His creator-owned series, Oridnary, is available from Titan Comics. He is also the writer of The Royals: Masters of War for Vertigo Comics.

• Check out Rob Williams official site at www.robwilliamscomics.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @Robwilliams71

Mike Dowling is the artist on the first series and co-creator of Death Sentence, written by Montynero and published by Titan. His other work includes The Grudge (Written by Si Spurrier) for the Time Warp anthology at Vertigo.

• Check out Mike’s official site at: http://www.mikedowling.info or follow him on Twitter @mike_dowling_

Cover artist Matt Taylor decribes himself as an illustrator and comic artist based in the Sussex countryside who spends his days crafting expansive, “sometimes psychedelic, Americana inspired illustrations with a nod to classic comic book art of the fifties and sixties”. He’s releasing a new book, The Wild Frontier, at Thought Bubble this year.

• Check out cover artist Matt Taylor’s official site at www.matttaylor.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @MattTaylorDraws

Slash & Burn – Cover by Tula Lotay

SLASH & BURN #1 (Si Spencer, Max Dunbar, Ande Parks)

Slash & Burn centres on a pyromaniac-turned-firefighter’s struggle against dark desires.

Si Spencer (who will be appearing at this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival) is a writer for comics and television. As a TV scriptwriter, he has written for  Grange Hill,  EastEnders and  The Bill. His comic work includes strips for Judge Dredd Megazine and  Deadline and the longer works  Books of Magick (with Neil Gaiman), Hellblazer: City Of Demons, The Vinyl Underground, and the award-winning 2014 cult hit series  Bodies, all published by DC/Vertigo.

His latest graphic novel is a mould-breaking horror story, Klaxon, illustrated by DIX and published by SelfMadeHero in October 2015.

• Follow Si Spencer on Twitter @/sispencer

RED THORN #1 (David Baillie, Meghan Hetrick)

A dark fantasy set in modern day Glasgow, Red Thorn opens with an opening arc titled “Glasgow Kiss” and pillages Scottish mythology and tortures an intriguing cast of characters – one of whom, Thorn, is a recently freed pagan Demi-God.

Red Thorn is being drawn by Ms. Meghan Hetrick, who David describes as “the best new comic artist in the western world”. Colour and letters are provided by two stone-cold industry legends, Steve Oliff and Todd Klein and the amazing covers are by the talent-discovery of the year Choong Yong.

“Vertigo Godfathers Mike Carey and Peter Gross have guided us through the flaming conception of our new comic, masterfully guided by the best editor in the world, Rowena Yow, and (talking about legends) Vertigo EIC Shelly Bond,” says David on his web site.

“When forging the scripts I’ve poured in everything I know about [Glasgow], drawn on strands of my personal and family history and shaken it all up until it catches fire. I’ve spent the last couple of years scouting locations around Glasgow and studying the unique weirdness, mythology and history of Scotland, and I honestly think you’ll love what we’ve made.

“And trust me – just wait until you see the art. Your eyes might actually melt.

“My goal is for the sheer Glasgow-ness of Red Thorn to overwhelm our readers, regardless of where they live in the world, leaving them all speaking with a broad Glaswegian accent. Be warrrned!”

David’s comics work has appeared in 2000AD, Judge Dredd Megazine, various Vertigo titles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tripwire, Redeye, Comics International, Zombies, Robots and a dozen other fabulous places. It’s also been translated into almost a dozen languages.

• David Baillie will be at Thought Bubble 2015 to promote Red Thorn – and there’s even murmurs of signings around the UK to celebrate the launch. Check out David’s web site at http://davidbaillie.net of follow him on Twitter @davidbaillie

Jacked Cover by Glenn Fabry

JACKED #1 (Eric Kripke, John Higgins)

John Higgins huge list of credits include work for 2000AD, Hellblazer, Watchmen, Doctor Who, Judge Dredd, Star Wars and much. much more

• Check out his official web site at: www.turmoilcolour.com

DECEMBER

SHERIFF OF BAGHDAD #1 (Tom King, Mitch Gerads)

New Romancer

NEW ROMANCER #1 (Peter Milligan, Brett Parson)

New Romancers stars unlucky-in-love Lexy, a coder for the titular dating app whose creativity with computers brings around that most romatic of Romantics, Lord Byron, in the flesh.

“Coming face-to-face with the embodiment of your longtime dream lover is fraught with the dangers of whether that romantic fantasy can live up to brutal reality,” reveals Peter Milligan of this story. “In New Romancer there are added dangers: It seems besides her beloved Lord Byron, Lexy might have unwittingly unleashed a bunch of darker lovers who will fall a long way short of the romantic ideal. Cue mayhem, murder and strange fashion decisions.

Peter Milligan is a British writer known for his work in comic books, film, and television whose credits include 2000AD, Strange Days, Skin, Shade the Changing Man, X-Force and X-Men.

• Check out his official web site at www.petermilligan.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @PeterMillgan

Lucifer

LUCIFER #1 (Holly Black, Lee Garbett)

“We own the devil, so we’re putting him through his paces again,” says Shelly Bond, Executive Editor, at Vertigo of this new book.

“I really loved Gabriel’s story line from Hellblazer, says writer Holly Black of the new story. “He ended up with his heart crushed and being sent to Hell as a mortal — which meant he was still in play. I was interested in the idea of forcing he and Lucifer to investigate a murder together.”

“I love drawing emotional beats and body language,” says Lee Garbett, “so I’m really looking forward to portraying that dynamic in the artwork. That and all the magic, demons and horror.

Lee Garbett is probably best known right now for his work on Marvel’s Artist on Marvel’s Loki: Agent of Asgard, but along with his DC Comics work his credits also include 2000AD, most notably on the series London Falling, co-created with Simon Spurrier.

• Check out his web site at http://leegarbett.com or follow him on Twitter @leegarbett

Last Gang in Town

LAST GANG IN TOWN #1 (Simon Oliver, Rufus Dayglo, covers by Rob Davis, logo by Rian Hughes) 

Writer describes this book as “drugs sex & rock n roll” with crime and punk – what more do you need to take a look?

“Our story starts in 1976 Punk London,” says Rufus Dayglo, “And it’s burning with boredom, it’s the Summer of Hate. (No ‘60s Summer of Love for us!) It was the year punk exploded into the world on the radio and TV screens, scaring parents, the government, and the status quo.”

“A lot of this book for me is about reclaiming and embracing what’s really great about Britain,” says Simon Oliver, “and it’s not the tourist, changing of the guard, biscuit tin version.”

Simon Oliver is a British-American comic book writer. He wrote the Wildstorm comic series Gen¹³ and the Vertigo comic book series The Exterminators and Hellblazer Presents: Chas – The Knowledge. He’s been writing the science fiction series FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics, drawn by Robbi Rodriguez for Vertigo since 2013.

• Follow Simon Oliver on Twitter @simonoliver01

Now based in Berlin, Rufus Dayglo is the artist on six volumes of Tank Girl, now working on a new series of “Bad Company” for 2000AD, as well as Last Gang in Town. He’s a massive collector of British comics art, as well as being a terrifically talented creator.

• Check out Rufus Dayglo’s official site at http://solidgolddeathmask.com an follow Rufus Dayglo on Twitter @RUFUS_DAYGLO

Vertigo’s slate will also be comprised of continuing series American Vampire, Astro City and Suiciders.

• Read Vertigo’s announcement here on the official DC Comics web site

• The Los Angeles Times has an in-depth feature on the range here

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.