ladiesmakingcomics:

Earlier today, DC Comics issued a press release stating that long time Vertigo Executive Editor Karen Berger will be leaving the publisher in March of next year. Berger commented:

“I’ve been incredibly proud to have provided a home where writers and artists could create progressive and provocative stories that broadened the scope of comics, attracting a new and diverse readership to graphic storytelling,” said Berger. “I’d like to thank all the many immensely talented creators who have helped make Vertigo into a daring and distinctive imprint and I’m grateful to everyone at DC Entertainment and the retail community for their support and commitment to Vertigo all these years. It’s been quite an honor.”

Berger has worked at DC Comics for 33 years, starting out as an editor. Her first job was editing DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #7, “Sgt. Rock’s Prize Battle Tales”. She later went on to edit Wonder Woman, and then, the turning point of her career—as well as the turning point for all mainstream comics—hiring Alan Moore to write Swamp Thing and Neil Gaiman to write The Sandman. Both revolutionary titles led to the formation of the Vertigo imprint, of which she has been Executive Editor from the beginning.

Vertigo comics were my gateway into the comics medium, and I always felt a spark of joy seeing her name on every comic. Karen Berger and Vertigo are synonymous in my mind, and both are synonymous with “good comics”. Her departure is not entirely surprising, as the Vertigo imprint has been on the decline in recent years, but it is still with great sorrow I see her depart. She almost single-handedly caused the British Invasion of comics in the ’80s and ’90s with Moore, Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis, and later Warren Ellis, all of whom have written comics I love. She brought into the forefront such female creators as G. Willow Wilson, Amy Reeder, and Becky Cloonan. She oversaw the criminally short-lived young adult imprint Minx, which aimed to get more teenage girls reading comics. I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

It is my fervent, possibly selfish, hope that her next move is to take her Rolodex and open up her own publishing company and start another revolution.

I second that hope! Karen is one of my all time heroes and when I was younger, that’s who I wanted to be when I grew up. (In fact, I think I STILL want to be Karen Berger when I grow up…)

gailsimone:

afewnovelideas:

gailsimone:

gabzilla-z:

gailsimone:

gailsimone:

Okay, this is not going to be fun to hear, but the answer is no, from everything I have seen. This sucks, but Stephanie’s book was not at the sales level they were hoping for with a Batgirl logo on it. This gets lost over and over in the timeline, but her book was already going to…

Sorry, have to respond here to angrysunbird’s question here, because of FORMAT. Here’s the thing…both things are happening because they didn’t happen concurrently, or in equal amounts with both characters. An a-list writer had a plan for Cass, as has been talked about previously, while Steph was more of a “cool-down” issue, originally. I can’t really talk about what is coming for either, but both things were a factor. The good news is, I know that your voices are being heard. The relaunch of 52 books and Before Watchmen sucked up a lot of editorial oxygen. But they ARE starting to fill in some gaps.

That does sound like bollocks.

Sorry, Gail. :/

Unfortunately, people believe what they want to believe. But everything I said here is absolutely true, barring those things I labeled as speculation. If there is more to this delay in seeing Stephanie and Cass coming back than what I have said and experienced, I am not aware of it. But I am aware that the odd mythology that is so pervasive on social networks is hard to counter, no matter how completely fictional it is. If people choose not to believe, there’s not much I can say. I would like those characters unbenched. I, and others, have tried to make it happen and in some cases are still trying. It can be frustrating, but it’s not a shadowy conspiracy, either, and I never see the benefit in that stuff.

My two cents.

Honestly, I’m of the opinion nowadays that when it comes to female superheroes, DC has no clue on how to market them at the greater female audience.  The brass has no solid ideas on how to appeal to the modern woman/teenager/preteen.  They have flashes of brilliance occasionally, but that’s all they are… A flash in a pan.

They’re like the Republican party during this election season.  They’re so focused on pandering to their core demographic (males age 24-36) and skewing their “message” to one extreme to appeal to them (MORE ACTION - MORE T&A SHOTS - MORE OBJECTIFIED SEXY WOMEN - MORE GRATUITOUS VIOLENCE - MORE ANGSTY BACKSTORY - MORE ROB LEIFELD ART/WRITING) that they don’t even seem to realize that while they are securing their base, they’re offending/alienating a whole generation/gender block of potential voters/readers in the process.

I will admit that DC has a small number of gems among their books, writers, and artists.  However, the overall impression I have of the company their catalog of products as a whole is like having a genuine diamond set in a ring made of copper.  The diamond may be a valuable gem, but it doesn’t negate the fact that the precious stone is surrounded by cheap metal that will eventually turn your finger green. 

Some people will endure the annoyance of having a green finger just to possess the diamond.  Some will take the ring, strip out the diamond, and throw away the copper for the trash that it is.  And still others will take one look at the ring, decide it’s not worth the effort or annoyance, and move on to something of a higher quality overall.

I think we took a step backwards on books with a genuine female vibe. While I am really happy that Wonder Woman, Batgirl, and Batwoman, all books with non-hypersexualized leads, are doing so well, I do feel that we lost a lot of great characters and some books that really appealed to female and non-binary readers. Those three books are a success, and there are some other good portrayals in books like Birds of Prey, and I am happy about that. But overall, I think the line needs to recapture some of the that female-friendly vibe as soon as possible.