In the latest “you can only write superhero comics for us” exclusivity announcement, Marvel has made a pretty smart move by signing Jason Aaron.
This doesn’t really mean a whole lot to me. Scalped is going to continue at Vertigo, obviously, so I’m happy. I’ll be even happier if Aaron starts up another creator-owned series somewhere. I don’t know if I’ll follow Aaron over to Marvel; he’s quickly becoming one of my favourite writers, but Ghost Rider and Wolverine? I dunno. But if it means some readers are motivated to check out Scalped, or that Aaron is on more stable ground both careerwise and financially, then I’m all for it.
But what I do find interesting is a sort of trend I’ve noticed: Vertigo writers almost always seem to go to Marvel, and do little or no work in the DCU.
Mike Carey broke in with Sandman spinoffs and Lucifer. After a couple minor projects, Marvel gave him X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four – pretty high-profile gigs. Brian K. Vaughn rose to fame with Y The Last Man, added to it with Ex Machina at Wildstorm, then went over to Marvel to launch Runaways, play with Doctor Strange, Ultimate X-Men, and an upcoming Wolverine mini. Peter Milligan got to launch X-Statix and play with X-Men at Marvel, while at DC Proper he gets… style=”font-style:italic;”>Infinity Inc. Ed Brubaker did some Batman and Gotham Central, but generally hung around the fringes of the DCU, while Marvel gave him Uncanny X-Men and Captain America after they saw what he could do on Sleeper (A Wildstorm book, obviously, but it fits my theme) Marvel’s even snatched up Joe Casey, who only ever got cancelled at Wildstorm, and given him some major projects.
Vertigo, and to a lesser extent Wildstorm, has done a great job of discovering new talent and getting them to produce some critically acclaimed work. So why does it seem like they always go over to Marvel to work on more commercial properties?
There are many reasons, I’m sure. Maybe the pay is better, maybe the writers just like Marvel characters more. Every case is probably a little different. But as a trend, it doesn’t look very good for DC. If Jason Aaron is good enough to write Wolverine, why not Batman? Why did only Marvel seem to recognize that Ed Brubraker was the kind of guy who could revitalize, and then kill, a major franchise character? How is it that Mike Carey manages to do work for Vertigo, Wildstorm, Minx, and Marvel, but has never worked in the DCU?
Considering DC’s recent lagging sales, you’d think they might be interested in taking a few more chances rather than stick with the same stable of writers. On a purely financial level, if Vertigo isn’t making a lot of money, it could at least be developing talent that can move on to more profitable work.
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One response to “Brain drain?”
I think one of the big factors here might be the fact that Marvel has no equivelant to Vertigo.It’s only natural that creators will switch from one company to the other and back in the course of their careers- I think it may even be necessary in order for them to progress prfessionally. However, if a writer starts out at Vertigo, then goes over to Marvel, there isn’t really anywhere else to go but the Marvel U; apart from the Ultimate line, I suppose, but that’s not exactly Vertigo either!As for Vertigo not making money… I don’t think that’s true. I know there’s been talk about the monthlies not selling so well, but I would have thought that Vertigo TPB’s probably account for a pretty significant part of DC’s income. And also, to be fair to DC, they do have Grant Morrison writing Batman. So it”s not like they’re putting their flagship titles in the hands of amateurs…