Vertigo Comics was founded as an imprint of DC Comics in 1993 as an avenue for its parent company to tell darker stories that grappled with heavy social issues ranging from drug use and racism to religion, hypocrisy, and violence.
By bringing aboard some of the comic industry's greatest writers and illustrators and giving those artists creative freedom to tell the stories they wanted to tell, Vertigo cultivated a space for greatness. The imprint sold comics and launched careers, but it also touched lives around the world with its beautiful, funny, and often devastating stories. Some of pop culture's most popular characters and stories only exist thanks to Vertigo. Here are some of the best stories to emerge from the imprint.
7 Y: The Last Man
Y: The Last Man shouldn't be judged by its brief television adaptation. The original comic is a brilliant post-apocalyptic tale that takes many of the genre's most beloved and well-worn tropes and either puts a unique spin on them or discards them entirely. In it, every living thing on earth that possesses a Y chromosome dies, with the exception of a single human male.
Given this mass extinction event, humanity unsurprisingly falls apart, and the one male who remains is hunted by various groups, each with their own agenda. Y: The Last Man includes fine worldbuilding, an original take on the apocalypse, and a willingness to dive deep into complicated social issues, all of which make it a must-read for Vertigo fans.
6 Preacher
AMC's television adaptation of Preacher received backlash for its savage satire of religion, but the comic is--if anything--even more staunch in its views. Jesse Custer is the preacher of a small Texas town until the day he is possessed by the spawn of an angel and demon.
Jesse then leaves on a cross-country search for God, bringing two of the most eccentric and endearing sidekicks of all time along for the ride. Preacher mixes action, fantasy, and horror in equal measure, and there's always something to keep readers turning pages, be it the great art, religious and cultural satire, or top-notch fights.
5 Hellblazer
Supernatural detective, chainsmoker, and cynic par excellence John Constantine has appeared in comic books throughout the DC universe, as well as the 2005 film adaptation, but his home is in Hellblazer. As an occult detective, Constantine finds himself face to face with all manner of strange and powerful foes, but the detective handles each of them with tenacity and cunning.
Like all of Alan Moore's writing, Hellblazer features complex and flawed characters (Constantine himself most of all) and world that has many more shades of gray than other fiction permits. John Constantine isn't exactly the cheery sort, but he's not afraid to crack a sarcastic joke here and there, and readers who want complex themes and cutting societal critiques wrapped in a gorgeous occult tale will find all of that in Hellblazer.
4 Fables
Bill Willingham's Fables takes classic fairytale characters and reimagines them before dumping them in an alternate version of earth. These characters, known as "fables," live in their own community, separate from humanity, but that separation isn't enough to grant them a conflict-free existence.
Using supernatural characters and situations as the lens through which to view real-world social issues is common amongst Vertigo's best comics, and Fables is no exception. The comic never lets the politics overpower the story, however, and at the end of the day, its primary concern is always to tell a good tale. It doesn't hurt the popularity of the comic that the story is populated by characters like Snow White, Prince Charming, and Pinocchio, amongst other childhood favorites.
3 Scalped
Taking place on a modern-day Native American reservation in South Dakota, Scalped is exceptional for several reasons. It expertly blends political messaging, noir, and Neo-Western aesthetics in its exploration of the reservation and the people who live on it. It has some of the most heartbreaking moments in comics, as well as some of the most powerful.
This isn't a story about an alien invasion, wizards, or mecha kicking down skyscrapers; it's about the hard realities of poverty, crime, and the attempt to preserve culture from eradication by society's oppressive forces. Written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by R.M. Guéra, the story of Dash, Red Crow, Gina, and the reservation's other fascinating figures is one of the best-executed comics of any kind. It doesn't need an important social message to be amazing; it just happens to have one.
2 Saga Of The Swamp Thing
Alan Moore has a reputation for elevating the quality of whatever story he touches, and during his time writing The Sage of the Swamp Thing the comic and the character arguably became the best they have ever been. This book isn't about a sentient plant punching supervillains alongside the Justice League (that comes later). It's about Swamp Thing's attempt to understand what it means to exist, which is a lot to ask from a walking vegetable.
Had The Saga of the Swamp Thing had any other writer behind it, the comic would likely have fallen apart. The themes it deals with are too complex and too heavy for a writer of any lesser talent to tackle. Fortunately for everyone's favorite swamp monster, Moore's writing was as good as it has ever been, turning his entire run into a journey into existential philosophy. Also, Swamp Thing gets to do cool plant monster stuff.
1 The Sandman
Neil Gaiman has tried his hand at many forms of fiction over the course of his long career: comics, short stories, fantasy novels, and even children's books. He has no shortage of incredible books in his bibliography, which makes it even more telling when one says that The Sandman is his greatest work.
Following the seven immortal siblings known as the Endless, with moody, mysterious Dream at the center of it all, The Sandman is an eye-opening trip through history and mythology, jumping through time and around the world as needed. One of The Sandman's greatest strengths is its willingness to draw from any genre or combination of genres that it needs to in order to tell the strongest possible story. Throughout its many volumes, The Sandman is many things. Through all of its transformations, however, this comic is consistently a work of genius.