Editing Vertigo Comics (section)

=== Development ===
Vertigo originated in 1993 under the stewardship of [[Karen Berger]], a former literature and art-history student, who had joined [[DC Comics]] in 1979 as an assistant editor. Berger edited proto-Vertigo titles from the start of her time with DC, beginning in 1981 with ''[[House of Mystery]]''.<ref name="Touch of V">[http://www.sequentialtart.com/archive/feb01/berger.shtml ''Sequential Tart'': "A Touch of Vertigo – Karen Berger" by Jennifer M. Contino] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070322123940/http://www.sequentialtart.com/archive/feb01/berger.shtml|date=2007-03-22}}. Retrieved June 5, 2008.</ref> She took over editorship of [[Alan Moore]]'s ''[[Swamp Thing]]'' run from Swamp Thing co-creator [[Len Wein]] in 1984, and in 1986 "became DC's British liaison", bringing to DC's pre-Vertigo titles the individuals who would be instrumental in the creation and evolution of Vertigo seven years later,<ref name="Ten Years">[http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=36&t=000836 "Vertigo at Ten": Karen Berger interviews by Jen Contino, March 25, 2003] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605164803/http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=36&t=000836|date=June 5, 2011}}. Retrieved June 5, 2008.</ref> including [[Neil Gaiman]], [[Jamie Delano]], [[Peter Milligan]], and [[Grant Morrison]].<ref name="nytimes">[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E2D61F3BF936A2575AC0A9659C8B63 "MEDIA; At House of Comics, a Writer's Champion"] (p. 2), by [[Dana Jennings]], ''The New York Times'', September 15, 2003</ref> She "found their sensibility and point of view to be refreshingly different, edgier and smarter" than those of most American comics writers.<ref name="nytimes" />

Berger edited several new or revived series with these writers, including [[superhero]]/[[science fiction]] series such as ''[[Animal Man (comic book)|Animal Man]]'', ''[[Doom Patrol]]'' vol. 2, and ''[[Shade, the Changing Man (Vertigo)|Shade, the Changing Man]]'' vol. 2, [[fantasy]] series ''[[The Sandman (comic book)|The Sandman]]'' vol. 2, and [[horror fiction|horror]] titles ''[[Hellblazer]]'' and ''[[Swamp Thing|The Saga of the Swamp Thing]]''.<ref>Retitled ''Swamp Thing'' vol. 2 from issue #39-on.</ref> She also edited limited series such as ''[[Kid Eternity]]'', ''[[Black Orchid (comics)|Black Orchid]]'' (Gaiman's first work for DC)<ref name="vert-ency">{{Cite book | last = Irvine | first = Alex | author-link = Alexander C. Irvine | contribution = Black Orchid | editor-last = Dougall | editor-first = Alastair | title = The Vertigo Encyclopedia | pages = 32–34 | publisher = [[Dorling Kindersley]] | place = New York | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-0-7566-4122-1 | oclc = 213309015}}</ref> and ''[[The Books of Magic]]'' limited series.

These six ongoing titles, all of which carried a "Suggested for Mature Readers" label on their covers,<ref>''Hellblazer'' from issue #1 (Jan. 1988), ''Doom Patrol'' from vol. 2, #37 (Oct. 1990), ''Shade, the Changing Man'' from vol. 2, #1 (July 1990), ''The Sandman'' vol. 2, #1 (Jan. 1989), ''Animal Man'' from #51 (Sept. 1992) and ''Swamp Thing'', initially reading simply "For Mature Readers", from vol. 2, #57 (Feb. 1987)</ref> shared a sophistication-driven sensibility the comics fan media dubbed "the Bergerverse".<ref name="pulse">{{cite web |url=http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=36&t=000836 |title=Contino, Jen. "Vertigo at Ten: Karen Berger" Comicon.com ''Pulse'', March 23, 2003|publisher=Comicon.com|access-date=2011-02-02|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605164803/http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=36&t=000836|archive-date=June 5, 2011}}</ref> In a 1992 editorial meeting with [[Paul Levitz]], publisher [[Jenette Kahn]], and [[managing editor]] [[Dick Giordano]], Berger was given the mandate to place these titles under an imprint that, as Berger described, would "do something different in comics and help the medium 'grow up'".<ref name="pulse" /> Several DC titles bearing the age advisory, such as ''[[Green Arrow]]'', ''[[Blackhawk (DC Comics)|Blackhawk]]'', and ''[[The Question (comics)|The Question]]'' (the last two cancelled before the launch of Vertigo), did not make the transition to the new imprint.<ref>''Green Arrow'' (vol. 2) ran for 137 issues, concluding in October 1998. [[Mike Grell]]'s final issue on the series was #80, so the loss of the label did *not*, contrary to some sources, coincide with Grell's departure.</ref>

Meanwhile, [[Disney Comics (publishing)|Disney Comics]] and former DC editor Art Young had been developing an imprint to be called Touchmark Comics, analogous to Disney's mature-audiences [[Touchstone Pictures]] studio. This project was abandoned following the so-called [[Disney Comics (company)#The "Disney Implosion"|"Disney Implosion"]] of [[1991 in comics|1991]]. Young and those works were brought into the Vertigo fold, allowing Berger to expand the imprint's publishing plans with the limited series ''[[Enigma (Vertigo)|Enigma]]'', ''[[Sebastian O]]'', ''[[Mercy (Vertigo)|Mercy]]'', and ''Shadows Fall''.<ref name="Advance">"Interview with Karen Berger" in ''Advance Comics'' #49 ([[Capital City Distribution]], January 1993)</ref><ref name="Touchstone Legend">{{Cite web |date=2011-07-01 |title=Comic Book Legends Revealed #321 |url=https://www.cbr.com/comic-book-legends-revealed-321/ |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=CBR |language=en}}</ref>