Hellblazer Cancelled?

[Mr. Holmes]

That too, Hellblazer sells pretty well in trades, I think. I don't think the problem is that the sales were too low. It's that they really think they have an opportunity for better sales this way. From a business decision, I think it makes sense. But we loses so much of the Vertigo legacy (all of it at this point) and so much of the continuous history (in real time) of Constantine's life it's still such a huge shame.

[Darrell D.]

Is there anything left at Vertigo, besides Fables at this point?

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Is there anything left at Vertigo, besides Fables at this point?

Well theres..... wait no that went to DC....


There is Ma- no that got cancelled a while back.

There is Greek Str- no that got cancelled a year or 2 back.

Ok they have a Fables spinoff with Fairest.

[Mr. Holmes]

Fables, Fairiest, Unwritten, Trillium, The Wake, Saucer Country, two Aaron projects, Before Sandman, off the top of my head. Vertigo is fine, people.

[passer-by]

No, it's not. This must be the weakest period for the imprint since its creation.

Image is becoming more and more the new Vertigo. The current one... I wouldn't be surprised if it closes shop within a couple of years.
DC are demonstrating less and less interest in this line ever since they were bought by Warner, started the layoffs and pushed the big names away (Vaughan is doing Saga at Image, to give just one example - they're offering much better conditions for creator-owned books).
Cancelling Hellblazer of all books, the title with so many great creators who worked on it and so many others who couldn't wait to be invited to do it, is just the latest proof of that.


P.S. Mr Holmes, congrats, by the way. You "had a bad feeling about this", like three weeks before the news came out.

R.I.P. the last Vertigo giant.

[Mr. Holmes]

Yeah well people are now blaming me for this, and they may not even be wrong.

I just looked at the solicit last month, which was blatantly hinting that the book would be over. While I've kind of turned against the New 52 Constantine after discovering Hellblazer, I think Milligan's run and the first couple issues of Lemire's JLD are sort of what got me interested in the character in the first place. Now I need to read the entire series before jumping on the last story arc.

[Uncontrollable Urge]

Anyone know if there's any word from Milligan on this. If it turns out the series got cancelled before he wanted then man he's been getting jerked around in the past couple years.

[passer-by]

Something I posted in the DC thread in response to people who couldn't see the big deal with cancelling the book, since (they said) the Dark line has some mature stuff as well and Constantine should be OK.

Things You Won’t See In A John Constantine Comic Book Again

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/11/...ic-book-again/

What Vertigo could get away with... maybe that's why Warner/DC pulled the plug on its last big symbol. Not PC enough.

[Darrell D.]

Fables, Fairiest, Unwritten, Trillium, The Wake, Saucer Country, two Aaron projects, Before Sandman, off the top of my head. Vertigo is fine, people.

That's a pretty weak lineup for 'fine'.

[NCatron]

After sleeping on it... this makes PERFECT business sense. Take a < 10k selling book and make it a 30k+ selling book. Gain new readers, leading into increased sales of old Hellblazer trades as those new fans want more Constantine.

Those new readers are more important to DC than us old-timer Hellblazer readers.

But you know what? We got 300 issues. If it's true that the "new" Constantine fans get turned onto Hellblazer trades then maybe we'll have more Hellblazer readers than we've had in a long time and then they can enjoy those 300 issues.

In the meantime, I'm dropping JL Dark and not going to pick up Constantine unless I hear VERY good things about it.

[Libaax]

After sleeping on it... this makes PERFECT business sense. Take a < 10k selling book and make it a 30k+ selling book. Gain new readers, leading into increased sales of old Hellblazer trades as those new fans want more Constantine.

Those new readers are more important to DC than us old-timer Hellblazer readers.

But you know what? We got 300 issues. If it's true that the "new" Constantine fans get turned onto Hellblazer trades then maybe we'll have more Hellblazer readers than we've had in a long time and then they can enjoy those 300 issues.

In the meantime, I'm dropping JL Dark and not going to pick up Constantine unless I hear VERY good things about it.

No this makes buisness sense only if it sell 30 000 plus strong trades like it did as Vertigo series. Constantine DCU wont have the backlog of Ennis/Delano/Ellis etc trade to sell.

If it becomes superhero dark line and those dont sell as much best Vertigo trades. Thats a proven fact when you see which comics sells better as trades. Only Batman,Superman OGNs,classic Batman,Watchmen sells alot in trades of superhero in DC.


I hope it fails so i can laugh at DC for thinking superhero fanboys will care about JC in the long run. How many new 52 comics have been cancelled? All the non big superhero comics are gone except Animal Man,Swamp Thing.

[Darrell D.]

After sleeping on it... this makes PERFECT business sense. Take a < 10k selling book and make it a 30k+ selling book. Gain new readers, leading into increased sales of old Hellblazer trades as those new fans want more Constantine.

Those new readers are more important to DC than us old-timer Hellblazer readers.

But you know what? We got 300 issues. If it's true that the "new" Constantine fans get turned onto Hellblazer trades then maybe we'll have more Hellblazer readers than we've had in a long time and then they can enjoy those 300 issues.

In the meantime, I'm dropping JL Dark and not going to pick up Constantine unless I hear VERY good things about it.

I can't see Constantine doing 30k in sales.
I could be wrong, though. I imagine it will limp along for 2 years and then quietly be cancelled.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

I can't see Constantine doing 30k in sales.
I could be wrong, though. I imagine it will limp along for 2 years and then quietly be cancelled.

Then DC will be in a spot...because they cancelled a strong TPB seller. Its said that is what kept Hellblazer running even with a low 10,000+ a month pull. The TPB sales kept it around. I get the sense this cash grab will see readers pick the 1st issue up in the 30,000 range and it will sink quick. I give it 18-24 issues and you will see the company likely discuss ways of bringing back the Vertigo Constantine at some point. Whether readers come back to it after being ticked off ...remains to be seen. They may have alienated that fanbase with this move.

[Predator jp]

it needs star creative team to do 30k i think.

[tony ingram]

But you know what? We got 300 issues. If it's true that the "new" Constantine fans get turned onto Hellblazer trades then maybe we'll have more Hellblazer readers than we've had in a long time and then they can enjoy those 300 issues.

How does them enjoying it help us?