DC/Vertigo announced a new ongoing monthly by Jeff “Essex County” Lemire at the ComicsPRO meeting this morning. Lemire’s graphic novel THE NOBODY is due in June. Lemire’s PR below:

DC Comics’ mature readers imprint VERTIGO has announced that Eisner-nominated comics creator Jeff Lemire (/Essex County, The Nobody/) will be writing and illustrating a new monthly ongoing series entitled /SWEET TOOTH/. The series will launch this September, only two months after Lemire’s Vertigo debut /THE NOBODY/, an original graphic novel, is due in stores.
Lemire describes the series: “/SWEET TOOTH/ is the story Gus, a young boy born with deer-like antlers. He has lived his entire life in total isolation in the woods with his Father. As our story begins Gus’ is finally forced to leave their forest sanctuary and begins experiencing the outside world for the first time. What he finds out there is beyond his comprehension; an American landscape decimated a decade earlier by a mysterious disease. Even more remarkable is that Gus is part of a rare new breed of human/animal hybrid children who have emerged in its wake, all apparently immune to the infection. The boy is soon taken in by Jepperd, a hulking drifter who promises to lead Gus to “The Preserve” a fabled safe-haven for hybrid children. Along the way a larger mystery surrounding the origins of the hybrids begins to unfold, with Gus and Jepperd at its center.”/

Sweet Tooth/ recasts conventions from both the western and science fiction genres into an action/adventure tale of childhood loss and loneliness, and the unexpected friendships that can emerge in even the darkest of places.

The first 22-page, full-color issue ships in September and will feature story, art and covers by Lemire, with colors provided by Jose Villarubia (/Promethea/) and will carry a special cover price of only one-dollar!

20 COMMENTS

  1. I just got in from work and got the PR e-mail from Jeff. This is great news.

    I am curious, is this the answer to the $2500 threshold that Diamond has set up? With DC/Vertigo branching off into more OGNs and unique non-DC- brand creations be the end of start up Indie publishers? Could we see a DC or Marvel buy an Indie Publisher’s print catalogue (a’la Milestone) and continue printing them on their own?

    Mind you, I don’t mean to seem like I’m “Hating” on Indie publishers (Lord knows if you looked at my bookshelf you would realize how much of an Indie lover I am). I’m just thinking out loud here.

    the Tiki

  2. I can’t see there being enough money in that for them to really bother. Maybe offer more indie guys a shot, sure, but to do that wholesale for the kinds of returns that an arm of Warner Bros. will be expected to pull in? Doesn’t seem likely to me.

  3. @Jason: Man, you made my day with that link. Art Brut is such a sweet band and sadly I haven’t thought to check in on them lately, so I had a nice triple surprise in that: A) they have a new album coming out B) the cover art is by Jeff Lemire and C) frontman Eddie Argos is really into comics. Plus his blog is great. So thanks, man!

  4. That is such a well written description of the series. It would sell me even if I hadn’t become such a huge Lemire fan through his work at Top Shelf.

  5. Tiki, I don’t know if you’re referring to “Sweet Tooth” in particular or just the idea of a guy like Lemire being supported by Vertigo, but I know that “Sweet Tooth” has been in the works since WELL before the new Diamond policies were announced (like six months before), and Bob Schreck was heavily involved with getting Lemire to Vertigo (so with Schreck out, who knows if any Lemire-like indy creators will have a similar shot with the imprint.)

  6. @TimCallahan: Please don’t misconstrue my post. I am not insinuating that this is some Machiavellian plot by DC but rather a new option for Indie creators.

    As I stated earlier, just thinking out loud here. Just a free flow stream of conscience conversation. ;)

    the Tiki

  7. This should be an interesting litmus test for Vertigo, to find out exactly where they stand in the industry. Will it crossover enough to attract the indie crowd, or just alienate their loyal ‘mainstream with a dash of horror’ readers?

    I hold out hope, but I don’t think this will please either. I would have waited to see how the OGN goes before beating on this..

  8. YAY! More Lemire. Jacob– I don’t think it matters WHERE his books are being published. To me, i am just happy to get more of his work. Good to see you floating about, by the way. Hope all is well.

  9. Why DC? It’s Vertigo to be exact.
    A good page rate, and name brand that for alot of retailers is more trustworthy than Top Shelf or any other indie publisher.
    I like this: I hope Vertigo can branch out more and continue this “poaching”. A Dan Clowes Vertigo book, how sweet would that be!

  10. assuming he owns the copywrite (which i’m sure he will), i am very happy for him at this level of retail acceptence. i’m more wondering if the “typical” vertigo reader (god, that sounds snobbish, sorry) has many xeric books on their shelves.
    as much as it pains me to admit (and be an active participent), there is still a lot of Us Vs Them in the comic reading world from both sides and i’m sure there are comic fans who will turn their noses up at his Lost Dogs or Essex County than there are would do the same to 100 Bullets or Y the Last Man.

    i guess i’m wondering if he’s barking up the wrong tree at the risk of working for a large corporation that has at least some reputation of screwing people over.

    i’m sure i’m just overthinking it.
    and Top Shelf does publish The Surrogates after all

  11. Jacob: I don’t think you are over thinking it at all. While a creator might partly or wholly own the copyright to the work they publish through Vertigo, the company almost always owns the trademarks and the characters in the books. This makes it virtually impossible for the creators to take the work somewhere else if the project doesn’t work out with Vertigo. DC also has some goofy rule where the creators of the books aren’t allowed to letter ( and maybe color ) their work.

    Mario: No offense but I don’t see how a Dan Clowes book published by Vertigo would be any sweeter than a Dan Clowes book published by Fantagraphics or Pantheon. Anyway why work with DC when he can continue to work with Pantheon and Fantagraphics where he can own and control virtually every aspect of the work he produces. Pantheon probably pays a better advance as well.

  12. Glad to see Vertigo taking chances and looking for a new home run instead of hunkering down and just trying more of what hasn’t been working.

    I really wish companies would try more one-shots. I seem to always hear buzz about a book when there’s already a couple issues and I can never find the first issue. By the time the trade comes out my curiosity has faded or I’m just willing to drop $10-$20 on a book I haven’t been able to sample. They should put out a teaser one-shot and give it a month before soliciting a very short mini-series to try for a slow build that maximizes publicity and takes advantage of the 3-month lag in Previews solicitations and when a book actually comes out.

  13. Ha! Look at that antlered boy. There was a kid with antlers in grammar school, we used to kick his ass. Oh shoot, I wonder if he was actually Lemire, and now he is writing this comic as revenge, and I’ll be the villain of a Vertigo comic.

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