DC Entertainment Announces Vertigo Editorial Promotions

Shelly Bond has been promoted to Executive Editor of the Vertigo imprint for DC Entertainment. Joining Bond in her new leadership role are Will Dennis, who has been promoted to Group Editor, Vertigo and Mark Doyle who has been promoted to Editor, Vertigo. All three staffers have spent years under the guidance of outgoing SVP & Executive Editor Karen Berger, creating a continuity in editorial experience.

 

“I've been incredibly lucky to have worked for many years with these three smart and talented editors. Shelly has been by my side since the beginning of Vertigo, so I couldn't be happier about passing the baton to her,” Berger said. “She brings so much creativity, passion and professionalism to everything she edits with special note to the wildly successful FABLES, which she launched and has overseen for over 10 years. Will is a highly regarded story editor of many critically acclaimed series including 100 BULLETS, DMZ and SCALPED and has procured many European and South American artists for our titles. Mark has a great eye for new writing talent, and his avid interest in up-to-the-minute fiction has been a real asset to the line. I look forward to reading many great comics and graphic novels from these three for many years to come. Vertigo is in the best of hands.”

 

Bond began her career at Vertigo in 1993 as Assistant Editor. Her unique pop culture sensibility and love of all things British – plus a knack for discovering new, uncompromising and inspired talent – helped launch some of the most beloved Vertigo series and OGNs, including FABLES, FAIREST, THE INVISIBLES, LUCIFER, HEAVY LIQUID, SLOTH, iZOMBIE, AMERICAN VIRGIN, DEADENDERS, HOUSE OF SECRETS, YOUNG LIARS, THE SANDMAN: ENDLESS NIGHTS and DEATH: AT DEATH'S DOOR. The list of talented creators Bond has worked with over the years is equally long and impressive, including Michael Allred, Mark Buckingham, Mike Carey, Howard Chaykin, Becky Cloonan, Neil Gaiman, Peter Gross, Gilbert Hernandez, James Jean, Phil Jimenez, Peter Milligan, Grant Morrison, Paul Pope, Steven T. Seagle, Jill Thompson, Bill Willingham and many more.

 

Before DC, Bond was a video/film editor and talent agent. She also served as the editor for THE ELEMENTALS – a comic book by Willingham. The friendship and working relationship continues to this day, as FABLES celebrates 10 years of publication.

 

"It’s been a great privilege, both personally and professionally, to work with Karen Berger since Vertigo’s inception,” says Bond.  "I look forward to honoring her legacy by continuing to push the imprint to arresting new heights ably abetted by a fiercely talented editorial team.  Expect nothing but the deft storytelling, incomparable artistry and the bravado that has made Vertigo an industry leader."



 (Photo of Shelly Bond)


Dennis has had a long and critically-acclaimed editorial career at Vertigo and DC Comics, which saw him form long-lasting relationships with some of the most renowned creators in comics, including Jason Aaron, Brian Azzarello, Lee Bermejo, R.M. Guera, Jim Lee, Denise Mina, Eduardo Risso, Brian K. Vaughan, Brian Wood and the legendary Joe Kubert. Dennis has edited a number of award-winning ongoing series and special projects for the imprint, such as 100 BULLETS, SPACEMAN, SCALPED, THE LOSERS, PRIDE OF BAGHDAD, DONG XOAI: VIETNAM 1965, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, NORTHLANDERS and DMZ to name a few. Additionally, Dennis has edited many best-selling projects outside of Vertigo, including the JOKER graphic novel, Azzarello and Lee's SUPERMAN: FOR TOMORROW and the current BEFORE WATCHMEN mini-series.

 

A lifelong fan of crime fiction and music, Dennis began his career at Vertigo as Assistant Editor. Prior to Vertigo, Dennis worked at a boutique music and film publicity agency. One of his first jobs was at his local comic shop after college. Dennis points to his current gig as "the best job I've ever had." While he's worked with some of the best and brightest talent the comic book industry has to offer, Dennis says few come close to the experience of working with one of comics all-time greats, writer/artist Joe Kubert, describing it as "a dream come true."

 

Doyle began his career at Vertigo as Assistant Editor in 2006. Always on the lookout for new talent, he launched Scott Snyder’s first ongoing comic book series AMERICAN VAMPIRE with Stephen King and award winning artist Rafael Albuquerque in 2010. He has worked on such titles as SWEET TOOTH, THE NEW DEADWARDIANS, NORTHLANDERS, THE EXTERMINATORS and AMERICAN SPLENDOR by Harvey Pekar and currently assists on the current BEFORE WATCHMEN mini-series.

Shelly Bond's RECOMMENDED VERTIGO SUMMER READING

Summer’s here and with it we’re releasing our summer reading list! Each day this week, we’ll give you a new recommendation from a different VERTIGO editor.   


But don’t worry, we won’t be making you read books without pictures and there's no book report due at the end.  Instead, we’ll be giving you the perfect comic to read at the beach, on a road trip or however you spend your summer. 


Today, Shelly Bond gives us her summer reading pick.


Tuesday Tonic with editor Shelly Bond and Peter Milligan

 

I hope you’ve brought plenty of cocktail napkins!  In this week’s Tuesday Tonic, HELLBLAZER scribe Peter Milligan spills salacious, slobbering secrets about the werewolves of London.  Read on!

What scares you more:  A good old-fashioned Hammer horror film or a good hard look in the mirror?

Well, I have a big mirror on the ceiling in my bedroom above my bed.  The kind of stuff that's reflected there would scare Boris Karloff.

What's the basis for "The House of Wolves," the standalone guest artist issue featuring art by that shy, diminutive art star Simon Bisley?

I'm interested in how John and Epiphany's [his beautiful young wife who’s an alchemist/gangster’s daughter] past might have occasionally crossed, what you might call the mythologies of their lives.  I also like the idea of how memories of the same event can differ, depending on where you're coming from, and this story takes a hairy and crazy look at that.  Here, a crap werewolf movie is the thing that sparks latent memories--and a long dormant infection.

What's your Favorite moment in the story?

I like it when young Piffy meets the werewolf...and has a slightly unusual reaction to it.

What are you reading now and do you read on paper or plastic?

I tend to have  a few things going at the same time.  I'm reading “A Heart So White,” by the Spanish author Javier Maria.   This also deals with the past, and the weight the past puts on the present.   I have a Kindle and that can be useful sometimes but for me it doesn't replace books.

What's John Constantine most likely to munch on in a movie theatre?

Epiphany.


HELLBLAZER #292, The House of Wolves,” is in stores on June 20.



Tuesday Tonic with editor Shelly Bond

Never mind the rank smell of perm solution, welcome to a special edition of Tuesday (Hair) Tonic!  Featuring lovely tresses and old school transformations that will trump your $300.00 triple-process and force you into a state of manic panic!

There’s neon green hair. 

IZOMBIE #25

In stores now




There’s hair down to there.
FAIREST #4

In stores June 6




There’s a deadly stuffed hare.
FABLES #117

In stores May 23




And then there’s hirsute.
HELLBLAZER #292 – House of Wolves

In stores June 20



THE UNWRITTEN-Tuesday Tonic with editor Shelly Bond

Dear Mike and Peter,


Hey, Guys!  Remember me...the person who steered you to stardom in the late ‘90s? Does The Morningstar/Lightbringer/Looks great in Black Tie ring a bell?  Just wanted to tell you both that I got my hands on a copy of THE UNWRITTEN #37 and upon reading it, I had to immediately reach out to both of you to ask you this:

Who ARE You?

(just kidding)

What I really want to ask you is this:

WHAT'S IN A NUMBER?

Sure I was around when you guys launched THE UNWRITTEN and I even read the first few issues...but then, well, to be honest, I got kinda busy.  I've edited lots of other VERTIGO titles since our little 75-issue stint on LUCIFER, the longest running title that spun out of the pages of THE SANDMAN.  No hard feelings when you dumped me for a newer editing model when THE UNWRITTEN launched 3 tears/I mean years ago.

THE UNWRITTEN # 37.  But don't let the number fool you.  It has the guts and the glory of a certified number one.  So it's going to be a serious hit with new and loyal readers alike.

The Neo Set will get a brief, insightful recap by way of the media pages and a new protagonist named Didge, an Australian cop who walks the talk --  especially when it comes to the wrong end of a shotgun.  She takes all the punches to infiltrate a cult a la the Jonestown Massacre. Only these Church of Tommy crackpots use a lexicon that includes all the books that made you who you are as the Kool aid.

Your loyal readers get some unexpected things too with this new direction. They'll find out if a certain vampire sidekick is really infected or if he's faking it.  And the solemn promise that Tom Taylor will neither whine nor cry, pout or pontificate over the death of his girlfriend, Lizzie, or over anything at all for that matter. He might not even BE in this series anymore, right...how about that?!

But I digress...

What I really want to ask you is this:
How did you get my number?

THE UNWRITTEN #37 is teeming with the requisite goods that you'd expect from an Eisner-nominated writer and an amazing artist:  swift, engaging prose, artful pages with gripping linework, lush, painterly color, and covers by an Eisner nominee who exhibits more sound and vision than a symphony.

Make no mistake:  It all starts here.

The Unwritten #37:  The Wound part one is in stores Wednesday, May 23.

p.s.  For what it's worth, I was particularly taken with the change in editorial direction.

But that's just me...
Shelly Bond

Adam Hughes Talks FAIREST Cover #1 With Editor Shelly Bond

 

Cover painter Adam Hughes joins the royal blog party by providing colorful answers to some spectacularly tame questions about FAIREST.  

Adam, What was your first painted cover job?

I can't recall; it was in the late 1900s. I don't remember what I had for breakfast today.

Was it difficult to go from being predominantly a line artist to a cover painter?

Not so much that I recall.  Not NEARLY as difficult as going from being a cover painter back to being a line artist.

When you're asked to do cover sketches, what's the first thing you consider?

What's already been done.  Avoiding repetition can help, because knowing what NOT to do helps narrow your options and focus your ideas.

What determines your palette?  For instance, are you more likely to let the art dictate the palette based on how you light the piece or are you prone to choosing palettes based on inspiration, say from a classic painting, and then go from there?

Yes, to both.  I don't have a set of rules; I go with the principles that will work best for a given assignment.  One thing I almost always do: pick the focal point of the piece. Once I know what color it is, I know that all other colors in the palette will be subordinate to it.

Walk us through the steps from approved sketch to finished art for FAIREST #1.

I talked with the editor & writer about what they wanted.  I then did 2 sketches based on the ideas all three of us came up with.  When the final design was approved, I then started sketching each character.  Since it was a 'painted' piece, I worked from life models when I could.  I then rendered the characters in COPIC marker, scanned it into Photoshop, then colored it there.

How long did it take to paint the wraparound cover?

Far too long.

Play Favorites!
Who is your favorite female character to follow in FABLES or Fairest and why?

Rose Red.  She's such wonderful trouble.

Who is your Favorite to paint?

Probably Snow White.

Do you dream in color, black and white or sepia tones?

Color!  1080i, enhanced for 16 x 9 viewing.

BONUS ALERT!  Adam puts on his writing glove to give the ladies of FAIREST some lines to remember them by:



1:  The Snow Queen: Seriously? The BACK cover? Am I not hot enough for the front?

2:  Cinderella: Here! I think THESE will fit even YOUR enormous clown feet...!

3:  Princess Alder: If I'd known, I'd've grown myself some pants.

4:  Beauty: I guess some us actually NEED our beauty rest...

5:  Ali Baba: I never realized how blonde this place was.

6:  Miss Leigh Duglas (Nurse Spratt): Sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesomely thin I am. Now.

7:  Bo Peep: THIS stuff can wake the dead!

8:  Rapunzel: Can we speed this up? I have a haircut at 3.

9:  Snow White: Wakey-wakey! Eggs and bakey!

10:  Briar Rose, our Sleeping Beauty: I'm up, I'm up. Give a girl a minute, hunh?

11:  Rose Red: You snore, you know that? Something fierce.

12:  Ozma: We're not getting any younger, you know!

13:  The Book:  The title is: "Hair Care Do's & Don'ts For Narcoleptics"

14:  Thumbelina: I'm a big fan of small talk, but let's get this party started!

 

From the Editor's Desk: Tuesday Tonic Holiday Bonus

Holiday bonus alert!!!!!!

14 tracks to make you melt on 02.14.12

The Wild Ones--Suede
More than This--Roxy Music
We are the Dead--David Bowie
The Paris Match--The Style Council
All My Friends--LCD Soundsystem
The Time Is Now--Moloko
Slide Away--Oasis
Step Inside Your Love--Shed Seven
If there's a Heaven Above--Love & Rockets
Thieves Like Us--New Order
Six Different Ways--The Cure
There Is a Light that Never Goes Out--The Smiths

As added by Thursday(?) blogger Will "Hair Grease" Dennis:
Waiting for a Girl Like You--Foreigner
Night Moves--Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band

From the Editor's Desk:TUESDAY (British chocolate & love heart) TONIC

Roll over Sid and Nancy — we know that love kills! Meet the reigning power couples of 2012: From HELLBLAZER:  EPIPHANY GREAVES & JOHN CONSTANTINE She’s a 24-year-old smokin’ hot alchemist and gangster’s daughter. He’s a [age redacted] year-old chain smokin’ street mage and con artist. They are Mr. and Mrs. Constantine.  Follow their latest antics from the magnificent streets of London to the darkest pits of hell.  Issue #288, part 2 of Another Season in Hell, is in stores tomorrow! From FABLES:  SNOW WHITE & BIGBY WOLF She’s the fairest in Fabletown and a tough business woman to boot. He’s the Big Bad Wolf, an ex-sheriff and the son of the North Wind. They had 7 cubs and one is about to be sucked into a story so epically devastating that if you’re wearing a pacemaker, holding a steak knife or reciting purple prose, please deactivate.  We cannot be held responsible for your medical expenses.  FABLES #114, part 1 of Cubs in Toyland, is in stores tomorrow! From iZOMBIE:  SPOT & GAVIN He’s a thoughtful IT guy by day and a were-terrier by night. He’s a handsome comic-book fanboy by day and The Phantasm when a spirit is moved to possess him. They are falling for each other in a BIG way. Find out if they’ll have their first kiss before the world ends in iZOMBIE, a monster send-up series replete with paintball gun wielding vampires, evil scientists, dead presidents and one brain-burger eating, hipster zombie girl. Are those couplings so cute they make your cavities quiver ... or perfectly preposterous?  You decide! Happy 2.14.12! Love, The Girl Most Likely to thank every precious, inarticulate, musically-challenged “ex-boyfriend” (don’t look so surprised...you know who you are...) for dumping her, Shelly

From the Editor's Desks: Vertigo Preview 2012

Listen up, everyone! Next month, we're publishing four great new series, which you might have already heard some buzz about. FAIREST by Bill Willingham and Phil Jiminez, SAUCER COUNTRY by Paul Cornell and Ryan Kelley, DOMINIQUE LAVEAU: VOODOO CHILD by Selwyn Seyfu Hinds and Denys Cowan, and THE NEW DEADWARDIANS by Dan Abnett and I.N.J. Culbard. This week, a fabulous FREE PREVIEW featuring 8 pages from each series is in store, so be sure to go to your favorite comic book shop to get your hands on it. And just to get you in the mood, here are the editor's picks below featuring their favorite page of art. Thanks for your support and thanks for reading! -- Karen Shelly Bond, from FAIREST: Will Dennis, from SAUCER COUNTRY: Karen Berger, from DOMINIQUE LAVEAU: VOODOO CHILD: Will Dennis, from THE NEW DEADWARDIANS:

From the Editor's Desk: Tuesday Tonic with Shelly Bond

They said it COULDN’T be done... Less Talk! FAIREST #1 variant cover by Phil Jimenez with color by Romulo Fajardo Jr. More Action! HELLBLAZER #288 double-page spread by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Stefano Landini Who, exactly ARE they... IZOMBIE #22 page 19 by Michael Allred And what the *@#! do THEY know...?! FABLES #113 page 19 by Adam Hughes page 19 Next week’s edition of Tuesday Tonic will spill absolutely everything that Bill Willingham doesn’t want you to know about FABLES: CUBS IN TOYLAND, the new epic storyline that will END. ALL. OTHERS. No lie, Shelly

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