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Parent company | DC Comics (Warner Bros.) |
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Founded | 1996 |
Defunct | 1998 |
Country of origin | United States |
Headquarters location | New York City |
Key people | Michael Moorcock, Lucius Shepard, Christopher Hinz, Howard Chaykin, Elaine Lee, Matt Howarth, Warren Ellis, Walt Simonson, Garth Ennis |
Publication types | Comic books |
Fiction genres | science fiction, science fantasy |
Helix was a short-lived science fiction and science fantasy imprint of DC Comics, launched in 1996 and discontinued in 1998. In early promotional materials prior to the release of the first title, the imprint was called Matrix instead of Helix. It was renamed because of the then-upcoming film, The Matrix . [1] It featured a handful of ongoing monthly series, several limited series, and one short graphic novel.
Despite the involvement of successful science fiction/fantasy novelists Michael Moorcock, Lucius Shepard and Christopher Hinz, and established comics creators Howard Chaykin, Elaine Lee, Matt Howarth, Warren Ellis, Walt Simonson, and Garth Ennis, sales of the comic books were low, and most of the ongoing titles were cancelled after 12 or fewer issues. Ellis' Transmetropolitan was switched to the Vertigo imprint, where it continued for several more years before reaching its planned conclusion. Ennis' Bloody Mary miniseries and Michael Moorcock's Multiverse were later collected in Vertigo-label paperbacks and Moeller's Sheva's War was released as a graphic novel paperback by Dark Horse.
Limited availability of the books in bookstores that already sold science fiction, resistance among science-fiction readers to serialized monthly publication, the lower visibility of the line's deliberately muted cover color palette, and the lack of interest in genre SF among regular patrons of comic-book stores were all cited by industry observers as factors in the imprint's demise.
Vertigo Comics, also known as DC Vertigo or simply Vertigo, was an imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics started by editor Karen Berger in 1993. Vertigo's purpose was to publish comics with adult content, such as nudity, drug use, profanity, and graphic violence, that did not fit the restrictions of DC's main line, thus allowing more creative freedom. Its titles consisted of company-owned comics set in the DC Universe, such as The Sandman and Hellblazer, and creator-owned works, such as Preacher, Y: The Last Man and Fables. The Vertigo branding was retired in 2020, and most of its library transitioned to DC Black Label.
Garth Ennis is a Northern Irish-American comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series Preacher with artist Steve Dillon, his nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise, and The Boys with artist Darick Robertson. He has collaborated with artists such as Dillon and Glenn Fabry on Preacher, John McCrea on Hitman, Marc Silvestri on The Darkness, and Carlos Ezquerra on both Preacher and Hitman. His work has won him recognition in the comics industry, including nominations for the Comics Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000.
Transmetropolitan is a cyberpunk transhumanist comic book series written by Warren Ellis and co-created and designed by Darick Robertson; it was published by the American company DC Comics in 1997–2002. The series was originally part of the short-lived DC Comics imprint Helix, but upon the end of the book's first year the series was moved to the Vertigo imprint after DC Comics shut down their Helix imprint. Transmetropolitan chronicles the battles of Spider Jerusalem, infamous renegade gonzo journalist of the future.
John McCrea is a comic book artist best known for his collaborations with writer Garth Ennis.
Brian Azzarello is an American comic book writer and screenwriter who first came to prominence with the hardboiled crime series 100 Bullets, published by DC Comics' mature-audience imprint Vertigo. Azzarello is best known for his numerous collaborations with artists Eduardo Risso and Lee Bermejo, his contributions to the Watchmen prequel project Before Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns sequel series DK III: The Master Race, as well as for his stints on the long-running Vertigo series Hellblazer and The New 52 relaunch of the Wonder Woman title.
David Lloyd is an English comics artist best known as the illustrator of the story V for Vendetta, written by Alan Moore.
Jamie Delano is an English comic book writer. He was part of the first post-Alan Moore "British Invasion" of writers which started to feature in American comics in the 1980s. He is best known as the first writer of the comic book series Hellblazer, featuring John Constantine.
Darick W. Robertson is an American artist best known for his work as a comic book illustrator on series he co-created, notably Transmetropolitan (1997–2002) and The Boys.
Ocean is a 2004 six-issue comic book miniseries, written by Warren Ellis with pencils by Chris Sprouse and inks by Karl Story. It was published by American company DC Comics under the Wildstorm imprint.
Brian Wood is an American writer, illustrator, and graphic designer, known for his work in comic books, television and video games. His noted comic book work includes the series DMZ, Demo, Northlanders, The Massive, Marvel Comics' The X-Men, and Star Wars. His web series work includes adaptations of his own short stories from the comics series The Massive and Conan the Barbarian for Geek & Sundry and YouTube, and his video game work includes three years on staff at Rockstar Games, co-writing 1979 Revolution: Black Friday and story contributions to Aliens: Fireteam Elite. His television work includes pilot scripts for AMC, Amazon Studios, and Sonar Entertainment. He is a contributing writer on HBO Max's DMZ adaptation of his own work.
Gary Erskine is a Scottish comic book artist.
Terminal City is the name for two comic book limited series published by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint in 1996 and 1997, with, respectively nine and five issues. Dean Motter was the writer and Michael Lark was the artist for the series.
Bob Fingerman is an American comic book writer/artist born in Queens, New York, who is best known for his comic series Minimum Wage.
Matt Kindt is an American comic book writer, cartoonist, and graphic designer. His early creator-owned works were spy fiction, and their success led to mainstream work for hire projects in superhero fiction and other genres. His work has been nominated for Eisner Awards and Harvey Awards. In the comic industry, he is best known for his work on MIND MGMT, the Valiant Entertainment superhero universe, and BRZRKR, the first issue of which is the highest-selling single issue of the 21st century.
Christopher Moeller is an American writer and painter, specializing in fully painted graphic novels. Moeller's signature creation is the Iron Empires science-fiction universe, comprising three fully painted graphic novels Faith Conquers, Sheva's War and Void, a short story in Dark Horse Presents, and a second in the anthology Negative Burn. In 2006, an Iron Empires role-playing game was published, called Burning Empires.
John Christian Roberson, known professionally as Chris Roberson, is an American science fiction author and publisher who is best known for alternate history novels and short stories.
This is a bibliography of the works of Michael Moorcock.
Jeff Lemire is a Canadian comic book writer, artist, and television producer. He is the author of critically acclaimed titles including the Essex County Trilogy, Sweet Tooth, and The Nobody. His written work includes All-New Hawkeye, Extraordinary X-Men, Moon Knight and Old Man Logan for Marvel; Superboy, Animal Man, Justice League Dark, and Green Arrow for DC; Black Hammer and Mazebook for Dark Horse; Descender and Gideon Falls for Image Comics; and Bloodshot Reborn for Valiant.