The Trenchcoat Brigade

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The Trenchcoat Brigade
Trenchcoat brigade comic book cover small.jpg
The Trenchcoat Brigade #1, cover art by Glenn Fabry.
Publication information
Publisher Vertigo
ScheduleMonthly
Format Limited series
Publication dateMarch – June 1999
No. of issues4
Creative team
Written by John Ney Rieber
Artist(s) John Ridgway
Letterer(s) Elle De Ville
Colorist(s) Alex Sinclair
Editor(s) Cliff Chiang
Stuart Moore

The Trenchcoat Brigade is a four-issue comic book limited series that was published in 1999 as a part of DC Comics' Vertigo imprint, featuring several mystic DC Universe characters.

Contents

The title references an offhand joke used by John Constantine in the earlier Books of Magic series to label a loose affiliation of mystics including himself, Phantom Stranger, Doctor Occult, and Mister E who share a preference for trenchcoats as their outdoor wear (Constantine was knowingly paraphrasing the title of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's famous "The Charge of the Light Brigade", about a reckless military event). [1]

Publication history

They first appeared together in Neil Gaiman's The Books of Magic series, in which they attempted to guide Tim Hunter through various realms of Magic in the DC Universe in order to teach him all of Magic's abilities and consequences.

The group would later re-unite in the five-issue miniseries The Names of Magic, before finally getting their own miniseries.

Members

CharacterReal nameFirst joined teamFirst appearance
John Constantine John Constantine The Books of Magic #1
(December 1990)
The Saga of the Swamp Thing #37
(June 1985)
Doctor Occult Richard OccultThe Books of Magic #1
(December 1990)
New Fun Comics #6
(October 1935)
Mister E ErikThe Books of Magic #1
(December 1990)
Secrets of Haunted House #31
(December 1980)
Phantom Stranger variousThe Books of Magic #1
(December 1990)
Phantom Stranger #1
(August–September 1952)
Rose Psychic Rose SpiritusThe Books of Magic #3
(February 1991)
More Fun Comics #19 (March 1937)

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References

  1. Irvine, Alex (2008). "The Books of Magic". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The Vertigo Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. pp. 38–41. ISBN   978-0-7566-4122-1. OCLC   213309015.