26 years later, Vertigo was closed in 2019 as an imprint. Shortly after celebrating the 25th anniversary, we celebrated a new book and a new take on Sandman’s universe. These latter books continued a little longer under the black label imprint, but the lines that brought heights like the preacher, Y: The Last Man, 100 bullets, and more were closed.
The slate, the final book for 2018/2019, had some controversy with some titles. One in particular was very justified, but it felt like some of the books caught up in the so-called culture wars, played by many people who wanted an angry click. For me, most books felt very consistent with the type of series Vertigo had always been publishing. Sci-fi with a keen sense of horror, crime, fantasy and social commentary.
The line was recently revitalized last year in 2024, but with a lovely home by the sea, it has not yet been announced. I hope something will be announced this year in San Diego. In the meantime, I wanted to look back at some of the titles of the last and last batch.
“You have a strange device case!”
Hex Wives by Ben Blacker, Mirka Andolfo, Marissa Louise and Josh Reed are suited to that horror in the molding of social comments. The witch’s contract is somehow carved and trapped in a life of a housewife in the 50s, which reminds me of Ira Levin’s Stepford wife.
With equal humor and feminist rage, we slowly see women gain their strength and stand up to prisoners. We know who these women are from the start, so it’s not a spoiler. They are once again finding a way to deal with who they are and the men who conquered the men who feed the story. And the cat. Of course there are cats.
Fans of her own sweet paprika and brass famis will find something a little different here with Mirca Adolfo’s artwork. This work isn’t too exaggerated, and the character shape and design are a little more natural. Some sequences have interesting repetitions that reinforce the idea that women are trapped in a cycle. In the opening chapter, we get some violence, but the streamlined characters and costumes fit the mid-century Americana vibe that takes place in town. Although the colour of Marissa Louise gives it a slightly creepy feel. There’s something about the color choice, almost pale bluish blue, yellow, red, green. Something wrong and unnatural is there in town. Solid letters from Josh Reed.
“Are you a good witch or a bad witch?”
The Hex Wives of Blacker, Andolfo, Louise and Reed are fun spins in Stepford Wives formulas, with witches and male organisations keeping prisoners. It is tragic for women to think about what has been done to “protect” society from the power of witches, but there is satisfaction when they control for autonomy, authority and themselves.
It’s clear that it was intended to have more to the story. There were more witches to free him. More revelation about what they have done over time. And the wolf’s mother sisters say they were still alive or something else was happening. It’s a shame we couldn’t see these further stories.
Classic comics big summary: Hexwive
Hexagonal Wife
Author: Ben Blacker
Artist: Mirka Andolfo
Colorist: Marissa Louise
Letter: Josh Reed
Publisher: DC Comics – Vertigo
Release date: October 31, 2018 – March 27, 2019
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