DC Vertigo

Not to be confused with Vertigo Entertainment or Vertigo Films.

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.

The Vertigo branding began to decline in the 2010s, as certain properties like Hellblazer and Swamp Thing were re-integrated into DC's main comic books, while Berger departed in 2013. Berger's departure was followed by a series of editorial restructures, culminating in the imprint's relaunch as DC Vertigo in 2018. However, the relaunch suffered a multitude of setbacks, including numerous cancellations.

After months of speculation, in June 2019, DC announced that Vertigo would be discontinued in January 2020 as part of a plan to publish all the company's comics under a single banner, with DC Black Label taking its place as DC's mature readers' imprint. DC has announced a relaunch of Vertigo to run alongside Black Label in October 2024.

1st Logo (February 17, 2005)

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Visuals: On a black background, many light flashes occur with red and blue noise, eventually showing the word "VERTIGO" in a deformed white font. Red text reading "DC COMICS" expands underneath it.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: Electronic noise.

Availability: Only appeared on Constantine for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC.

2nd Logo (February 18, 2005-April 23, 2010)

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Standard LogoLogo Variations

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  V For Vendetta variant (A)
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  V For Vendetta variant (B)

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  Constantine (2005): Following the Village Roadshow Pictures variant, the logo is made of stone and is put on the same ominous sky background as the preceding logos. It gets destroyed after a few seconds, with the pieces of the logo dissolving to the left of the screen.
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  V for Vendetta (2006): The logo is dark gray and has an old film effect to it.
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  The Losers (2010): The logo comes with a comic-strip style like the others do.

Visuals: The sequence starts with the 2005 DC Comics logo in its finished form, but after a few seconds, it dissolves and melts into particles. These particles zoom into the word "VERTIGO" (which is cut out of a white box). As this happens, the background changes to a red smoky background. Then, "DC COMICS" appears below and an outline comes up around the logo.

Technique: CGI by Imaginary Forces.

Audio: The last part of the 2005 DC Comics logo's music, followed by a scary synth theme. Otherwise, it's the opening theme of the movie.

Availability: To date, the regular logo has only been seen on the Imaginary Forces website. The few movies that did use this logo utilized variants; one of the variants from those movies, V for Vendetta, used a recolored version of the normal logo.

3rd Logo (March 17, 2015-August 1, 2019)

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  iZombie
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  Lucifer (pilot)
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  Lucifer

Visuals: On a custom background (depending on the show), the "VERTIGO" wordmark zooms out letter-by-letter, with shadows forming a black box. As they zoom out, "FROM DC ENTERTAINMENT" fades in. It then transitions to the Warner Bros. Television logo.

Variants:

• iZombie: The logo is placed on a dark red brain-patterned background. Then it zooms out to the Warner Bros. Television variant afterwards.
• Lucifer (Pilot): The logo is placed on a dark red background. Flames transition to the Warner Bros. Television variant afterwards.
• Lucifer (Seasons 1-4): The logo is placed on a dark red fire background. Then it transitions to the Warner Bros. Television variant afterwards.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: It varies depending on the show. On the Lucifer pilot, the logo is silent.

Availability: Seen on iZombie and seasons 1-4 of Lucifer (seasons 5 and 6 use the 2016 DC Comics logo instead).