VERTIGO CRIME LINE MAKES ITS DEBUT IN AUGUST

Attention: Fans of 100 Bullets and Ed Brubaker’s Criminal

NEW LINE BEGINS WITH TITLES FROM BRIAN AZZARELLO AND IAN RANKIN

Vertigo, the preeminent line of comics and books for mature readers, is coming out swinging this August with Vertigo Crime, a new line of original graphic novels dedicated to the mystery and crime genre.

The first release is the hard-hitting graphic novel FILTHY RICH, from Eisner Award-winning writer Brian Azzarello and artist Victor Santos.

Azzarello comes to this project at the top of his game. FILTHY RICH follows the massive critical and commercial success of the twisted JOKER original graphic novel and the riveting resolution of the Eisner Award-winning 100 BULLETS. Azzarello delivers dark, gritty, no-nonsense dialogue in a story chock full of sex, violence and back stabbing egomaniacs with criminal intentions.

Azzarello’s illustrator and collaborator is artist Victor Santos, voted Spain’s best comic artist three years in a row. This marks his first work for a major American publisher. Santos’ heavily shadowed and haunting style brings to life the glitz and grunge love story of an unsuspecting, washed up ex football player from New Jersey and a cunning, rich, party girl. FILTHY RICH is a pulpy thrill ride that will have you enthralled till the very end.

DARK ENTRIES is the other Vertigo Crime launch title, written by bestselling international crime novelist Ian Rankin, author of the acclaimed Inspector Rebus series, with art by Werther Dell’Edera. In his comics debut, Rankin takes British paranormal investigator John Constantine and introduces him to the horrors of . . . reality television.

Brought to the set of Haunted Mansion, Rankin takes the classic “locked room” scenario, taking a classic Agatha Christie trope, and in typical Vertigo fashion, gives it a bloody nose and a cigarette. Rankin’s illustrator and collaborator is artist Werther Dell’Edera, whose work Publishers Weekly calls “as stylized and chiaroscuro-laden as a vintage noir movie.” Cinematic in scope, together, Rankin and Dell’Edera keep you on the edge of your seat till the very last page.

Each Vertigo Crime hardcover will feature a striking cover by Lee Bermejo (JOKER) and dramatic black, white and gray interior art. Upcoming releases offer everything crime and mystery fans crave: the police procedural, the murder mystery, the sci-fi thriller, and straight up hardboiled, classic noir.

Both are scheduled to arrive at CBH on August 19 with a cover price of $19.99.

The above is a slightly edited DC Comics press release