''The Vinyl Underground'' is a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

published by the

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

imprint of

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

, created and written by

Si Spencer Si Spencer (1961 – 16 February 2021)Si Spencer, 1961-2021
at ''

with art by

Simon Gane Simon Gane is a British artist from Bath known for his work in the comic book field. Gane grew up influenced by the comics of Hergé and Jacques Tardi.Spurgeon, Tom"CR Holiday Interview #3: Simon Gane,"''Comics Reporter'' (December 17, 2007). He ...

. The title debuted in October 2007 and ran for twelve issues before its cancellation in September 2008.

Overview

Background

Unveiled at the

San Diego ComiCon San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...

in 2007 by Vertigo's

Karen Berger Karen Berger (; born February 26, 1958) is an People of the United States, American comic book editor. She is best known for her role in helping create DC Comics' Vertigo Comics, Vertigo imprint in 1993 and serving as the line (comics), line's E ...

as "'yet another' good Vertigo book about England", ''The Vinyl Underground'' is described by its author,

Si Spencer Si Spencer (1961 – 16 February 2021)Si Spencer, 1961-2021
at ''

as "a love–hate story about the streets

f London F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. His ...

that shaped its characters, and that shaped its author".The Star Clipper Blog: October 2007, "The Vinyl Underground", October 11, 2007
. Accessed August 7, 2008 Spencer—who writes for TV series '' EastEnders''—credits London, his "adopted home now for ten years", with " o thousand years of violence

hich Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...

have shaped its streets" as well as fiction set within them. Spencer writes in the Vertigo column "On the Ledge" that the city "constantly barg dinto the story uninvited", informing in the process the "right narrative voice" for the ''Vinyl Underground'' series.Vertigo: "On the Ledge with Si Spencer", October 3, 2007
Accessed August 7, 2008 Illustrator

described the title as "scary, glamorous, fun, dark and articulate", (while fellow-artist Andi Watson noted that Gane's work " a bit saucy") but also "hard to draw".Blog@Newsarama
: Andi Watson "Q&A: Simon Gane", July 20, 2007. Accessed August 7, 2008 Gane's work on ''The Vinyl Underground'' was deliberately drawn "in a more realistic style" than his usual (self-described as "warped") work, which move he felt " ada constructive effect on my drawing and story-telling". The first issue was released on October 3, 2007 (cover-dated December) featuring cover art by

Sean Phillips Sean Phillips (born 27 January 1965) is a British comic book artist, best known for his collaborations with Ed Brubaker on comics including '' Sleeper'', ''Incognito'', the '' Criminal'' series of comics, '' Fatale'', '' The Fade Out'', and ' ...

. Gane summarized the series as being "set in London and featur ngan ad-hoc group of self-appointed detectives who become embroiled in occult-tinged crimes with a strong supporting cast of mobsters and so on". While author Spencer stressed that it was "not just a detective thriller about a bunch of graduates hanging out in an abandoned underground station investigating occult crime", but also featured the city of London as a major 'character'. Publisher Vertigo described the series as a "fast-paced, ultra-cool ongoing crime-noir series", featuring "an unlikely quartet of occult detectives secretly solv ngcrimes — from DJ crack bars in Camden to the elegant, high-society ballrooms that make up modern London".

Characters

The four-man group is led by minor celebrity DJ Morrison Shepherd, the "son of an ex-footballer" recently released from prison. Shepherd is aided by Perv (Callum O'Connor), an ex-con

clairvoyant Clairvoyance (; ) is the magical ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or physical event through extrasensory perception. Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant () ("one who sees cl ...

"whose seizures give him clues to crimes long before the cops", Leah King, a morgue assistant who moonlights as an internet model/pornstar, and Shepherd's ex-girlfriend Kim "Abi" Abiola, an "African tribal Princess in exile" whose witchdoctor father is accused of the murder which becomes the group's first mystery.Spencer, Si & Gane, Simon ''The Vinyl Underground'' #1 (Vertigo, Nov 2007) Abi is also described by Spencer as "an expert in the psycho-geography of London", a theme which has also informed the works of writers

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...

Iain Sinclair Iain Sinclair FRSL (born 11 June 1943) is a writer and filmmaker. Much of his work is rooted in London, recently within the influences of psychogeography. Biography Education Sinclair was born in Cardiff in 1943. From 1956 to 1961, he was educate ...

and

Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Sel ...

, among others. Living in an abandoned

Underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

station, the group investigates occult crimes in a manner evocative of fellow-Vertigo character

John Constantine John Constantine () is a fictional character who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Constantine first appeared in ''Swamp Thing'' #37 (June 1985), and was created by Alan Moore, Stephen R. Bissette, Rick Veitch, and John Tot ...

, providing anonymous tip-offs to the police force through D.S. Caulfield.

Collected editions

The series has been collected into a couple of

trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...

: * ''Watching the Detectives'' (collects #1–5, 128 pages, Vertigo, June 2008, ) * ''Pretty Dead Things'' (collects #6–12, 128 pages, Vertigo, Dec 2008, )''Pretty Dead Things''
at DC

Notes

References

* *

External links

''The Vinyl Underground'' #1 - link dead at 30 March 2022
at DC Comics.com
Artist Simon Gane's blog

Talking to Simon Gane (Part 2 of 2)
Broken Frontier, January 31, 2008

Reviews

Comics Bulletin Comics Bulletin was a daily website covering the American comic-book industry. History Silver Bullet Comicbooks The site was founded in January 2000 as Silver Bullet Comicbooks by its New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice. During this ...

Review of issue #1

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

Best Shots review of issue #1

Newsarama Newsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website GamesRadar+, also owned by FutureUS. History ...

Issue #1 review
Broken Frontier
Issue #1 Preview
SuperPouvoir.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Vinyl Underground 2007 comics debuts