Is Vertigo a part of the DC Universe/Multiverse?

[Technobuilder]

Is Vertigo also now a part of the DC multiverse?

Also do the Books of Magic and/or Tim Hunter have any current impact or effect upon the magical realities which exist there?

I know Zatanna and John Constantine have made main stream crossovers in the past, but I was hoping one of you could help me clear up the particulars.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Some parts of Vertigo exist within the DCU. The creator-owned stuff doesn't.

So, yes, The Sandman is part of the DCU. John Constantine and Madame Xanadu are part of the DCU. Swamp Thing is part of the DCU.

But when Vertigo became its own imprint, a wall went up between the DCU and the Vertigo characters. That wall is starting to fall, however.

As for the Tim Hunter question, I can't really answer that.

 

[Christopher]

"Is vertigo a part of the DC Universe?"

Sure, if Batman dangles you off a building.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

*facepalm*

 

[TemporalFlux]

So, yes, The Sandman is part of the DCU. John Constantine and Madame Xanadu are part of the DCU. Swamp Thing is part of the DCU.

...

As for the Tim Hunter question, I can't really answer that.

I believe Tim crossed over with all of those characters and more (including Etrigan, Zatarra and Spectre). Also, I believe that the original Books of Magic mini-series was published before Vertigo existed (the mini in 1990 and Vertigo launching in 1993).

 

[Silvercrest]

"Is vertigo a part of the DC Universe?"

Sure, if Batman dangles you off a building.

*facepalm*

Insert stupid reference to Count Vertigo here.

 

[Myasishchev]

So, yes, The Sandman is part of the DCU. John Constantine and Madame Xanadu are part of the DCU. Swamp Thing is part of the DCU.

...

As for the Tim Hunter question, I can't really answer that.

I believe Tim crossed over with all of those characters and more (including Etrigan, Zatarra and Spectre).

Yep. The first Books of Magic is (however entertaining) very little more than a guided tour of DC's magic community. The last time I checked, Tim Hunter had nothing whatsoever to do with the DCU, however. Kind of a shame, since that was his whole point as originally conceived. But I don't really know too much about Tim Hunter, although I'm rather certain Day of Vengeance owes a lot to Mr. E's showcase of the future seen in Books of Magic.

It's really hard to square John Constantine with the actual DCU, too, even though at one point he was very much ingrained within it.

As noted above, Sandman was very well-established as part of the DCU--but it has very strange limits on when it can be invoked as part of the canon, owing to Neil Gaiman's dead hand control over the franchise.

So, you have Dream still very occasionally appearing in DCU books, and Death was in Action Comics quite recently. You'd think she might have given more of a shit about the Black Lanterns, but then you'd also think she'd try to get her brother out of the cage he'd been stuck in for seventy years, so there you go.

Does anyone know what the actual deal with Gaiman and DC regarding Death is? Is it contractual, or merely gentlemanly brand-maintenance? It's probably for the best, but I don't see why Gaiman gets to lord it over Death till the day he meets her, when he was free to do anything he wanted with other people's creations (Destiny, Element Girl, the Fury, Kirby's Sandman, Doctor Destiny, and so on).

 

[Admiral_Young]

Constantine and Zatanna were engaged at one point so I think John is a loose part of the DCU if not totally interactive with it. As mentioned Death was used in Paul Cornell's Action Comic in one of the best issues of the run where she interacted with Luthor. It's apart of it but not really used much in it.

 

[timothy]

well this month in action comics death who is sandmans sister appears before lex luthor . also action hits 900. batman has also guest stared in constintine numberous of times . and the batman has crossedover into swampthings title as well. currently swampthing does'nt have a title I think.
titles also like preacher are not dcu . nor is american vampire.
jona hex is part of the dcu batman has been in that title as well . zatana is part of dcu because she's part of the league .

 

[Myasishchev]

Constantine and Zatanna were engaged at one point so I think John is a loose part of the DCU if not totally interactive with it. As mentioned Death was used in Paul Cornell's Action Comic in one of the best issues of the run where she interacted with Luthor. It's apart of it but not really used much in it.

Personally, what I'd really like to see is a really dumb Spectre vs. Dream punch-up, with lots of splash pages.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

The Vertigo characters are a part of the DC Universe when it makes sense or brings something to the story, and they're not part of the DCU when it doesn't make sense.

John Constantine has met Swamp Thing and dozens of superheroes including Batman and Zatanna, but when you're reading Hellblazer, it's quite obvious that the book has very little to do with a cape & spandex universe. Constantine has met the Vertigo version of Shade the Changing Man at least twice, but Vertigo Shade doesn't seem to be a part of the DC Universe (for example, the fact that San Francisco was nuked in the series has never been acknowledged anywhere else in DC comics). It's flexible, really.