Comic Book Babylon
Written and read by Tim Pilcher
Audible - 2019
Audible / digital download
There have been other books, plays, comics and audios since I last posted here but for a variety of reasons we'll get round to those later. One of them may even be the best reading of the best book I've ever listened to but I haven't found the right words to describe that one yet so those thoughts will have to continue fermenting.
Another thing worth mentioning is that I am currently in the middle of a reread of Grant Morrison's The Filth comic series and so when this book was recommended to me on the weekend, it felt like another little signpost back onto the synchronicity highway. There have been far too many random nudges in recent weeks that have turned me back to look at the late 90s early 00s and all of the many crazy, counter cultural ideas I was absorbing through books, TV, film and comics back then. I've learned to just go with it when that nudging happens and see where it leads me.
Vertigo comics was the mature adult imprint of DC comics that became home to Sandman and SwampThing, Hellblazer, Preacher and the Invisibles, to name some of the most popular series. There were dozens of other lesser known but none the less important titles. And in its heyday it was an absolute guarantee of mature writing, cutting edge ideas and of great story telling. They were also comics with almost zero superheroes in them or at least superheros that didn't follow the punchy solution to every problem.
Comic Book Babylon is a small expose of the shenanigans in and around the Vertigo London offices in the mid 90's. Of the drugs, drink, parties and blowing the company expense accounts. Its also an interesting glimpse into the exploding comic scene back then and a poke behind the curtain of how the magic was made. Maybe they don't make the best stories in their telling but there must have been plenty of proper quality work going on between the trips to the pub.
I actually really liked this book and if anything I would love to know more about Vertigo as a whole, not for the excesses of its staff and contributers, but to get a better sense of what an outpouring of creativity it must have been. There's an excellent documentary about 2000AD called: Future Shock! The Story of 2000AD. I would love something similar about Vertigo even if that meant the London office might only get presented as a drunken footnote.
Steve
