And to be fair to the snobs, they did have a point. Despite dipping their toes into mature themes with the likes of Green Lantern/Green Arrow and the few titles and storylines since which attempted to explore more grown-up ideas than most superhero titles, for the most part mainstream comic books were still in a state of arrested development. Never was that more obvious in the light of genuinely mature, deconstructionist comics like Watchmen and the Dark Knight Returns, which didn't usher in a new era of mature works, as most creative teams took those iconic stories' "gritty" sensibility and nothing else. It wasn't until the creation of Vertigo Comics, DC's mature readers line, that mainstream comic books caught up with the adult readership that had been reading underground comix and "graphic novels" for a couple of decades. Under the auspicious of visionary editor Karen Berger, Vertigo launched in 1993 with the likes of Hellblazer, Doom Patrol, Animal Man and Gaiman's Sandman. Many of those books were already published by DC, but bringing them into the Vertigo line offered them the chance to delve into even more adult themes than they would have been allowed in the main line, producing some of the best comic books in the form's history. It also paved the way for its creators to make increasingly mature works, inspired Marvel to start its own mature readers MAX line, and was eventually the catalyst for all comic publishers to do away with the self-censoring Comics Code Authority, allowing all titles to be a bit more grown up. Or at least have more swearing in them.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
