An imprint of a publisher is a trade name under which it publishes a work. A single publishing company may have multiple imprints, often using the different names as brands to market works to various demographic consumer segments .
14-405: DC Black Label (also referred to simply as Black Label ) is an imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics consisting of original miniseries and reprints of books previously published under other imprints. The imprint intends to present traditional DC Universe characters for a mature audience with stand-alone Prestige Format series. The first title of the imprint, Batman: Damned ,
28-661: A hypothetical future in mainstream continuity, which may or may not happen. In the third category are stories which happen with the DCU but aren't taking place with the monthly books that DC publishes, but, like The Killing Joke , might have an impact on it if the writer choose so. Several lines occur under the Black Label imprint. Each of these Lines are often shared under the same creative umbrella with some sort of connections between each series, whether that be through creative teams, shared universe or even thematically. The line
42-439: A number of series have been reprinted under this label. Be that original titles originally published under DC Vertigo, Wildstorm or titles originally published by DC Comics Imprint (trade name) An imprint of a publisher is a trade name —a name that a business uses for trading commercial products or services—under which a work is published . Imprints typically have a defining character or mission . In some cases,
56-417: Is a pop-up horror line of comics founded and curated by Joe Hill under DC Black Label. The first title, Basketful of Heads #1, written by Joe Hill, was released on October 30, 2019. There is also a backup story, Sea Dogs , written by Joe Hill in every comic series, with each chapter of this story following the order of when each comic issue under Hill House Comics was released. A Sea Dogs trade paperback
70-438: Is seen as "a game holding company with autonomous game publishing and development subsidiaries". Independently-owned game publishers like Devolver Digital also use the word "label" to describe itself. A single publishing company may have multiple imprints, with the different imprints often used by the publisher to market works to different demographic consumer segments . For example, the objective of Viking —an imprint of
84-485: The Penguin Group —is "[t]o publish a strictly limited list of good nonfiction, such as biography, history and works on contemporary affairs, and distinguished fiction with some claim to permanent importance rather than ephemeral popular interest". This publishing -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sean Murphy (artist) Too Many Requests If you report this error to
98-473: The Black Label line, such as Sweet Tooth: The Return and Fables #151 - 162. Many series released by DC Black Label focus on characters from the DC Universe, with stories described as darker or more mature, or reinventions of existing characters. Geoff Johns said that the Black Label stories do not always have to exist outside of the main universe canon. Stories which may not intentionally exist within
112-880: The diversity results from the takeover of smaller publishers (or parts of their business) by a larger company. In the case of Barnes & Noble , imprints have been used to facilitate the venture of a bookseller into publishing. In the video game industry, some game companies operate various publishing labels with Take-Two Interactive credited as "the father of label" in their case the labels are wholly owned incorporated entities with their own publishing and distributing, sales and marketing infrastructure and management teams and their own respective subsidiaries also incorporated (Rockstar North Limited, 2K Vegas, Inc.). This model has influenced rivals including Activision Blizzard , ZeniMax , Electronic Arts from 2008 to 2018, Warner Bros. Interactive , Embracer Group , and Koei Tecmo . Take-Two have had such models in place since 1997–1998, and
126-496: The main universe upon release can be folded into the main universe dependant on their success or popularity. Tom King, speaking on the topic of continuity with mainline DC, has said that there are three major categories, based on DC published during the 1980s. Comics in one category have nothing to do with the DC Universe. In the second category are stories which could exist in hypothetical futures of mainstream continuity, such as The Dark Knight Returns , and these stories are set in
140-531: The rules of continuity and age ratings. With the discontinuation of DC's Vertigo imprint, new and current series, as well as reprints of old titles, are being published under the DC Black Label imprint beginning in 2020. Some series reprinted include The Sandman , Fables , Y: The Last Man , The Sleeper , Sweet Tooth , Animal Man , Doom Patrol , Swamp Thing , Watchmen , IZombie , etc. Continuations of Vertigo series are published under
154-648: Was launched in order to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman (1989–1996) and for Vertigo's 25th anniversary. The line began in August 2018 with The Sandman Universe being unveiled by creator Neil Gaiman. This line was initially published under the Vertigo label, but DC closed the Vertigo line in January 2020 as part of a reorganization of age-directed imprints. All Sandman Universe titles are currently published under DC Black Label. Hill House Comics
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#1732780900218168-563: Was published in a trade paperback format as part of a Hill House Box Set that collected all the backup stories and added additional pages. The latest series in this imprint, Refrigerator Full of Heads was a sequel to the first series released and concluded in April 2022. By March 2020, following the success of Batman: White Knight (2017–2018) and Batman: Curse of the White Knight (2019–2020), both comics created by Sean Murphy , DC
182-471: Was reportedly interested in creating a mini-imprint centered around Murphy's works. Referred to as the "Murphyverse", the imprint intends to feature limited series set in the shared universe first established in the White Knight series. The main line titles in this universe have been written and drawn by Murphy himself, with spin-offs being written and drawn by other creators. Through DC Black Label
196-648: Was shipped on September 19, 2018. Single issues of comic books that are issued under the Black Label line will be published in Prestige Format. If a comic book series exceeds a miniseries run length, it will be published in standard format. All series are eventually collected in hardcover format. Black Label was launched in September 2018. Black Label is designed for writers and artists to create more adult oriented/"edgy" stories, without having to follow
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