Vertigo Jam - TV Tropes

Vertigo Jam was a one-shot anthology printed by DC Comics imprint Vertigo in August 1993, containing seven stories that each were part of a major title associated with the imprint at the time and featuring cover art by Glenn Fabry.

• "The Castle", a The Sandman (1989) story by Neil Gaiman that is illustrated by Kevin Nowlan
• "Tainted Love", a Hellblazer story by Garth Ennis that is illustrated by Steve Dillon
• "Talking Turkey", an Animal Man story by Jamie Delano that is penciled by Scot Eaton and inked by Mark Pennington
• "Spooks Return Satisfied", a Doom Patrol (1987) story by Rachel Pollack that is illustrated by Eric Shanower
• "The Ghost in the Green", a Swamp Thing story by Nancy A. Collins that is penciled by Phil Hester and inked by Kim DeMulder
• "He Who Falls", a Kid Eternity story by Ann Nocenti that is penciled by Duncan Fegredo and inked by Sean Phillips
• "The Vision", a Shade, the Changing Man story by Peter Milligan that is illustrated by Mike Allred

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Tropes:

• Alliterative Title: The Animal Man story is titled "Talking Turkey", while the Swamp Thing story is titled "The Ghost in the Green".
• Bath Suicide: John Constantine when asked about the fate of Annette at the end of "Tainted Love" remarks that he can make a rough couple of guesses. His statement accompanies a panel depicting what is implied to be the aftermath of Annette committing suicide by slitting her wrists in the bathtub with scissors.
• Blatant Lies: Nuala in "The Castle" unconvincingly claims that she is not homesick and doesn't miss her homeland Faerie at all.
• Double-Meaning Title: "Talking Turkey" refers both to the story featuring a turkey able to speak and how the plot entails Buddy having a serious conversation with the turkey.
• Flipping the Bird:
  • "Tainted Love" features a flashback of Seth giving John Constantine the finger.
  • "Talking Turkey" ends with Buddy Baker being so pissed off by the turkey he talked to dismissing humans as irredeemably cruel and insinuating that his vegetarianism doesn't do enough to make up for it that he flips off the turkey as it walks away.
• Let Them Die Happy: In "The Vision", Shade obliges a dying priest's wish of facing damnation before he leaves the mortal plane by using his powers to make it so the last thing the priest dies is an illusion of the Devil. Lenny believes the priest to have gone off easy for his life of sin (mainly taking issue with the priest's hypocrisy than his debauchery) and brings up that she regrets not having the nerve to inform her dying grandmother of her doubts that the hereafter exists.
• Male Gaze: The cover art shows Dorothy Spinner clad in jeans while holding hands with Robotman, the depiction clearly intending to display her rear in a sultry manner.
• Taken Off Life Support: "The Ghost in the Green" has Swamp Thing encounter a spirit named Greensleeves, who asks for his help because he's trapped in a limbo between life and death because of his human body Alan Helstrom being hospitalized after a failed attempt by the Green to create a new plant elemental to take Swamp Thing's place. Swamp Thing obliges by using his power over vegetation to unplug Alan Helstrom's life support.

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