Helix (comics)

Helix (comics)

Parent company	DC Comics (Time Warner)
Status	defunct, 1998
Founded	1996
Country of origin	United States
Headquarters location	New York City
Key people	Michael Moorcock, Lucius Shepard, Christopher Hinz, Howard Chaykin, Elaine Lee, Matt Howarth, Warren Ellis, Walt Simonson, Garth Ennis
Publication types	Comic books
Fiction genres	science fiction, science fantasy

Helix was a short-lived, science fiction and science fantasy imprint of DC Comics, launched in 1996 and discontinued in 1998. In early promotional materials prior to the release of the first title, the imprint was called Matrix instead of Helix. It was renamed because of the then-upcoming film, The Matrix.^[1] It featured a handful of ongoing monthly series, several limited series, and one short graphic novel.

Despite the involvement of successful science fiction/fantasy novelists Michael Moorcock, Lucius Shepard and Christopher Hinz, and established comics creators Howard Chaykin, Elaine Lee, Matt Howarth, Warren Ellis, Walt Simonson, and Garth Ennis, sales of the comic books were low, and most of the ongoing titles were cancelled after 12 or fewer issues. Ellis' Transmetropolitan was switched to the Vertigo imprint, where it continued for several more years before reaching its planned conclusion. Ennis' Bloody Mary mini-series and Michael Moorcock's Multiverse were later collected in Vertigo-label paperbacks and Moeller's Sheva's War was released as a graphic novel paperback by Dark Horse.

Limited availability of the books in bookstores that already sold science fiction, resistance among science-fiction readers to serialized monthly publication, the lower visibility of the line's deliberately muted cover color palette, and the lack of interest in genre SF among regular patrons of comic-book stores, were all cited by industry observers as factors in the imprint's demise.

Helix titles

Book title	Issues	Writer	Artist(s)	Publication dates
The Black Lamb	6	Timothy Truman	Timothy Truman	November 1996 – April 1997
Bloody Mary[2]	4	Garth Ennis	Carlos Ezquerra	October 1996 – January 1997
Bloody Mary: Lady Liberty	4	Garth Ennis	Carlos Ezquerra	September 1997 – December 1997
BrainBanx	6	Elaine Lee	Jason Temujin Minor	March 1997 – August 1997
Cyberella	12	Howard Chaykin	Don Cameron	September 1996 – August 1997
Dead Corps	4	Christopher Hinz	Steve Pugh	September 1998 – December 1998
The Dome: Ground Zero	1	Dave Gibbons	Angus McKie	1998
Gemini Blood	9	Christopher Hinz	Tommy Lee Edwards	September 1996 – May 1997
Michael Moorcock's Multiverse[3]	12	Michael Moorcock	Walter Simonson, Mark Reeve, John Ridgway	November 1997 – October 1998
Sheva's War[4]	5	Christopher Moeller	Christopher Moeller	October 1998 – February 1999
Star Crossed	3	Matt Howarth	Matt Howarth	Jun 1997 - Aug 1997
Time Breakers	5	Rachel Pollack	Chris Weston	January 1997 – May 1997
Transmetropolitan	60[5]	Warren Ellis	Darick Robertson	September 1997 – November 2002
Vermillion	12	Lucius Shepard	Al Davison, John Totleben, Gary Erskine	October 1996 – September 1997

References

1. "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #114", Comic Book Resources, 2007-08-02. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
2. A TPB collected edition was released in 2005 under the Vertigo imprint.
3. A TPB collected edition was released in 1999 under the Vertigo imprint.
4. A TPB collection - Iron Empires vol. 2: Sheva's War - was released in 2004 by Dark Horse.
5. Issues 1-12 published under the Helix imprint; issues 13-60 published under the Vertigo imprint.