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Robert Greenberger
by Robert Greenberger
Usually a company-wide crossover will attract readers with the guarantee that the line will be shaken up, the status quo altered, and reality reordered going forward. In many cases, some of those promises are kept, rarely are they all kept. then there was this ad campaign: “The Children’s Crusade, it’s no Fairy Tale”, to which young Charles Rowland adds, “It says here that the Vertigo universe will never be the same again. Of course, it was never the same before.”
After a series of titles were deemed distinct enough to merit its own imprint, DC Comics introduced the world to Vertigo where everything, from trade dress to the “Mature Readers” label, set it aside from the mainstream DC Universe. One had anticipated, therefore, that marketing stunts such as annual crossovers would be eschewed.
Free Country: A tale of the Children’s Crusade
It was chose in 1997, however, that a series of annuals and two bookend specials would attempt a Vertigo crossover of the titles that still were considered a part of the shared DC mythology. It sort of worked but clearly it was problematic enough and different enough that it was never attempted again. nor had the event been collected in one place. until this fall when DC provides up totally free Country: A tale of the Children’s Crusade. Not to be a mere 200-page collection of what was, it will also tidy things up with a new final chapter from current Deadboy Detectives writer Toby Litt and artist Peter Gross.
In a press release, Neil Gaiman said, “A long time ago, I wrote the first part of a story, and waited to find out how it middled, then worked with Jamie Delano and Alisa Kwitney on the end. for years people have asked how and when they could read all the story of the Children’s Crusade. I’m thankful to say that it’s now been retooled and refinished, and is something both old and new — a forgotten jewel and a new delight.”
The Children’s Crusade #1 Cover by John Totleben
What makes this collection interesting is that it includes The Children’s Crusade #1-2 (cowritten by Gaiman, Alysa Kwitney, and Jamie Delano with art by Chris Bachalo and Peter Snjebjerg plus the 64-pages of new material. but it excludes the annuals that fill in the creamy center: Black Orchid annual #1 (Dick Foreman, Gary Amaro, and Jason Minor), animal man annual #1 (Delano, Russell Braun, Tom Sutton, and Rafael Kayanan), Swamp thing annual #7 (Nancy A. Collins and mark Buckingham), Doom Patrol annual #2 (Rachel Pollack and mark Wheatley), and Arcana annual (John Ney Rieber and Gross) #1. The latter annual was a reintroduction of Tim hunter from The books of Magic, setting up a new series and is the only one reprinted, in The book of Faerie.
Apparently, it was chose these tales were off the main path and the entire event can be delighted in with just the bookends which is typically the case with many crossover events.
The event is tied together by the young dead young boy detectives from the pages of Sandman, Charles Rowland and Edwin Paine, who are investigating missing children in an English town. The clues lead them to totally free Country, purportedly a paradise for the young, but the influx of children overburdens its resources and trouble ensues. among those arriving in the town are Tefé Holland, daughter of Swamp Thing, Maxine Baker, Black Orchid’s daughter Suzy, and Dorothy Spinner. However, the teen Doom Patroller is even an outcast in paradise when she’s rejected because she had already started to menstruate.
It’s chose to abduct Tim hunter and use his powerful magic to bring all of Earth’s children over to the new land. While they get Tim and use his occult powers, things quite don’t go as planned.
The Children’s Crusade #2 Cover by John Totleben
The title is derived from events reportedly occurring in 1212 when Europe’s Christian community attempted to eject Muslims from the holy Lands of the middle East. While now considered mostly apocryphal, the legend did involve a young boy with visions and bands of children marching into Italy while others were sold into slavery.
The crossover did introduce new characters such as totally free country local Mayra who wound up becoming a regular in the new books of Magic monthly. and of course, you can’t have a land of totally free children without some nod to the young boy who won’t grow up and here he is depicted as one of the original residents, an escapee from a North African dungeon in the 13th century. here s/he is known as Peter or Puck or even Mary (a nod to Mary Martin).
As for the Vertigo universe never being the same again, Tefé has been separated from the green long enough to return home permanently changed while Maxine choose to remain in totally free Country. It was certainly a valiant experiment asis this collection.
Purchase
Free Country: A tale of the Children’s Crusade
Classic covers from the Grand Comics Database.