Vext: Difference between revisions

{{short description|1999 comic book by DC Comics}}

{{italic title}}

{{Infobox comics character and title

|character_name = Vext

|image = Vext 1.jpg

|imagesize =

|alt =

|caption = Vext falls through the sky on the cover to ''Vext'' #1.

|publisher = [[DC Comics]]

|debut = ''DCU Heroes Secret Files and Origins'' #1 (February 1999)

|creators = [[Keith Giffen]]

|alter_ego =

|full_name =

|species = God

|homeworld = Jejune Realm

|alliances =

|partners =

|supports =

|aliases =

|powers = Ability to change luck for the worse

|title = Vext

|cvr_image = Vext 1.jpg

|cvr_caption = ''Vext'' #1 (March 1999). Pencils by [[Mike McKone]], inks by Mark McKenna, colors by [[Lovern Kindzierski]], and color separations by [[Digital Chameleon]].

|cvr_alt = Vext—a Caucasian male adult wearing a green-and-black striped jacket, yellow shirt, grey pants, brown shoes, and brown suspenders—holds a suitcase and falls through the sky. Behind him, clouds have signs pointing to bodies in the solar system: Earth, Uranus, and Venus. A banner across the top reads "CAUTION! BEWARE OF FALLING GODS!" and a caption reads "BAD LUCK'S / COME TO / TOWN!"

|schedule = Monthly

|format =

|limited =

|ongoing = Y

|1shot =

|genre = Humor

|pub_series = [[DC Comics]]

|date = March–August 1999

|1stishhead =

|1stishyr =

|1stishmo =

|endishyr =

|endishmo =

|1stishhead# =

|1stishyr# =

|1stishmo# =

|endishyr# =

|endishmo# =

|issues = 6

|main_char_team =

|writers = [[Keith Giffen]]

|artists =

|pencillers = [[Mike McKone]]

|inkers = Mark McKenna, [[Andy Lanning]] (issue #5)

|letterers = Bob Lappan

|colorists = [[Lovern Kindzierski]], [[Digital Chameleon]] (separations)

|editors = [[Kevin Dooley]], [[Harvey Richards]] (assistant)

|creative_team_month =

|creative_team_year =

|creators_series =

|TPB =

|ISBN =

|nonUS =

|cat =

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|hero =

|villain =

|sortkey =

|sort_title = Vext

'''Vext''' is a [[fictional character]] created by [[Keith Giffen]] and the star of a short-lived 1999 comic book series, also called ''Vext'', published by [[DC Comics]]. The series was written by [[Keith Giffen]], pencilled by [[Mike McKone]], inked by Mark McKenna, lettered by Bob Lappan, and colored by [[Lovern Kindzierski]] with separations by [[Digital Chameleon]] for all six issues (with guest inker [[Andy Lanning]] filling in on issue 4). The series was the last one edited by [[Kevin Dooley]] before he left [[comic books]] and was assisted by [[Harvey Richards]].

==Fictional character biography==

Vext is a god from the Jejune Realm (also known as the Borough of Mawkish Indifference) in the Pan-Dimensional Pantheons. He is the "[[patron deity]] of mishap and misfortune" and true to that appellation, his world was phased out of existence because he and the other deities there were no longer actively worshiped by humankind.<ref name="vext1">{{Cite comic| writer = Giffen, Keith; [[Matt Brady|Brady, Matt]] | penciller = McKone, Mike | inker = McKenna, Mark | colorist = [[Tom McCraw (comics)|McCraw, Tom]] | letterer = Lappan, Bob | editor = Dooley, Kevin; Richards, Harvey | title = DCU Heroes Secret Files and Origins |story= Tales of Turgidity Presents: Vext&nbsp;– The Formative Years with Baby Vext and Li'l Paramour | issue = 1 | date = February 1999 |pages = 47, 53, 63 | publisher = DC Comics}}</ref> From childhood, he has been beset by misfortune,<ref name="baby">''DCU Heroes Secret Files and Origins'' #1, p. 53</ref> and even visited the [[Garden of Eden]] and accidentally caused the [[Fall of Man]]<ref name="timeline">''DCU Heroes Secret Files and Origins'' #1, p. 62</ref> and the sinking of the [[RMS Titanic]].<ref name="profile">''DCU Heroes Secret Files and Origins'' #1, p. 47</ref>

It takes approximately twenty three years for the line of gods from the Jejune Realm to be processed. Everyone is told to cooperate or face instant termination. Vext finds himself in a waiting room, then dealing with a mustached female caseworker. She cannot get his name right and despite Vext trying to assist, she summons the executioners. They in fact go to the cubicle next door and kill the entity that the caseworker had mistaken Vext for.

Finally, he is simply evicted to a random realm, which turns out to be Midgard/Earth. He is given appropriate funds to start a new life and not much training. He is told he cannot interfere with the course of human affairs, try to take over the planet, or become a super-hero.

He rents an apartment, 4-A, in Mr. Danforth's apartment building in Delta City, which was also the home of a hero known as [[Heckler (comics)|The Heckler]] (though he was not mentioned or seen in ''Vext''). Vext's next-door neighbor is aspiring writer Colleen McBride, who does her best to help Vext adjust to his new life on Earth (not knowing, for most of the series, that Vext was a god). For example, she (at least tries to) helps him deal with the concept of banks and the inaccuracies of the profoundly deaf landlord.

In the first issue, Vext is visited by [[Superman]] and the angel [[Zauriel]] who also tell him they will be keeping an eye on him. At first Colleen assumes that they are role-players.

Vext also must deal with the mistake-prone [[Department of Motor Vehicles]]. In one rare moment of 'luck', Colleen's treat of a fast food hamburger comes complete with an army of sentient microscopic bacteria. Vext's non-earthly biology swiftly deals with them, saving many innocent people.

A sub-thread running through the series is an amoral, murderous adventurer and his two equally homicidal assistants who wish to gain power through the exploitation of minor gods such as Vext. Much of their adventures deal with the God of Inappropriate Flatulence.

==Gods of the Jejune Realm==

{|class=wikitable

|+Gods of the Jejune Realm

|-

!scope="col" style="text-align:left;"|Name

!scope="col" style="text-align:left;"|Deity of

!scope="col" style="text-align:left;"|First appearance

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|Aaron Caldwell

|Ill-timed flatulence

|''Vext'' #1, [[:wikt:deify|deified]] in ''Vext'' #5

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|Bargyn

|Uninvited guests

|''Vext'' #1

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|Blazon

|Inappropriate exhibitionism

|''Vext'' #1

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|Ekko

|[[Déjà vu]]

|''DCU Heroes Secret Files and Origins'' #1

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|Erupt'n

|Prom night pimples

|''DCU Heroes Secret Files and Origins'' #1

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|Garb'l Arb'l

|Interminable social functions

|''Vext'' #4

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|J-Angla

|Loose pocket change

|''Vext'' #4

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|Moxcatyl

|Interminable procrastination

|''Vext'' #1

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|Placatius

|Insincere apology

|''Vext'' #1

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|Paramour

|Relationships gone hellishly wrong

|''Vext'' #4

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|Qrttglbrngrltch

|The nigh-unpronounceable inadvertent Armageddon

|''Vext'' #1

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|Rypta Gud'n

|Ill-timed flatulence

|''Vext'' #4, made mortal in ''Vext'' #5

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|Shrike M'ota

|Emasculating shrews

|''Vext'' #1

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|Tedyum

|Bloated windbags

|''Vext'' #1

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|Textacl

|The perpetually cuckolded

|''DCU Heroes Secret Files and Origins'' #1

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|Vext

|Mishap and misfortune

|''DCU Heroes Secret Files and Origins'' #1

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|Yammar

|Incessant nagging

|''Vext'' #1

|-

|}

==Publication history==

[[File:10.18.09MikeMcKoneByLuigiNovi.jpg|alt=|thumb|Mike McKone's artwork was featured on every cover and in every page of ''Vext''.]]

Unusually for a comic set in an established publisher-owned universe, ''Vext'' was half creator-owned: though all the characters featured in the book belong to DC Comics, Giffen retained copyright to the stories and art.

After cancellation by DC, the series was reprinted in [[Italian language|Italian]] by Press Play Publishing as a back-up in the Italian ''[[Lobo (DC Comics)|Lobo]]'' series, issues #29–34 (January through June 2000).

==Connection to Justin Knapp==

[[Justin Knapp]]’s Wikipedia username, Koavf, was chosen as an acronym for "King of all Vext Fans", a reference to a contest Knapp entered for ''Vext'' in the 1990s.<ref name=nuvo>{{cite web |url=http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/wikis-million-edit-man-is-lifelong-hoosier/Content?oid=2450776 |title=Wiki's Million Edit Man is lifelong Hoosier |work=Nuvo |date=May 23, 2012 |access-date=April 5, 2015 |author=Pogue, Paul F.P.}}</ref>

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==

{{wiktionary|vext}}

{{sisterlinks|b=no|n=no|d=Q4010540|commons=no|species=no|s=no|wikt=no|q=no|v=no|voy=no}}

*[http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Vext_%28New_Earth%29 Vext on DC Database Project]

*[http://www.reocities.com/Area51/Zone/9524/vext/ Borough of Mawkish Indifference fan site]

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1999]]

[[Category:DC Comics cosmic entities]]

[[Category:DC Comics deities]]

[[Category:DC Comics titles]]

[[Category:Fictional immigrants to the United States]]

[[Category:Characters created by Keith Giffen]]

[[Category:Religious parodies and satires]]