Hit or Miss: The Vigil Mini-Series

The Vigil is a six-issue limited series. This story will center on a team of South Asian metahumans named Arclight, Saya, Dodge, and Castle. This group of superheroes was given powers they didn’t want. These heroes are determined to stop metahuman research and tech created for military applications at any cost. The creative team is Ram V and Lalit Kumar Sharma.

We do not have a ton of information to go off of for this new mini-series. The concept of a superteam who got their powers unwillingly and are now targeting shadowy government agencies is nothing particularly novel. However, it does sound like the foundation for what could be a very entertaining action/adventure story.

All of the characters look pretty cool. So, I am intrigued by The Vigil based on the limited information we have at this point. Lazarus Planet has not impressed me at all. But, that does not have any bearing on whether a spin-off title is going to be a good read or not.

Ram V as the writer does concern me a bit. To this point, I have not been that impressed at Ram V’s efforts in writing superhero comic books. Ram V is obviously a talented writer. But talent does not always translate perfectly to every genre out there. The biggest downfall of many of Ram V’s issues is that they are slow and get bogged down in a ton of dialogue. The superhero genre always needs a certain amount of action/adventure and Ram V does not always deliver either.

I am not sure that the superhero genre is something that Ram V truly likes or understands. It seems that Ram V’s writing talents flourish outside of the superhero genre. Perhaps as Ram V  continues to hone his craft in the superhero genre his stories will get better. Hopefully, Ram V will focus more on the action/adventure part of the story and deliver a fun read with The Vigil.

On the other hand, I have zero doubts about Lalit Kumar Sharma! Sharma is a talented Indian artist. I am fully confident that Sharma is going to deliver a fantastic-looking comic book. Sharma has the artistic chops to produce wonderful superhero artwork.

Rokk’s Excitement Level: 7 Night Girls out of 10. Despite my reservations over Ram V’s writing, I am still very interested in The Vigil. This title has a ton of potential. If Ram V leans into the action/adventure side of the story and gives Sharma something to sink his teeth into then I think we will get an exciting mini-series. I am definitely going to give The Vigil the first two issues to hook me into getting the rest of the mini-series.

Rokk’s Prediction: While I am certainly going to give The Vigil a try, I am not that bullish about the possible sales success of this title. I think this mini-series is going to struggle in the sales rankings.

Ram V has not had much sales success for DC Comics during his short career. Ram V wrote Catwoman #25-38 in 2020-2021. Because of the pandemic and DC Comics shifting distributors, I do not have good sales numbers from the first part of Ram V’s run on Catwoman. However, we do know that Catwoman #31-38 averaged the number 108 spot in the sales rankings and that Catwoman #38 ended at the number 151 spot in the sales rankings.

Ram V also wrote Swamp Thing monthly title that was canceled with issue #16. Again, because of the pandemic and DC Comics switching distributors, I cannot get good numbers on Swamp Thing #1-2. But, we do know that Swamp Thing #3-16 averaged a number 149 sales ranking.

Ram V wrote the Aquaman: Andromeda three-issue mini-series in 2022. Aquaman: Andromeda debuted at the number 104 spot in the sales rankings. Aquaman: Andromeda #2-3 averaged a number 148 sales ranking.

Ram V is currently writing Detective Comics. During Ram V’s run Detective Comics #1062-1068 has averaged a number 40 sales ranking. So, it does seem that when Ram V is paired with the most popular franchise in American comic books he is able to have Top 50 success.

Ram V is also currently writing Carnage for Marvel Comics. Carnage #1 came out in March 2022 and debuted at the number 5 spot. Sales then took a big drop as Carnage #2–9 averaged a number 60 sales ranking.

At this point in his career, Ram V has not shown much sales success outside of the Batman franchise. So, I am not confident that Ram V’s name alone will be enough to attract a large number of readers to a title starring a bunch of new and unknown characters.

The Vigil will be spinning out of Lazarus Planet. To this date, Lazarus Planet has been all over the sales rankings. Lazarus Planet Alpha #1 debuted at the number 13 spot. Lazarus Planet Assault on Krypton #1 debuted at the number 47 spot. Lazarus Planet We Once Were Gods #1 debuted at the number 79 spot.

Monkey Prince is another Asian superhero closely tied to Lazarus Planet. Monkey Prince #1 debuted at the number 24 spot in the sales rankings. Monkey Prince #2-6 averaged the number 179 spot in the sales rankings. Monkey Prince #7-8 were both unranked and outside of the Top 200. Monkey Prince #9-10 averaged the number 186 spot in the sales rankings.

So, the performance of Lazarus Planet and Monkey Prince is not enough to get me to be bullish over the sales success of The Vigil. My prediction? I am going to guess that The Vigil debuts in the Top 75. Then The Vigil will quickly drop out of the Top 100. I do think that The Vigil can conclude its six-issue mini-series inside of the Top 150.

Conclusion: Even though I have not been impressed with Ram V as a superhero comic writer, I am still going to give The Vigil a try. I love Sharma’s artwork. I like the concept for The Vigil and the character designs look cool. I will at least give Ram V the first two issues of this mini-series to hook me before I drop the title.