''The Trenchcoat Brigade'' is a four-issue

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...

that was published in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

as a part of

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

, featuring several mystic

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...

characters. The title references an offhand joke used by

John Constantine John Constantine (), also known as Hellblazer, is an antihero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. He was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben, and first appeared in ''Swamp Thing'' #37 (June 1985). I ...

in the earlier '' Books of Magic'' series to label a loose affiliation of mystics including himself,

Phantom Stranger The Phantom Stranger is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, of unspecified paranormal origins, who battles mysterious and occult forces, sometimes under their Vertigo (DC Comics), Vertigo imprint. The character ...

Doctor Occult Doctor Occult (Richard Occult, sometimes nicknamed the Ghost Detective, and one time referred to as Doctor Mystic) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (the crea ...

, and

Mister E Mister E is a fictional character appearing in magazines published by DC Comics. Created by Bob Rozakis and Jack C. Harris, the character first appeared in '' Secrets of Haunted House'' #31 (December 1980) and was a recurring character for ten ...

who share a preference for

trenchcoat A trench coat is a variety of coat made of waterproof heavy-duty fabric, originally developed for British Army officers before the First World War, and becoming popular while used in the trenches, hence the name ''trench coat.'' Originally made ...

s as their outdoor wear (Constantine was knowingly paraphrasing the title of

Alfred, Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of ...

's famous "

The Charge of the Light Brigade The Charge of the Light Brigade was a military action undertaken by British light cavalry against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War, resulting in many casualties to the cavalry. On 25 October 1854, the Light Br ...

", about a reckless military event).

Publication history

They first appeared together in

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

's ''

The Books of Magic ''The Books of Magic'' is the title of a four-issue English-language comic book Limited series (comics), miniseries written by Neil Gaiman, published by DC Comics, and later an ongoing series under the imprint Vertigo Comics, Vertigo. Since its or ...

'' series, in which they attempted to guide Tim Hunter through various realms of Magic in the

in order to teach him all of Magic's abilities and consequences. The group would later re-unite in the five-issue miniseries ''The Names of Magic'', before finally getting their own miniseries.

Members

External links

* * *

References

1999 comics debuts Fantasy comics DC Comics superhero teams Lists of DC characters by organization The Books of Magic {{DC-Comics-stub