Under the supervision of president, publisher, and editor Bill Marks, Vortex was known for such titles as Dean Motter's Mister X, Howard Chaykin's Black Kiss, and Chester Brown's Yummy Fur, the last of which was a pioneer of alternative comics.

[1] Vortex also earned a reputation for publishing Canadian comic book creators such as Brown, Ty Templeton, Ken Steacy, and Jeffrey Morgan.

In 1986–1987, Vortex again expanded, adding titles such as Ted McKeever's Transit, Bill White's Kaptain Keen & Kompany, Howarth's Savage Henry, and the two-issue Peter Milligan series Paradax.

The publicity over Black Kiss didn't necessarily lead to strong sales, however, and by the end of 1988 Vortex's publishing schedule was erratic.

[4] Reflecting publisher Marks' interest in car racing, Vortex survived until 1994 with an odd mixture of alternative titles and NASCAR-themed comics.

(In 1991 and 1992 Vortex sponsored the 'Rookie of the Year' award in NASCAR's Grand National series; the 1991 prize was won by future superstar Jeff Gordon.)

[6] The last comic published by the company was Nocturnal Emissions #4, in March 1994, until a resurgence in 2021 with the titles Chaos Breaker and Queen of Skulls.