Yeah they are definitely connected. I believe there was a disagreement between Doge contributors/devs and some left and created DogecoinDark which later became Verge...
That's one thing that's always put me off Verge. How can price be so much higher than Doge's? Even when it had a smaller market share and the main reason Doge is so cheap is the enormous coin supply - which Verge also has... Definitely agree with you on shitcoin mate! :)