Swamp Thing

[whitmore_sean]

A few quick questions, if nobody minds. Swamp Thing has been a character who has constantly confused me, between Pre-Crisis, Post-Crisis, numerous media adaptations, and the move to Vertigo.

First, about the Alan Moore issues. He started writing around issue #21 or so, right? Which series was this (by which I mean, this isn't the same Saga of the Swamp Thing book I was reading when I was 8)? Is it "in continuity" (as much as any Vertigo book can be)? And if I'm not mistaken, there are already a few collections out reprinting these stories with more on the way, right?

Secondly, I realize that Alan Moore is absolutely revered in everything he does. Unbelievably enough, I haven't read much of the man's work (save for the first half of Watchmen), so I don't have as much built-in admiration for him as I would, say, a Garth Ennis. Are his Swamp Thing stories THAT good? So good that they would even entertain someone who hasn't been a major Swamp Thing fan for twenty years? I've scanned through a few more recent Vertgio Swampy books, and they looked...well...rather "spiritual", for lack of a better term. Don't get me wrong, I don't need to see things blowing up every panel, but I also don't want to read some story done in abstract watercolors and narrated by a flower, or something.

Let me put it this way. I'm really only asking about these issues because I want to see where John Constantine first appeared and I have a mild liking for Swamp Thing. Am I barking up the wrong tree?



SEAN
"What is he gibbering about?"
"Who knows? It's French. It's crap."

[Zoddman]

Well, if you really want to get a good sense of Alan Moore's vision of Swamp-Thing, pick up the "Love And Death" TPB. It gives Swampy's current origin, plus some of the bar-none best stories ever done in comics. It's also when Steve Bissete and John Totleben's artwork on the title was at it's peak. If you enjoyed this book, then you'd probably enjoy Moore's run on Swamp Thing.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Hey, if you wanna talk about Swamp Thing, let's just pretend the movie never happened, OK? =8^).

Short version to your question is, "Heck, yes, Swamp Thing was and is one of the greatest comics of the 20th Century, so run-don't-walk to your local comic shop and get the Saga of the Swamp Thing and Swamp Thing: Love and Death TPBs right now now now now now."

Long version follows:

The series is definitely in continuity (although they may have retconned some of the events from Moore's run -- it was nearly 20 years ago, after all), since it essentially re-defined Swamp Thing. Swamp Thing, as created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, was essentially a Frankenstein's Monster; under all the vegetation, Swamp Thing was a horribly disfigured Dr. Alec Holland, and the book spent a lot of time with him trying to undo his condition.

Alan Moore took this foundation and completely upended it, revealing:


that Alec Holland was dead, and the Swamp Thing was a sentient plant that THOUGHT it was Alec Holland. It starts getting really weird after that.


Before Moore, Swamp Thing was a second-rate, second-string character in a book about to be cancelled due to low sales. Moore took the raw material and turned him into a headliner, due to some absolutely mind-blowing storylines, a level of maturity in the writing unheard of in the early 80's (and, for that matter, today), and the daring of a major comic publisher to publish a monthly comic book without the Comics Code Authority seal of approval. These factors in conjunction set the stage for The Dark Knight Returns, Sandman and the entire Vertigo line of comics, and the fact that a LOT of books can ship without the CCA seal.

There is a definite aspect of spirituality in ST by the end of his run, for reasons which will become apparent to you if you get that far. However, I think Moore's work is far less "New-Age-y" and hokey than what later writers have done. In other words, don't let the current series' loopiness turn you off from Moore.

I was not a Swamp Thing fan until I read the Moore books in college. I remember a woman who picked up Love and Death while we were on a road trip, who started laughing at the comic-booky dialogue in the first story. Then she moved into the second story. She suddenly got really quiet, shuddered and put the book down after a few minutes, and stopped laughing. The books are freaky and scary and seriously, incredibly weird and totally mind-blowing, unsurpassed in many ways by books that have come before or since.

Get them. You won't be sorry.

-- Ed/Ace

[whitmore_sean]

Thanks for all the help. I picked up "Saga of the Swamp Thing" and loved it, and eagerly await picking up the rest. But, just to make a further annoyance of myself, a few more questions:

1) I've seen different versions of TPBs such as "Saga" and "Love and Death" with different covers. Do the newer releases contain the same stories as the originals? Has the art been drastically improved?

2) Amazon lists some of the books as hardcovers and some as not. Have all of the books been released in hardcover at one time, or is it just the upcoming ones?

3) Have the original Len Wein issues ever been collected in a TPB? If so, which issues did it collect, and has it only been printed once?

Thanks again.



SEAN
"You gonna eat that stapler?"
"You...you can't eat a stapler!"
"...wanna split it?"

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,


Originally posted by whitmore_sean
1) I've seen different versions of TPBs such as "Saga" and "Love and Death" with different covers. Do the newer releases contain the same stories as the originals? Has the art been drastically improved?

2) Amazon lists some of the books as hardcovers and some as not. Have all of the books been released in hardcover at one time, or is it just the upcoming ones?

3) Have the original Len Wein issues ever been collected in a TPB? If so, which issues did it collect, and has it only been printed once?


1. As far as I know, they're just reissues of the old books, with no new material, and new covers. I think they had alternate covers even back when I bought them in college.

2. I'm not really sure. I never saw the originals in hardcover, so I'm guessing it's just the new ones, but I could be wrong.

3. I'm pretty sure they were collected in a TPB at one point, but I don't know if it's still in print.

-- Ed/Ace