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| SAGA
OF THE SWAMP THING |
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Volume
One |
Written by Alan Moore
Art by Steve Bissette & John Totleben
Barry Marx, editor |
Paperback: 176 pages
DC Comics
ISBN: 0930289226 |
$19.95
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| The Comic
That Spawned the Vertigo Line!
What Alan Moore,
Stephen
Bissette, and John Totleben accomplished during their time on
the comic book series Swamp Thing shouldn't be underestimated
in the history of comics and, specifically, the history of horror comics.
The modern comics landscape has been changed by the Vertigo line
of books--an imprint that traces its roots back to this version of
Swamp
Thing. |
| By taking a
horror character fully entrenched in a superhero world (as silly as that
might seem), this creative team put a new face on horror comics and on
horror in general. |
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| SWAMP
THING |
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Volume
Two: LOVE & DEATH |
Written by Alan Moore
Art by Steve Bissette, John Totleben,
& Shawn McManus |
Paperback: 208
DC Comics
ISBN: 0930289544 |
$19.95
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| Swamp
Thing: Love and Death is the second collection of the team's work
on the series, presented here in full color. Don't let the mediocre Swamp
Thing movies fool you, this book is filled with sophisticated suspense
and terror. |
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| SWAMP
THING |
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Volume
Three: The CURSE |
| by Alan Moore, Ron Randall, & Rick Veitch |
Paperback: 189 pages
DC Comics
ISBN: 1563896974 |
$19.95
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| This collection
reprints the best issues of Swamp Thing. For those not at all familier
with the character, it is an excellently written and drawn comic about
a good swamp monster battling evil (and is much better than that description
makes it sound).
Notable in this third volume
of the series, which reprints the beginning of the "American Gothic" story
arc, is Moore's greater use of social critique, elevating these stories
above mere entertaining, well-written horror stories. By combining fantastic
horrors to such real-life horrors as racism and sexism, these stories are
far more effective than any in the earlier collections at terrifying the
reader. |
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| In "American
Gothic", Swamp Thing is sent scurrying to different parts of the U.S. by
a manipulative figure (Jon Constantine) to battle all of the classic horror
figures (vampires, werewolves, zombies, etc.), but each are handled in
an absolutely brilliantly unique and new manner. For example, there is
a whole town of vampires living underwater, completely shielded from the
sun, in the process of, for the first time, living communally and cooperating
to breed a second generation of vampires that are more powerful and horrific
(the dedication of the vampires to family is contrasted by the dysfunctional
families of the normal humans). The title story, "The Curse", is a unique
Werewolf story, tying in the monthly transformation according to the phases
of the moon to the menstrual cycle. The Curse was controversial due to
its misinterpretation by illiterate readers as being a sexist comment on
PMS when in reality it is an extremely feminist story condemning society
for its male-driven fear and shunning of the feminine, and the subjugation
of women into sexual objects or housewives.
The American Gothic story
arc does not conclude in this issue (although the individual stories can
be enjoyed on their own) so hopefully a volume 4 will follow.
By this point, Moore was
also using word games in his text more frequently (read carefully) adding
an extra level of enjoyment. This collection also contains the first appearance
of Jon Constantine, and it is a period I miss. Here Constantine is a totally
mysterious, manipulative character whose only real power is his mysteriously
obtained knowledge and who always adds an element of dark humour (he is
still a great character, but far less mysterious, and he now has magical
skills, the extent of which appear to change from appearance to appearance).
This collection represents,
if not Moore's best, then the best of Swamp Thing. |
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| SWAMP
THING |
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Volume
Four: A Murder of Crows |
| by Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, & John Totleben |
Paperback: 192 pages
DC Comics
ISBN: 1563897199 |
$19.95
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| How did the
DC character most noted for simplicity handle the hyper-complexity of the
Crisis on Infinite Earths? In the ever-able hands of Alan Moore, Swamp
Thing: A Murder of Crows rises above the mid-1980s corporate reorganization
to grant our hero his apotheosis into his current plant elemental form.
Fans of John Constantine will eat up the smart-aleck astral con man's performance
throughout, and the central struggle--uniting good and evil against something
much bigger and older than either--is classic Moore. The art is bold and
beautiful, organic by necessity, and contributes as much to the reader's
suspense as the script. It seems that Moore et al. have spent so much time
transcending their medium that they may have created a new one of their
own. --Rob Lightner |
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| The
SWAMP THING |
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Book
Five:
Earth
to Earth |
by Alan Moore, Rick Veitch, John Totleben,
& Alfredo Alcala |
Paperback: 160 pages
DC Comics
ISBN: 1563898047 |
$17.95
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| Abby Cable,
after being accused of "hugging vegstibles" flees to Gotham City. There
she is picked up again and put on trial. Swamp things returns from the
"American Gothic" tour and looks everywhere for his beloved. When he finds
out she's in jail in Gotham needless to say he's [angry] and rips Gotham
a new one. |
| Now Swamp Thing
is the agressor terrorizing all those innocent mortals untill he gets his
love back and not even Batman can stop him (Yeah, Batman can beat anyone,
but swampy is now on a God level. He turns Gotham into a jungle on a whim).
One of the best Swamp Thing stories in the book (perhaps the whole series)
is "My Blue Heaven". It's a beautiful, exotic, weird and engrossing tale.
It's about the human condition set in a weird alien world.
Dimensions (in inches): 0.30 x 10.20 x 6.68
(April 2002)
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