Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Re-Reads (Now Reading: Swamp Thing: 1971 through 1985)

Awww...

"SWAMP THING" (8 pgs. from "House of Secrets #92") and "DARK GENESIS" (24 pgs. from Swamp Thing v.1 #1,) both stories by Len Wein & Berni Wrightson

It's incredible what a difference one year can make.

When "Swamp Thing," the stand-alone short story was first published in early-mid 1971, it caused such an unexpected sensation among comics fandom (simply for being far superior to the average anthology horror tales of that era) that neither DC editorial nor the creative team were quite sure how to handle it. Wein & Wrightson, being young and (by their own admission,) foolishly impractical, actually *refused* to use their gem of a story as a jumping-off point for a bimonthly series! Eventually, reason prevailed on both sides, and a little over a year later, Swamp Thing the series was launched. Rejecting the option of a direct continuation of the short story's Victorian Era setting, the creators set the ongoing series in the present day, the common link being the unwilling transformation, through the bad deeds of bad people, of a good man into a monstrous-looking plant creature who repels everyone he encounters...including the love of his life.

Looking back on the short story, it is undeniably poignant and heartfelt (Wrightson had just gone through a painful breakup with his girlfriend and Wein could empathize,) but it's hampered somewhat by the art. Although Wrightson had been in the comics biz for a while, and although one of his greatest inspirations had been the EC Comics anthology horror stories of the early 1950s, his work here is a bit too cartoonish, and with an over-reliance on close-up shots which keeps the layouts from flowing.

Perhaps Wrightson had made a quantum leap in technique within those 12 or 13 months, perhaps it helped a lot for him to have three times as many pages to work his magic on. Whatever the reason, "Dark Genesis" is absolutely awe-inspiring to look at. Because in addition to the EC artists of his childhood (especially Graham Ingels, Jack Davis, Frank Frazetta, and Al Williamson,) Wrightson's muse reached back decades in the past to the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Golden Age of book and magazine illustration. Such a richly eclectic palette, combined with a hard-won confidence in the basics of composition and storytelling, virtually preordained that Wrightson would turn in a superlative job.

But let's not give Wein short shrift, either. Although the series' attitudes and themes are very much of their early 1970s time (the catalyst of the tragedy is the refusal of young, idealistic, equally-partnered scientists Alec & Linda Holland to sell out to the hopelessly corrupt and self-serving military/industrial complex,) they are not handled in a strident or insincere way (most likely because the creators were as young as their protagonists,) and so they still ring true today.

The key difference between the script to the short story and the script to this first issue of the series is that, whereas in the original tale the Swamp Thing's lover lives to reject him, in the series Linda dies, killed by the industrial spies, leaving Alec all alone to deal with his transformation -- even the hard-boiled government agent with a heart of gold, Matt Cable, turns against him assuming that Alec is responsible for the all the death and destruction.

And, in a brilliantly executed cliffhanger, a mysterious outside party is observing the horrific events in their scrying mirror, which is flanked by all manner of ghoulish creatures.

NEXT: Enter the series' arch-villain.

Hope to see more of these reviews with your return, Fick!

I remember reading the original short-story as a reprint and being confused with its setting and situation. I realized quickly that this was an unintended "proto-type" story. How many Swampy stories did Wein and Wrightson produce together?

Thanks, Lardy.

I think next month is a good bet for the reviews to resume.

Wein and Wrightson did a total of 11 stories, the short and the first 10 issues of Swamp Thing v.1 -- Mike Kaluta fans should check out issue 9, he helped Wrightson with the inking there.

After Wrightson left, Wein only hung around for three more issues, with Nestor Redondo on art -- his style was prettier than Wrightson's but not as dynamic. Fun fact: John Totleben has always considered Redondo's Swamp Thing work (which continued for several more issues) underrated, and I can definitely see Redondo's influence in Totleben's style.

The volume collecting the first 13 issues of Swamp Thing v.1 should be arriving at my branch library within the week, so the reviews will be resuming right on schedule.

I recently purchased the Swamp Thing Bronze Age Omnibus Vol. 1, which goes all the way until just before Alan Moore!

Excellent! This is just getting better and better.

Review of Swamp Thing v.1 #2, the first Alec vs. Arcane story, to come this weekend.

Swamp Thing v.1 Issue 2: "The Man Who Wanted Forever" (24 pgs.) by Len Wein & Berni Wrightson

As good as the first issue was, the follow-up is even better! And I have to wonder if this exhilarating popcorn-horror funhouse ride was Wein's reward to Wrightson for being such a good sport about having to draw so much mundane stuff in Issue 1. Because virtually the whole of Issue 2 takes place inside a sinister Balkan castle full of twisting stairways and gothic accoutrements. And there are so many wonderfully misshapen monsters (the Un-Men,) that the panels practically burst in trying to contain them all. So, yeah, this story seems to be mostly a chance for Wrightson to draw all kinds of stuff that he loves -- he's obviously having fun, and the result is a fun read. That this story also introduces Swamp Thing's arch-nemesis, Dr. Anton Arcane, is the poison icing on a venom cake. At this stage, Arcane is merely an above-average but fairly generic horror villain (whether the places that Alan Moore & Steve Bissette & John Totleben, among others, took Arcane enriched the character or made him too repulsive to bear is something that is still debated among fans.)

This weekend, I plan to post a full review of Swamp Thing v.1 #3, which is great, and also brief reviews of #4, #5, and #6, which are all solid but not spectacular.

Ah, but then, the next weekend...a full review of Swamp Thing v.1 #7 -- Swamp Thing meets Batman!

Stay tuned.

I'm afraid the big Swamp Thing re-read is yet another Fickles project that is on indefinite hiatus. Apologies to Lardy and everyone else who was getting into it.

Right now, I wanted to share a few thoughts on a relatively small-scale DCU event which I just re-read for the first time in many years, and enjoyed far more than I had expected: 1986's Legends, which now stands revealed (in my view, at least) as the "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" to CoIE's "Star Trek: The Motion PIcture."

The creative team here had at its helm a couple of then-newcomers to DC: Mike Gold as editor/co-plotter and John Ostrander as main plotter. Both had done estimable work for the 80s indie publisher First, which specialized in the upgrading and turbo-charging of genres outside the superhero idiom. Their greatest achievement had been the psychedelic-noir series "GrimJack" (with artist and co-plotter Timothy Truman, who would later work with Gold at DC on the excellent Hawkworld mini-series.) Here, Gold and Ostrander had their first chance to show what they could do with superheroes. As backup, they recruited two seasoned practitioners of that genre, John Byrne as pencil artist and Len Wein as dialoguer. It proved to be a winning combination, with a perfect balance between the indie-guys real-world "relevant" insights perfectly balanced by the fanboys-turned-pros sense of bright-colored larger-than-life escapism.

There is something eerily (and poignantly) prescient about this story, whose main thrust is the mass-media manipulations of Darkseid's demagogic underling Glorious Godfrey upon the citizens of Earth, turning them against superheroes in fanatical ways which are wholly irrational yet feel utterly true-to-life (if superheroes existed in the real world, that is.) The Justice League disbands, Billy Batson swears to never again become Captain Marvel, and Robin (Jason Todd) is nearly killed by an angry mob. Into the breach step the newly formed government-employed anti-heroes of the Suicide Squad, along with a motley assortment of defiant super-holdouts (but with a reasonable amount of fan-favorite icons.) By the end, there is a new Justice League aborning (including Captain Marvel,) while Wally West has finally begun to grow into his role as the new Flash. Legends is brisk and accessible, with wonderful pencil art by Byrne (who seems to be having the time of his life drawing a variety of DCU characters for the first time) nicely embellished by Karl Kesel. Wein's dialogue is on-point throughout, and the plotters never sink to cheap shock nor sensationalism to get their points across.

Unlike CoIE, whose sheer sprawl proved to be its very undoing, Legends succeeds as a narrative thanks to its far smaller scale, and its tight focus on a large, yet still reasonable, number of characters. I am left only to wonder how the Post-Crisis DCU might have evolved if only everything had been as well-planned and well-executed as Legends. Despite the superhero trappings and the prominent roles for Jack Kirby's Fourth World creations, Legeds is no cosmic epic -- and that's a good thing.