I started reading Swamp Thing from the very beginning... sort of. When I was a kid, I liked superhero comics and not much else (no western, no war, etc.). I also gravitated toward Marvel, so Swamp Thing had two strikes against it right out of the gate (to mix a metaphor or two). I remember seeing titles such as Swamp Thing and Kamandi on the spinner racks but not giving them a second look (or even a first). Even when I walked into a comic book shop for the first time in my life several years later, it took some time for me to overcome my preconceived notions regarding such titles as Daredevil (Frank Miller's) and Swamp Thing (Alan Moore's). Then, in 1986, DC released the Roots of the Swamp Thing reprint series and i started at the very beginning (#1) if not exactly from the very beginning (1972).
Skip ahead 15 years. I'm now married. My new bride is not wholly unfamiliar with comic books and is willing to read more. I recommended a list of 8 or 10 of my favorites (including the Wein/Wrightson and the Moore/Bisette/Totleben runs of Swamp Thing), most of which she read. I had tens of thousands of comics in my collection at that time, enough to keep us busy reading and discussing for years. But she became interested in comics I didn't have, such as the post-Moore Swamp Thing as well as the complete run of Fables (which I myself still have not read). We spent the next however-many-it-was months collecting backissues of Swamp Thing plus I added those two titles to my pull & hold.
At this point Tracy has read literally hundreds more issues of Swamp Thing than I have. We don't have every issue (she finally lost interest after the "New 52"), but we have quite a few. Ironically, it was "Brightest Day" which reignited my own interest, so some of the more recent issues she has not read. I like to "prorate" the cost of my comics by a) reading them multiple times, or b) giving them to my wife to read. We get the best value from those comic we both read multiple times. To that end, we have decided to work our way through every issue we own from 1972 to 2018.
We recently led a discussion through every issue/series in Terry Moore's "SiP-verse" but, if we complete it, this project is more than twice as long. We invite you along for the ride.
Wein/Wrightson - p1
Nestor Redondo - p2
The "Mopee Thing" - p3
Miscellaneous - p4
Martin Pasko - p5
Alan Moore - p8
Rick Veitch - p25
Doug Wheeler - p31
Nancy Collins - p33
Grant Morrison & Mark Millar - p37
Mark Millar - p38
Replies
"Combat-Happy is an oxymoron."
I accept "combat happy" as a euphemism for the condition known at the time (WWII) as "battle fatigue."
Here is George Carlin on PTSD euphemisms.
ISSUE #83:
I really like this cover. the story is "Bothers in Arms, Part One" ("Part Two" was #82). Swamp Thing continues his trip backward in time. I consider this story canon for Swamp Thing, but not for the Enemy Ace, necessarily. Hans Von Hammer (as it happens) turns out to be the cousin of Abigail Arcane's grandmother, Anais. (They are dead ringers for each other.) This issue explains how Anton Arcane, Anais' eldest son, came to be in the German army. Anais has fled their homeland with her two other children, Aniela and little Gregori, when the Prussians invaded. When her cousin shoots down a French plane and the pilot survives as some sort of a plant-creature, Anais travels to the front to seek Anton's assistance nursing him back to health. Anton, however, has other motives.
The Swamp Thing's fate appears to be tied to an medieval artifact known as "The Claw of Aelkund" (which was in the previous issue as well). Hans Von Hammer puts Anton Arcane's experiments to a stop, sending Swamp Thing further on his journey into the past. Back in the present, it's the Phantom Stranger's turn to tell Abby that her (second) husband is dead. Chester arrives with her latest, and last, payment from the government.
ISSUE #84:
Another really nice cover , painted by Totleben; the interior is by Mandrake and Alcala. I said before that the post-Moore run (which I bought as backissues) cost me mostly two bucks a piece or a quarter over cover. This issue is the only exception: it cost me $10. That is because, not only does Neil Gaiman's Sandman cross over, not only is it the very first time Sandman crossed over into another title, but it is also very early on (circa Sandman #3) in that series' run. I thought I had read this issue when Tracy bought it but, after reading I realized only pages 15-16 were familiar. This issue serves to exonerate Matt Cable of his past misdeeds prior his transformation into Matthew the raven who lives in The Dreaming.
The first thing I noticed when I opened the cover was the "publishorial" by Jenette Kahn touting DC's mystery/horror-not-quite-yet-Vertigo line. (This editorial will become extremely ironic in another three or four months.)
This is another "unusual-if-not-unique" issue in which the title character does not appear. First, Abby learns that the notice she received about Matt's benefits being cut was not sent in error, and she owes medical bills of nearly $3 million dollars. (Matt's care costs $12K every day.) The hospital administrator suggests that she can defray the costs by admitting Matt to the "neo-mort" division, which is essentially organ harvesting. Also, the paperwork he gives her to sign requires that "the patient's legal rights to refuse treatment" be suspended. When Abby mentions that, in her home country, all citizens receive free medical care, the administrator assures her that America's healthcare system is "second to none."
She bumps into Adam Strange, who is bit less insistent than the other superheroes who have contacted her about her about Swamp thing being dead; he even goes away feeling inspired by her faith. Later, Constantine helps her understand Matt's medical benefits have ceased. (It was basically a cover-up by the defunct DDI to expunge all records of its existence.) After his encounter with Dream, Matt Cable comes out of his coma just long enough to pull his own plug (literally).
The first thing I noticed when I opened the cover was the "publishorial" by Jenette Kahn touting DC's mystery/horror-not-quite-yet-Vertigo line. (This editorial will become extremely ironic in another three or four months.)
I hate to inflict more work on you, but can you possibly transcribe this?
It's kinda long (three columns instead of the usual two). How 'bout if I just summarize it?
During an editorial meeting shortly after Hallowe'en, Paul Levitz brought up the topic of how DC's mystery/horror titles had changed over the years. Also in attendance were Karen Berger, Joe Orlando and Mike Gold. (I imagine Dick Giordano was there as well, but he wasn't quoted.) Started with House of Mystery and House of Secrets, Berger notes that they were much tamer than the books she edits and were referred to as "mystery" rather than "horror" because of the CCA.
At this point, Jenette Kahn editorializes about EC Comics (misidentifying Two-Fisted Tales as a "horror" comic). Orlando jumps in and says, "We did horror stories about things that made us mad. If we read a story in the newspaper, like one about police forcing teenage girls into sexual acts, we'd write a horror story about it. If we saw an injustice, we'd address it in a story." Then Berger praises EC and Kahn elaborates about Wertham, SOTI, the Congressional hearing and the CCA. Orlando saw the Code as a challenge: "The driving force that kept me coming to work every day was to find ways of annoying the Code."
Then Kahn touts the non-code titles DC was publishing at the time: "Hellblazer, Swamp Thing and Wasteland can rightfully be called horror books, deserving the 'for mature readers' label that each one bears." Berger continues: "Since comics have tended to evolve, the horror stories we do now are for an older reader and involve sophisticated horror and suspense. Psychological horror, intense fears that are exaggerated, graphic horror--all these are part of today's horror books." She goes on to discuss in further depth the types of stories being told in Hellblazer and Swamp Thing and the controversy that sometimes surrounds them.
"We get a lot of mail," Berger continues, "accusing us of being anti-Christian because a lot of the stories in Hellblazer deal with heaven and hell or with corrupt religious factions. Although this created a lot of unrest among our readers, it wasn't our statement on religion but the perverse expression of the characters in the book." Kahn concludes by drawing a direct line from the EC horror titles of the '50s through the DC mystery books of the '70s to to not-yet-Vertigo books of the '80s.
I don't want to get ahead of the discussion, but the irony of her praise will become evident on Thursday.
ISSUE #85:
This issue's story deals with DC's western heroes: Hawk (Son of Tomahawk), Jonah Hex, El Diablo, Bat Lash, Firehair, Johnny Thunder, Madame .44 and Super Chief. Except for Jonah Hex, all of DC's western heroes bore me to tears. Two German aristocrats have come to America seeking the Claw of Aelkhund, now know as the "Claw of Elkhound" [which reminds me of Gnaw Bone (originally Narbonne], Indiana. the "German aristocrats" end up being Jason Blood and Otto Von Hammer. Swamp Thing, in an effort to send some sort of a message to Abby, allows his picture to be taken.
In the present, the police arrive at the home of Chester and Liz looking for Abby, whom they suspect of "pulling the plug" on Matt. Meanwhile, Liz finds the picture of Swamp thing taken in the 19th century.
Seems to me, a couple of weeks ago (and I don't recall if it was this discussion or another), someone mentioned a character who was out of date in today's world. (Adam Strange?) It strikes me that I doubt we'll be seeing a new Jonah Hex series (a former Confederate soldier) any time soon.
I've reached this issue in my Swamp Thing reread, and it hits differently than it would have a few months ago, now that I've read a bunch of Hawk, Son of Tomahawk and Firehair stories in the DC Finest: Westerns book. Of course, those stories were only a decade and a half old at that point, rather than over 50 years old now. Still, it's absolutely wild how comics digs deep into its history every once in a while and keeps it alive. I'm looking forward to seeing Tomahawk in his prime next issue!
And former Confederate soldier Jonah Hex is getting a new series starting in October! We'll see how they handle that aspect of his character.
"Still, it's absolutely wild how comics digs deep into its history every once in a while and keeps it alive."
"It strikes me that I doubt we'll be seeing a new Jonah Hex series (a former Confederate soldier) any time soon."
Shows ya how much I know. Jonah Hex and the Shadow of Death has been solicited to ship on October 7 of this year.
I'm looking foward to it. I liked Walsh's take on Frankenstein, and I liked what I've read of The Silver Coin as well.
ISSUE #86:
Tom Yeates returns. The issue begins, surprisingly, with Rip Hunter bumping into Swamp Thing in the time stream. I was not reading Swamp Thing in 1989, but if I had been, this would have been my first encounter with the Time Master (COIE notwithstanding). The majority of this issue takes place in 18th century America and features Tomahawk. Apart from "The Black Cougar" (from Star Spangled Comics #113, 1951, reprinted in The Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told, this is my first "Tomahawk" story.
[The Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told is a great collection, one that eschews the appellation "Silver Age" (as I do) in favor of the term I use, the 1950s, in which post-Code publishers threw everything they could think of against the wall to see what would stick. It ended up being super-heroes (again), but not until Julius Schwartz brought a few of his revived heroes together with those who stuck it out in a similarly revived version of the Justice Society.]
Swamp Thing #86 is the kind of issue I would like (and others would dislike) if I were more familiar with Tomahawk in the first place. As it is, I don't really care. Jason Blood makes an appearance, and a cave beneath the mansion being built by Darius Wayne in Gotham Town also plays a role. This issue tells the origin of the Claw of Aelkhund. In the present, Liz is reverting to her "bathrobe and slippers" self due to the authorities seeking Abby, and Abby learns (from a book) of Swamp Thing's presence in the 18th century.
This issue was one of my favorites from this arc, and it remains so. Part of it is the Tom Yeates art, which is wonderful. And part of it, I think, is the happy ending the characters get. Tomahawk becomes more himself, and marries Moon Fawn. Lord Shilling is defeated. And Abby finally gets word of Alec.
I didn't know the Tomahawk cast back then -- I don't think I encountered the DC in the Fifties book for a few more years -- but I was immediately drawn in to this one.
An interesting continuity beat: I know the history of the Wayne family in Gotham has been explored a lot in modern comics, but this stoy has a pivitol scene in what will become the Batcave in 1800, when Darius Wayne is still building his mansion. I don't know enough of current Bat-continuity to know if Darius remains in the Wayne family line, or if he built the mansion, or when the mansion was built. (The entire question seems very Dark Shadows to me.) But here's Rick Veitch putting a marker down a couple years after Crisis.
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