This is a review of Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume Three, which continues Alan Moore’s groundbreaking run on the title. One of the eye-openers of this volume is reading John Totleben’s (the artist’s) introduction and realizing how much of a collaborative process comic creation is. The idea for Nukeface, one of the series more memorable characters, came from Mr. Totleben.
Swamp Thing continues be a status quo breaker. Most superhero comic series love the status quo and hate change. True, things may seem to change, but they almost always revert back to the mean. The tried and true method is to have the title character quit/die/get his or her brain swapped/be transported back in time or to another dimension. While they are on the shelf (it’s always temporary), someone else takes up the mantle.
This has happened to Spider-Man (brain swap with Dr. Octopus), Thor (unworthy of Mjolnir), Iron Man (Tony goes back on the sauce), Captain America (assassinated), Superman (killed by Doomsday), Green Lantern (quit, died), and so on. The most notable instance that I’ve read this year is the first volume of Knightfall, when Batman’s back is broken by supervillain/steroid freak Bane, and he is replaced by a guy who turned out to be so unpopular DC killed him and didn’t bother resurrecting him.
Anyway, Alan Moore’s version of Swamp Thing thrives on real change. After his tryst with Abigail Arcane, the Swampster encounters an irradiated hobo named Nukeface who calls everyone Ed. Even though Nukeface’s touch means death, he really isn’t a bad fellow. Like everyone else, Nukeface needs to eat and drink – except he eats & drinks toxic sludge.
Swamp Thing is irradiated, dies, and manages to regrow his body. Shit gets even realer with the arrival of John Constantine, a nasty Englishman who looks like a young Sting (of the Police) and is partly based on Jerry Cornelius (created by Michael Moorcock). Constantine is an occultist, and he leads Swamp Thing on a merry chase across the country, where he encounters aquatic vampires, a werewolf story (that was quite controversial at the time), and finally zombies.
A great horror comic.
Abandoned Places 