Swamp Thing was always a much-better-than-average comic book. But it didn’t become a great comic book until Alan Moore (of Watchmen and
V for Vendetta fame) started writing it, in a classic 45-issue run that revolutionised the comics industry and, inter alia, directly laid the foundations for a still more celebrated work, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman.
In this video, Moore explains some of the reasoning that led him to take Swamp Thing in a new direction (with a fairly obvious ethico-political subtext – Moore is an anarchist, after all). In most genre fiction, Moore notes, “transformation is seen as horror, change is seen as a source of horror, and the status quo is seen as source of comfort and stability.” Hence prior to Moore’s run the scientist-turned-monster protagonist spent a lot of time shambling around “bound by fungus and feeling sorry for himself … like Hamlet covered in snot,” whereas Moore decided to have Swamp Thing embrace his new status, “exploring the possibilities of change and transformation, trying to show it as a positive thing.”
Swamp Thing was always my DC favorite, and maybe my favorite overall, despite my general preference for Marvel mags.
What years were you reading it?
Oh man. I’m new to comic books and absolutely love Sandman (along with the gen X classics by Peter Bagge (who used to do Hate and now does a strip for Reason magazine), Joe Mutt, and Daniel Clowes). Thanks tons for the post! I’m going to go amazon Swampman now too.
Prof. Long,
Out of curiosity, what’s your favorite story arc in Moore’s run? And what do you think of the post-Moore work on the title? I’ve been tempted to pick up the Veitch trades, but never have and have heard great things about Millar’s run.
Cheers,
Bob
Oops, thanks. It shows up on Amazon now.
In addition to Bob’s question, I’m be interested if anyone here has any other advice about good comics. Since this is a libertarian blog, I’ll start by highly recommending Peter Bagge’s work for Reason magazine. The Gen X snarkiness combined with his great visual style and insight are worth a print subscription alone.
Jon,
I’d recommend pretty much anything by the current comic book holy trinity of Britons, Moore, Gaiman, and Grant Morrison. As Prof. Long mentioned, Moore’s Watchmen and V for Vendetta are classics along with From Hell. I loved Gaiman’s Murder Mysteries and Books of Magic; both are similar to Sandman. Grant Morrison has done some wonderfully weird Vertigo work (Doom Patrol), but I like his straight superhero stuff (JLA & Batman).
Warren Ellis is too mercurial to make the trinity a quadhead, but I love the pulp fiction crossover universe he creates in Planetary and his urban rot detective series Fell.
If you like crime stories, I’m digging Brian Azzarello’s & Eduardo Risso’s conspiracy theory/hardboiled epic 100 Bullets and Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips heist anthology/noir magazine Criminal.
Oh and Mike Mignola’s Hellboy is genius.
Since you like autobiographical comix, you might want to try the original Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor.
Sorry for an excessive list, but you might finds something that interests you.
Cheers,
Bob
Hey thanks for bringing the video to my attention !
I’ve always been a big Alan Moore fan, and really should re-read his whole run of Swamp Thing. One favorite of mine that he wrote was the 12 issue Halo Jones saga. Also his Miracle Man stories.
Jon,
I suspect you’ll find that many things that seemed like Gaiman’s innovations in Sandman were actually pioneered in Moore’s Swamp Thing run — like John Constantine, and the reimagining of the old House of Mystery/Secrets hosts Cain and Abel.
But if you’re going to get the Alan Moore Swamp Thing books you should probably pick up this pre-Moore collection too or you won’t know what the hell is going on. It collects the first ten issues of the original pre-Moore run. (There are a bunch of intervening issues that have never been collected, including one by Moore, but you can probably get caught up well enough without them.)
Jon,
Depends partly on what you’re looking for, of course.
On superhero comics, I don’t have much to contribute other than what’s already been said.
In the broader field of comics, I really, really strongly recommend Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis books, Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, and Dykes to Watch Out For (you might want to wait for a while on the last before buying; there’s supposed to be a big collection coming out this fall, with most of the run collected in one volume rather than spread out over 11 different (varyingly difficult-to-find) books.
Bob,
Out of curiosity, what’s your favorite story arc in Moore’s run?
Maybe the space saga, despite its atypicality. I loved “Blue Heaven.”
And what do you think of the post-Moore work on the title? I’ve been tempted to pick up the Veitch trades, but never have and have heard great things about Millar’s run.
The Veitch continuation is good. Haven’t read the Millar.
I loved Gaiman’s Murder Mysteries and Books of Magic; both are similar to Sandman.
I strongly second that endorsement.
Jon,
I’m be interested if anyone here has any other advice about good comics.
I think Midnight Nation is Straczynski’s best (and most Gaiman-like) comics work.
Oh, I should probably also mention Gaiman’s Midnight Days, which contains several Swamp Thing stories and an extra Sandman story.