During his famous run on Swamp Thing, Alan Moore turned the hero into an alienated, vastly powerful cosmic being who teleports himself all over the universe – his only remaining emotional link to humanity being his girlfriend Abby Arcane, who lounges around idly in the swamp waiting to provide him with sex and nurturing whenever he drops back in.
In other words, the relationship between Swamp Thing and Abby prefigures the later relationship between Dr. Manhattan and Laurie Juspeczyk in Watchmen – the big difference, of course, being that while the first relationship was presented (somewhat tongue in cheek, I assume – or hope!) as idyllic, the second is portrayed, more realistically, as deeply frustrating and dysfunctional. So in Watchmen Moore in effect took the opportunity to deconstruct, under new names, the relationship he’d previously created.
(In related news, Swampy’s manipulating matter to create his own world on the Blue Planet [Saga of Swamp Thing #56] likewise prefigures Doc M’s doing likewise on the Red Planet – though of course one’s exile is chosen and the other’s is not.)
No comments yet.