Swamp Thing Thread

Finally got done with Alan Moore's Swamp Thing and it was great. Which runs should I read next? Heard good things about the New 52 book.

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The runs directly after Moore's aren't bad. You'll know when to stop. I don 't recommend Vertigo's version.

I read the New 52 run directly afterwards yeah. IIRC it only acknowledge's Moore's run and I think Swampy's role in Blackest Night (which I haven't read, so idk) as canon. Although concepts from the post-Moore writers are reused, like The Grey. Nota bene: read nu52 Animal Man in conjunction (and maybe Jamie Delano's run on Animal Man after that if you like it).
Eventually that wasn't enough and I went back and read all ~200 issues. And v1 by Len Wein. and v3 & 4 from the 00s. S'all good, I've since picked up various solo issues from back-catalog bargain bins. Fun reads, no regrets. Well, I skimmed through the 20 issues of v3 (presumably what means) since it's not actually about Swamp Thing so maybe I would regret that one had I sunk more time into it.
Basically read the Nu52 one, maybe the original Wein issues for principle's sake (Arcane's appearances aside they're pretty dry reads imo), then if you feel up to it take on v2 either from #1 or Moore's exit and keep going from there. v3 and v4 are direct sequels to the ending of v2 that require context for the full experience. Also v4's mad underrated, it's a really fun ride that seemingly nobody has read.

Also if you don't mind me blogging a bit I can give you my personal opinion on how each writer compares:
v1
>Lein Wein - jut a story about a big green ogre who doesn't want to be a big green ogre and blunders into horror tropes, pretty bland compared to what Moore would go on to do, introduced Abby and Matt Cable, Arcane's arc is the only part I can vividly remember and I do so fondly

>dude after Wein - Swamp Thing visits Fictional South American Dictatorship and discovers an island of retired death cultists and I think there's a time travel issue somewhere in there, probably the most disjointed & forgettable run which is ironic considering it introduced his growth powers and was cancelled on a cliffhanger that reeeeeeeally kicks everything that came after it in the nuts

>I don 't recommend Vertigo's version.

The BKV version? I quite liked that run.

v2
>dude before Moore - also kinda unremarkable since Swamp Thing's still just a mossy Frankenstein that can regrow limbs, Swampy goes on an occult roadtrip to stop the Antichrist whilst fighting vampires and spirits along the way, last few issues have Bissette on art and rush through the Arcane/Abby/Matt return that Moore picks up from so I'd recommended that at least

>Moore - no introduction needed, suffice to say he introduced a ton of metaphysical & philosophical elements that would define the character from that point onward

>Rick Veitch - good stuff, keeps the Moore train rolling, Hellblazer's a thing now so there's some crossover there, introduced Tefe and more lore for The Green, ended on a bitching time travel arc that unfortunately could not be finished as intended

>Doug Wheeler - finished up Veitch's time travel arc and used it to plant seeds for his own ideas, added even more Green lore, I mainly remember it as the run that dealt with Mantango & The Grey and look back on it with disappointment since I put my expectations for that arc too high but it's not bad and does some seriously cool shit on the way

>Nancy Collins - also good stuff, more personal than other writers, deals a lot with family and relationships, heavily features Arcane, I'm tempted to call it the best-written run besides Moore

>Mark Millar - insane, takes Swampy's role as an "Elemental" very literally, introduces entirely new Parliaments and divine heralds, reads like an anime, fun in that very blunt big-idea in-your-face Millar way

Doin' good work, user.

youtube.com/watch?v=3H5zXh6MVvg

SWAMP THING

YOU ARE AMAZING

OOOH SWAMP THING

v3
>Brian K Vaughn - 20 issue ongoing about Swamp Thing's daughter taking over the family business as it were and struggling to choose between her plant and animal lineages, understandably divisive, trades in quasi-mystic fantasy for young-adult self-reflection, some interesting takes on the lore here and there some of which later writers would also use but not everyone's cup of tea

v4
>first dude - metal as FUCK, only around for like 10 issues but bloody hell what a wild ride those 10 issues are, picks up from the end of v2 filtering all of Millar's shonen insanity through digital art techniques and a Mature rating, also acknowledges some stuff from v3 but v3 itself was very vague and contradictory regarding how v2 ended so how the three coincide is all a bit of a crapshoot, ah who cares METAL AS FUCK

>second dude - not as visceral but still fun, a wealth of very colorful & diverse ideas that hearken back to the Moorecore days, you got hell spawn you got evil corporations you got swamp juju you got metaphysical mindtrips you got feels you even got a lil' bit a' romance

radical reviewing m8, i'll bear these in mind when approaching swampy.

>go to hobby shop/collectible shop
>"yo what up boy, you got any swamp thing?"
>"no, sorry"
anyone else know this feel

No, because I buy my shit online or just download.

I want to add that the art by Bernie Wrightson and Nestor Redondo is the main draw of the early Swamp Thing

Holy shit could those men draw

this run kinda sucks

v5
>Scott Snyder - uses the New 52 reboot to bin everything post-Moore and consolidates it with the pre-Moore mythos i.e. Swamp Thing was MEANT to be a transformed Alec Holland and the plant-that-thinks-its-a-man thing was an accident that The Green ran with, also reimagines the Arcane family's place in the grander scheme of things by introducing The Rot and climaxes in a cross-over with Animal Man/The Red, good fun, imaginative paneling courtesy of Marco Rudy, a lot more action-adventurey than prior series and being a bonafied human instead of the psychic echo of a human changes Swampy's character voice significantly (jarringly so if you'd gotten used to it)

Wrightson's fucking unbelievable

>Charles Soule - keeps running with the Parliament-per-lifeform idea Snyder started and doesn't slow down, introduces all sorts of colorful character to The Green's Hall of Fame for Swampy to interact with, digs up & tweaks some old Vertigo concepts, a little subtler than Snyder but I think I prefer it overall

And then there's Wein's recent miniseries which is like a self-contained Greatest Hits montage.

glad to be of help

So, in your opinion, what's the worst (maybe the wrong word, because they all sound good) post-Moore run? I've only read the New 52 Swampy, but it really captured my interest.

>Wein's recent miniseries
Was it any good? It felt too much like a retread.

fug, meant to say worst and best

if you like the original wein run you'll probably like it
it's not as good but it isn't bad either, it's kinda weird if you're coming of soule's run though

v3.
But that feels like cheating.

Ignoring the Tefe series (which almost everyone thinks is the worst), I think the Morrison/Millar run is the worst. I'm not a fan of the horror aspects of the series (and it took until Moore for me to realize that's why it wasn't clicking with me), but I do enjoy the characters. So Morrison starting off his run by basically killing the entire cast that Collins and previous writers did so much work with rubs me the wrong way.

Did THIS call the Red by that name first, or did Animal Man?
Because I remember for a while, Buddy just called it the Morogenic Grid or the Life Web.

I enjoyed it for what it was. The last 2-3 issues were pretty tight.
Like i said it's a cross-section of Swamp Thing history. Starts out with generic horror stuff & body dysphoria, and escalates until its all elemental Armageddon and metaphysical afterlives. Whilst unboxing fan favorites all the while.

>best
Hard to choose. If all you've read is Moore like I said earlier I advise New 52 (Snyder/Soule). Simple and straight-forward. I can't rightly recommend any one writer from v2, because it flows so well a one continuous narrative. Like, Millar's probably the most distinctive but without the prior ~100 issues of context it might not hold up so well.

I think it's first referred to as The Red in the aforementioned Delano run in the 90s. Arted by the same guy who did The Red parts of the new 52 series, no less.

I found it hilarious.
I mean, it's fucking Morrison. Of COURSE he's gonna make his first order of business violently killing off the Alan Moore lookalike.

>Giant leaf-wings
>Sword-hand
>Crown of antlers
>Swampy's look in general

God, "Green Knight" Swamp Thing might just be the coolest looking thing I've seen in a comic, ever. It hits all of favorite fantasy aesthetics.

Man-Thing is better

Neat. Thanks user.

...

all I got

SWAMP THING YOU ARE AMAZING

youtube.com/watch?v=3H5zXh6MVvg

Swamp Thing in DCEU when

So where do I start with Moore? I don't know the names of any of the issues.

>So where do I start with Moore? I don't know the names of any of the issues.

You look up Alan Moore and see what issues he wrote

Soon, actually. JLD is happening.

I like your optimism

They literally just announced the director last week.

Why weren't the issues that tie into Sandman put into trade?

Underrated

I received two Swamp Thing action figures when I was child, without ever having seen the show (early 90s).

One was a Swamp Thing that changed color in cold water. I remember I left in the water one time and then drank it later and became very sick.

That is all.

John Constantine, Hellblazer.

Just buy the Saga of the Swamp Thing trades. There's six of them.

I'm the blogfag and gotta say Man-Thing's cool as fuck in his own right.
Not quite "better" but that's due to less material. He's got, what, less than 50 comics to Swamp Thing's 300?

DC released Saga of the Swamp Thing by Alan Moore books One-through-Six a few years ago.
I'm waiting on the Omnibus personally.

I guess because that was like 2 writers after Moore.
>tfw pages from The Dreaming directly coincide with pages from those Swamp Thing issues and nobody's ever going to appreciate it because it's literally who referencing literally who

who should do the next run

So apparently Swamp Thing was a big thing then, huh

So according to wikipedia Alec went to meet Jesus but the editors wouldn't have it. How come?

He was one of the first comic book characters that got a movie adaptation, alongside Howard the Duck and Conan.

>tfw I became interested in Swampy because I played Infinite Crisis and he was voiced by Worf
Moment I saw Moore wrote comic, it became insta-read.

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What if you just temporarily became one with the green?

He didn't burn up, user.

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