Saga of the Swamp Thing 1
R**R
Wow! Total must-read for comics fans!
Book 1 of Saga of the Swamp Thing definitely lived up to the hype, and then some! I was blown away by the creative storylines, breathtaking art, and sheer boldness of the whole thing. Book 1 is not an origin story of the titular character, but rather it completely reshapes and retools his origin story in a very daring, almost shocking way. Love or hate Alan Moore (this was the well known artist’s first big American comic to write for) it can never be said that he is a cowardly writer; he has never been afraid of taking huge risks with his stories, and you can see here that even in the beginnings of his career, he really went all in. These issues must have been completely mind-blowing to the loyal Swamp Thing readers back in the day - my mind was blown to smithereens and I’m not even that familiar with this IP.In addition, I’m a huge fan of the tone of horror throughout this book. A villain that appears in the 2nd half of the book is absolutely terrifying, and as this predates Stephen King’s It by about 4 years, one may wonder if King wasn’t more than a little bit influenced by these issues.In summation, if you’re a fan, of comics, horror, great writing, or good things in general, you should by and read this now! It is an absolute masterpiece and an essential part of comics history!
P**M
A Swamp of a Thing, it is!
Where to begin? I had first experienced the story of Alan (aka: Swamp Thing) in the 1982 film adaptation starring the well endowed woman of most notably 70's sitcom "Maude" and of films "Creepshow" and John Carpenter's "Escape from New York" Adrian Barbeau.Now because the film introduced me first on the character of DC's ST, it did not inject interest in checking out the books since I felt Marvel's "Man-Thing" was the original "muck of yuck." But it was always in the back of my mind of probably taking a stab at it someday.Well, after the success of the tv show version it still did not hit me to view the book history, BUT now I'm a full fledge fan and DAMN PROUD OF IT TOO. From the beautiful illustrations to the creepy, yet piercing narrative and/or the cast of multi-layered characters of goth-ridden and psychological paradoxes is a work of art, in more detail and abstract imagination to enter into this world as a participant then a reader only.The utilization and integration of guest stars were well chosen and executed as support but never to overshadow ST, such as: The Justice League, The Demon/Jason Blood and even Arcane. I was really taken by the explanation of what ST is and how its origin is reinterpreted with more empathy and compassion then just as another human casualty.I'm looking forward to reading the rest of Alan Moore's take on this life of plants and vegetation for a long time!
J**A
Redefining the Genre
I was looking for a fun book to read to clear my mind and this fit the bill pretty well. Moore is an interesting writer, and the stories are compelling, even if the character constrains some of what can be done. It’s organic and very green in the environmental sense. I’ve already ordered the next couple of collections of the series.The art, coloring, and page composition also work well with the story. I think of the early 80s as a period of reinvention in the genre with Moore and Miller and having read a few Miller texts recently and been underwhelmed, the Swamp Thing book feels like an amazingly coherent text in a way that The Dark Knight Returns wasn’t for me.
J**E
It's good, but it's not fabulous
I started The Saga of the Swamp Thing with excitement, hoping for another amazing story of Alan Moore's. I was, unfortunately, a bit disappointed. Even though it was a solid story, it was not exactly exciting.The introduction was helpful but probably does not mean much to someone who is not a diehard comic fan. Names and places and happenings for the 'correct background'. It sort of has a double meaning.The blue hair shading instead of black, is so distracting. It makes you feel like everyone really does have striking blue hair.I absolutely love the way page 60 is played out, with the panel in the background made of many panels and the ones in front explaining the story.They purposely obliterated a few words to make it feel like she was listening through the door...I love it.'Clouds like bloodied plugs of cotton wool dab ineffectually at the slashed wrists of the sky' where do these come from? They're so descriptive and sometimes horrific. Most writers would have used something strong and beautiful to describe a sunset, but not Mr. Moore, no, his is the blood of the sky pouring onto the heads of innocent humans.On page 72, the sound effect bubbles begin and I honestly do not remember seeing any at all before. And they're for a zipper. On a tent.I like the use of the same word to connect the stories, like 'enough' between pg. 78-79. It's a device used in writing literature a lot, but handled quite well in this graphic novel.The symbolism in the human race with the skull. He's running to save his humanity from humanity itself. And using the idea of the human race, we run sometimes for no reason except to save our lives from the humanity of the world.About the underlying idea that all of the plant world shares one mind-it horrifies the ones halfway between that world and the human one. But once you are freed from the thinking, worrying world of humanity, you can coexist peacefully, in harmony, with the organic world.I also just noticed that there is a lot more credit given to the creators of the comic. Usually they're mentioned once or twice but it's every introductory page.The RED WORLD. Humanity.Pg 97 is set up wonderfully, as well; Woodrue's eyes staring down at the destruction he caused.When Woodrue falls from grace, the use of dimming the colors to represent the dimming of his knowledge is so powerful.I liked the overall story line, the presentation is good, but it really did not sparkle as brightly as V for Vendetta. The only message I actually got from it: "There is a red and angry world. Red things happen there. The world eats your wife. Eats your friends. Eats all of the things that make you human. And you become a monster."
A**N
Excelente historia, excelente arte
Tenia altas expectativas con esta historia, muchas recomendaciones, pero ahora que terminé supero por mucho todo lo que me esperaba.El arte es increible, a mi me pareció muy buena eleccion del papel es como si tomaras un comic de los 80s,pero lo que se lleva por mucho es la historia y narrativa de Moore, conforme vas leyendo numero a nuemero pareciera que cada numero es totalmente separado, pero mas adelante te das cuenta que todas esas partes se unen a un todo. super recomendable, ahora toca conseguir los 5 restantes
A**R
Boa compra
Bom
T**L
One of the best DC comics Runs of all time.
J**N
Damaged
Dont get these i got 1-6 of these all of them got The glue coming of
T**S
This is an excellent series written by Alan Moore
This is an excellent series written by Alan Moore. His writing is so good and the art really makes his words pop out. There's a really good story line dealing with the Swamp Things metamorphosis into the Swamp Thing. There's also some well known DC characters that show up. I'd definitely recommend this one!
Trustpilot
3 days ago
3 weeks ago