AKA... I own 0.0057273768613974799541809851088202% of the total CGC graded population for Swamp Thing Volume 1, Number 1.

Back in late 2005, I bought my first graded CGC comic. I regard it as one of my favorites in my collection. I probably will never give it up. It will remain with me until my dying days. Only God and the great Universe will ever separate me from it. It is Swamp Thing Volume 1, Number 1, graded 9.2. I still marvel at it, and in my opinion looks better than the 9.4's and 9.6's I have in my collection. I bought it for $220, my first eBay purchase ever, and I remember Overstreet had it listed at a value of $150 ungraded.

After receiving that first CGC purchase, I got it into my head that I wanted to own every single graded ST#1. Can you imagine? I had this crazy notion and obsession to corner a market... a niche market on a one time forgotten character. F*cking nuts! Since that wild and ludicrous impulse, I have bought four more ST #1's. I now own a total of five, which equates to exactly 0.0057273768613974799541809851088202% of the total CGC graded population (873)... or about ½ percent.

Why Swamp Thing Volume 1, No. 1? I believe ST#1 is the pinnacle issue of all the Swamp Thing volumes (not including House of Secrets 92). And let me clarify further by stating... Volume 1, issues 1 through 10... are sheer classics that deserve similar praise bestowed upon the Silver Surfer's first volume collection. The rest of that volume's run, lamentably, falls far short of expectation.

Many Swamp Thing fans will argue and sling mud and throw moss at me and tell me I'm obviously nuts (but my "sanity" has already been established). Yes, I believe Alan Moore's run is pure genius deserving of the high praise, awards, and accolades it has garnered, and he's done what very few have done... breathed new life into a character that seemingly died with those God awful movies from the 80's. And I like what DC is doing with the current volume... the whole Rot World saga is very cool. But I can't help but to love the original classic, brought to you by the masters: Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson. They are timeless, they are vintage, they are hallmarks of comicdom!

The funny thing is, back in the late 70's and 80's, I never read any Swamp Thing comics. I knew of him, but I was more into his rival, Marvel's Man-Thing, and maybe a bit curious about Hillman's The Heap. In those days, every time I opened up a comic... right smack in the middle was Mile High Comics double-page spread catalogue. I would religiously scan every comic they had on sale, especially the Frank Miller Daredevil's and the Claremont and Byrne X-Men's... observing how they priced them... in essence, it became my monthly price guide. I would always look at what other titles were listed, and Swamp Thing always caught my attention. The first volume always seemed to carry a premium and it was always listed with "Wrightson" like he was a superstar along the lines of Kirby, Steranko, Adams, Miller and Byrne. However, when I caught the Wes Craven movie, as well as the follow-up featuring Heather Locklear... I told myself... you're not missing anything.

Sometime in the early 90's, when I grew cynical and disillusioned with the whole commercialism and oversaturation of the hobby, I found myself wandering aimlessly in search of a new direction. I was still in college, hooked on science fiction books, especially Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat serial novels. But that fan-boy in me, who still loved comics, wanted to remain connected to the hobby and sought solace in the "innocence" of the past. One day, I walked into Little Nemo's... a great little comic shop on Austin Street in Forest Hills, Queens, named after Winsor McKay's main character from the classic comic strip Little Nemo in Sumberland. In this claustrophobic storefront, thousands upon thousands of vintage comics, posters, and original art from the Golden Age, Silver Age, and the Bronze Age graced its four walls... walls majestically decorated with the heroes of yesteryear. My eyes would always widen with delight, joy, and awe like a kid in a candy store. I would literally spend hours in that store, having an amazingly difficult time choosing what to buy. I wanted it all, but my miserable part-time income wouldn't allow for it. So I had to be very picky. I remember buying my first Lee and Kirby Fantastic Four's, issues 68 and 70, at Nemo's. I also bought Warren's Creepy, issues 3 and 4, featuring Frank Frazetta covers. And I also bought a near complete run of DC's The Shadow from the 70's, featuring Mike Kaluta's beautiful covers. And I am sure I bought lots more. But my most proud purchase was the first volume of Swamp Thing's... numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9. I bought them all for ten bucks a piece back then, and even bought doubles of issue 7... when Swamp Thing crosses paths with Batman. Sadly, issues 1 and 10 were not part of that package. But when I got home, I carefully read them, and I finally understood why Mile High priced them at a premium. These books represent some of the finest storytelling and art every to grace a four-color page. Although Wein and Wrightson gave us an all-too-brief ten issue run, they are undeniable classics.

Sadly, Little Nemo's closed its doors nearly two decades ago. A raw copy of ST#1 eluded me until the early 00's, when I finally bought it at Midtown Comics Grand Central. With that purchase, I re-read that run I owned. Since then, Swamp Thing has become my favorite DC character. In my book, he's up there in the majestic pantheon of Super Heroes, holding court with the other greats.

As time has passed, I have given up that silly notion of trying to corner the market on ST's #1, in favor of pursing other beloved heroes of my childhood. However, I do intend to buy just one more ST #1... an immortal CGC 9.8. And when that's done... sometime in the far future... I hope to collect all ten issues of that classic Wein and Wrightson run... one day, God Willing!

Thanks for reading.

Happy Collecting!

SW3D

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