Swamp Thing 0

[Raze]

Ive always wanted to read Alan Moore‘s swamp thing run. I’ve always heard it was great. So I hunted down all six of his trade paperbacks. Before I read those I thought it would be cool to read the Wein Wrightson run.

So I bought that trade paperback and I’ve started reading it. So far I’ve really enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

I did not get the swamp thing omnibus which collects everything up to the Allenmore run run.

my question is are the books in between worth reading. So that means issues 14 through 24 of the first series and one through 19 of the second series.

is it still a fun read or is it just bad until Alan Moore.

Edited February 23, 2021 by Raze

[Ken Aldred]

12 minutes ago, Raze said:

my question is are the books in between worth reading. So that means issues 14 through 24 of the first series and one through 19 of the second series.

The issues in the first series by Len Wein and Nestor Redondo are worth reading, as Redondo is a talented and underrated artist.

The second series is okay, passable, but Moore elevates it considerably.

Edited February 23, 2021 by Ken Aldred

[Number 6]

In my opinion, issues 14 though about 20 or so of the original 70's series are pretty decent, not as good as the Wrightson issues of course, but an entertaining read.  IIRC around issue 21 is when they start trying to go more in a super-hero direction and quality really starts to take a dip.

With Saga of the Swamp Thing, I would say the 19 issues prior to Alan Moore are on average OK.  Tom Yeates did some decent covers, but to me it's hard not to compare his interior art negatively with Wrightson's.  Issue #3 features punk vampires (similar to, but before, the movie Lost Boys) and these vampires appear again later during Moore's run.  Issues #14 and 15 have some really nice art by Scott and Bo Hampton, though probably a little too "pretty" for Swamp Thing considering what would come immediately after.  Issue #18 pretty much reprints issue #10 of the 70's series, but issue #17 and 19 have some character developments with Cable and Arcane that get built on during Moore's run.  I'm not saying you have to read these issues to get what's going on in the Alan Moore stuff, but there is some back-story there that may be of interest. 

 

[comicstock]

Read them all thru the Rick Veitch run.  Good stuff.

[KCOComics]

4 hours ago, Ken Aldred said:

The issues in the first series by Len Wein and Nestor Redondo are worth reading, as Redondo is a talented and underrated artist.

The second series is okay, passable, but Moore elevates it considerably.

Agreed! Redondo is extremely underrated!