Loved to death, 14 Jan 2004
Following on from “Saga of the Swamp Thing”, the first TBP of Al Moore’s run on this historical DC title, Love and Death is a beautifully illustrated roller-coaster ride through planes both physical and astral, covering locations as diverse as Heaven, Hell, Limbo, the afterlife and, of course, the bayous of Louisiana.

The lengendary Totleben really gets into his stride as penciller-in-chief during this run of the comics (originally published in issues 28-34), greatly aided by Moore’s expansive notes and annotations. The water looks wet, the Spanish moss looks gossamer-like and the assorted host of Hades look suitably terrifying. The psychedelic last story shows an artist at the absolute capstone of his ability.

The remaining loose threads dangling from the original mythos are cut or tidied up, we see the inspiration for (Sandman creator) Gaiman’s take on Cane and Abel in a particularly well written “filler”, and if you ever wondered how far a 350-pound vegetable would go to get it’s girl, then ponder no more.

Moore always wrote this monthly with a streak of horror through its middle, but “Love and Death” manages to transcend this pulp attitude in a way that the later TBPs (The Curse etc) never quite recaptured.

alan moore, comics genius, 29 Dec 2000
'A book based loosely on the film'????!!!! Some comics education is called for here... Moore is the Orson Welles of the American comic (a Brit of course), and Swamp Thing more than any other was the title that, way back in the 80s (before the movie had been thought about), returned the medium to the intelligent, thought provoking one that the Japanese had always known it could be. Read it...

An excellently illustrated set of stories, 07 Nov 2000
Swamp Thing is one of my favorite films. So imagine my surprise when I found this book on the shelf - It is a graphic novel based loosly on the film, but which takes the character to places the film would never have dared tread. Among the stories, my favorite was about Swamp Thing travelling to another swamp. The illustrations are excellent. The colors are vibrant and really bring the stories to life. A must for any swap thing fan.

Probably the best comic book story ever written, 22 Jul 1997
This graphic novel reprints the early Alan Moore Swamp Thing series. This was the first DC Comics series that was written for an intelligent, adult audience. It also featured some dazzling watercolor artwork.
Though Moore is better known for "V for Vendetta" and "Watchmen," he did some of his best work redefining Swamp Thing.
If at some point in the future comic books become an art form that is taken seriously, this will be one work that stands the test of time.

Loved to death, 14 Jan 2004
Following on from “Saga of the Swamp Thing”, the first TBP of Al Moore’s run on this historical DC title, Love and Death is a beautifully illustrated roller-coaster ride through planes both physical and astral, covering locations as diverse as Heaven, Hell, Limbo, the afterlife and, of course, the bayous of Louisiana.

The lengendary Totleben really gets into his stride as penciller-in-chief during this run of the comics (originally published in issues 28-34), greatly aided by Moore’s expansive notes and annotations. The water looks wet, the Spanish moss looks gossamer-like and the assorted host of Hades look suitably terrifying. The psychedelic last story shows an artist at the absolute capstone of his ability.

The remaining loose threads dangling from the original mythos are cut or tidied up, we see the inspiration for (Sandman creator) Gaiman’s take on Cane and Abel in a particularly well written “filler”, and if you ever wondered how far a 350-pound vegetable would go to get it’s girl, then ponder no more.

Moore always wrote this monthly with a streak of horror through its middle, but “Love and Death” manages to transcend this pulp attitude in a way that the later TBPs (The Curse etc) never quite recaptured.

alan moore, comics genius, 29 Dec 2000
'A book based loosely on the film'????!!!! Some comics education is called for here... Moore is the Orson Welles of the American comic (a Brit of course), and Swamp Thing more than any other was the title that, way back in the 80s (before the movie had been thought about), returned the medium to the intelligent, thought provoking one that the Japanese had always known it could be. Read it...

An excellently illustrated set of stories, 07 Nov 2000
Swamp Thing is one of my favorite films. So imagine my surprise when I found this book on the shelf - It is a graphic novel based loosly on the film, but which takes the character to places the film would never have dared tread. Among the stories, my favorite was about Swamp Thing travelling to another swamp. The illustrations are excellent. The colors are vibrant and really bring the stories to life. A must for any swap thing fan.

Probably the best comic book story ever written, 22 Jul 1997
This graphic novel reprints the early Alan Moore Swamp Thing series. This was the first DC Comics series that was written for an intelligent, adult audience. It also featured some dazzling watercolor artwork.
Though Moore is better known for "V for Vendetta" and "Watchmen," he did some of his best work redefining Swamp Thing.
If at some point in the future comic books become an art form that is taken seriously, this will be one work that stands the test of time.

A Classic, 30 Sep 2006
This is the very first volume of the long running Swamp Thing saga. This is a real classic. No other Swamp Thing volume is quite like this. The next Swamp Thing volume, 'Saga of the Swamp Thing' by the ever excellant legend Alan Moore, is very differant to this, being far more sinister. This reminds me quite a bit of the first volume of The Incredible Hulk.

Len Wein and Berni Wrightson create the original Swamp Thing, 08 Jan 2004
"Swamp Thing: Dark Genesis" reprints not only the first ten issues of the DC comic but also the short story from 1971's "House of Secrets" #92 that introduced the character. The key thing here is that you have in one trade paperback volume the complete run of artist Berni Wrightson, who created the Swamp Thing along with writer Len Wein. There are actually not one genesis but two in the first two stories (just like the original in fact), not to be confused with the famous revision worked by Alan Moore down the road. The first, shorter version, was about a man who was murdered and dumped into a swamp, where his body metamorphosed into a muck monster that rose up and extracted horrible vengeance upon his killer. The story was a bit reminiscent of a character called the Heap, who showed up in the back of "Airboy and Air Fighters Comics" from 1942-1953, but I do not know if that was really in anybody's mind at the end of 1972 when "Swamp Thing" #1 was produced, however, a more likely antecedent would be "Morto do Pântano", created by the Brazilian artist Eugenio Colonesse only two years before the Swamp Thing's advent.

Now the man in the monster was Dr. Alec Holland, who was working on a top secret bio-restorative formula in the Louisiana bayou. The bad guys want it and when their bomb explodes in Holland's face and drives "countless unclassified chemicals" deep into his burning flesh, he dives into the bog and disappears. In the first issue Holland fails to rescue his wife in time and has to take revenge for both of them, at which point we immediately start a multi-issue story arc with Arcane, a crazy rich guy who wants to live forever. This is the plot line that eventually became the less than stellar movie version of the "Swamp Thing," so it will seem somewhat familiar to the uninitiated. The Swamp Thing even left his swamp long enough to battle Batman in issue #7 in what would be one of the few encounters with a traditional DC superhero for the supernatural star of the comic.

Wein and Wrightson's "Swamp Thing" became a cult classic among comic fans because of its dark, moody Gothic style, but mainly on the strength of the artwork by Wrightson, whose style was perfectly suited for this comic. Historically "Swamp Thing" is an important comic book because it was the first horror comic to be geared towards a more adult oriented readership since the glory days of EC Comics with "Tales of the Crypt" in the 1950s. Eventually "Swamp Thing," during the Moore period, would give birth to DC's Vertigo comic book line, which was always PG-13 if not NC-17. "Saga of the Swamp Thing" would be the first mainstream comic to abandon the Comics Code Authority. These first ten stories rest primarily on Wrightson's distinctive art, but Wein does set the foundation for the character to be able to survive once Wrightson departed.

If you begin with "Dark Genesis" and proceed directly to the Moore years in the 1980s (which is basically what these reprints do), you are not going to be disappointed, because relatively speaking, nothing happened in the years in between. I am just happy to be able to read these comics again without having to take my originals out of their plastic bags.

Loved to death, 14 Jan 2004
Following on from “Saga of the Swamp Thing”, the first TBP of Al Moore’s run on this historical DC title, Love and Death is a beautifully illustrated roller-coaster ride through planes both physical and astral, covering locations as diverse as Heaven, Hell, Limbo, the afterlife and, of course, the bayous of Louisiana.

The lengendary Totleben really gets into his stride as penciller-in-chief during this run of the comics (originally published in issues 28-34), greatly aided by Moore’s expansive notes and annotations. The water looks wet, the Spanish moss looks gossamer-like and the assorted host of Hades look suitably terrifying. The psychedelic last story shows an artist at the absolute capstone of his ability.

The remaining loose threads dangling from the original mythos are cut or tidied up, we see the inspiration for (Sandman creator) Gaiman’s take on Cane and Abel in a particularly well written “filler”, and if you ever wondered how far a 350-pound vegetable would go to get it’s girl, then ponder no more.

Moore always wrote this monthly with a streak of horror through its middle, but “Love and Death” manages to transcend this pulp attitude in a way that the later TBPs (The Curse etc) never quite recaptured.

alan moore, comics genius, 29 Dec 2000
'A book based loosely on the film'????!!!! Some comics education is called for here... Moore is the Orson Welles of the American comic (a Brit of course), and Swamp Thing more than any other was the title that, way back in the 80s (before the movie had been thought about), returned the medium to the intelligent, thought provoking one that the Japanese had always known it could be. Read it...

An excellently illustrated set of stories, 07 Nov 2000
Swamp Thing is one of my favorite films. So imagine my surprise when I found this book on the shelf - It is a graphic novel based loosly on the film, but which takes the character to places the film would never have dared tread. Among the stories, my favorite was about Swamp Thing travelling to another swamp. The illustrations are excellent. The colors are vibrant and really bring the stories to life. A must for any swap thing fan.

Probably the best comic book story ever written, 22 Jul 1997
This graphic novel reprints the early Alan Moore Swamp Thing series. This was the first DC Comics series that was written for an intelligent, adult audience. It also featured some dazzling watercolor artwork.
Though Moore is better known for "V for Vendetta" and "Watchmen," he did some of his best work redefining Swamp Thing.
If at some point in the future comic books become an art form that is taken seriously, this will be one work that stands the test of time.

A Classic, 30 Sep 2006
This is the very first volume of the long running Swamp Thing saga. This is a real classic. No other Swamp Thing volume is quite like this. The next Swamp Thing volume, 'Saga of the Swamp Thing' by the ever excellant legend Alan Moore, is very differant to this, being far more sinister. This reminds me quite a bit of the first volume of The Incredible Hulk.

Len Wein and Berni Wrightson create the original Swamp Thing, 08 Jan 2004
"Swamp Thing: Dark Genesis" reprints not only the first ten issues of the DC comic but also the short story from 1971's "House of Secrets" #92 that introduced the character. The key thing here is that you have in one trade paperback volume the complete run of artist Berni Wrightson, who created the Swamp Thing along with writer Len Wein. There are actually not one genesis but two in the first two stories (just like the original in fact), not to be confused with the famous revision worked by Alan Moore down the road. The first, shorter version, was about a man who was murdered and dumped into a swamp, where his body metamorphosed into a muck monster that rose up and extracted horrible vengeance upon his killer. The story was a bit reminiscent of a character called the Heap, who showed up in the back of "Airboy and Air Fighters Comics" from 1942-1953, but I do not know if that was really in anybody's mind at the end of 1972 when "Swamp Thing" #1 was produced, however, a more likely antecedent would be "Morto do Pântano", created by the Brazilian artist Eugenio Colonesse only two years before the Swamp Thing's advent.

Now the man in the monster was Dr. Alec Holland, who was working on a top secret bio-restorative formula in the Louisiana bayou. The bad guys want it and when their bomb explodes in Holland's face and drives "countless unclassified chemicals" deep into his burning flesh, he dives into the bog and disappears. In the first issue Holland fails to rescue his wife in time and has to take revenge for both of them, at which point we immediately start a multi-issue story arc with Arcane, a crazy rich guy who wants to live forever. This is the plot line that eventually became the less than stellar movie version of the "Swamp Thing," so it will seem somewhat familiar to the uninitiated. The Swamp Thing even left his swamp long enough to battle Batman in issue #7 in what would be one of the few encounters with a traditional DC superhero for the supernatural star of the comic.

Wein and Wrightson's "Swamp Thing" became a cult classic among comic fans because of its dark, moody Gothic style, but mainly on the strength of the artwork by Wrightson, whose style was perfectly suited for this comic. Historically "Swamp Thing" is an important comic book because it was the first horror comic to be geared towards a more adult oriented readership since the glory days of EC Comics with "Tales of the Crypt" in the 1950s. Eventually "Swamp Thing," during the Moore period, would give birth to DC's Vertigo comic book line, which was always PG-13 if not NC-17. "Saga of the Swamp Thing" would be the first mainstream comic to abandon the Comics Code Authority. These first ten stories rest primarily on Wrightson's distinctive art, but Wein does set the foundation for the character to be able to survive once Wrightson departed.

If you begin with "Dark Genesis" and proceed directly to the Moore years in the 1980s (which is basically what these reprints do), you are not going to be disappointed, because relatively speaking, nothing happened in the years in between. I am just happy to be able to read these comics again without having to take my originals out of their plastic bags.

Swamp Thing and the birth of modern American comics., 14 Jan 2003
It`s hard to see back more than 15 years to the time before Swamp Thing. Back before superheros grew up, went all philosophical and got buried under their own ludicrousness. Before Alan Moore came along the US comic was a sad tired thing. Moores`Swamp Thing was a revolutionary statement of intent, it changed everything. Not immediately, it took everyone else a while to catch up . In it`s scope , it`s depth and it`s inventiveness , Swamp Thing was hugely ambitious. It dealt with issues, big ideas, morality and frail human feelings. Very few people had even attempted to deal with this kind of thing in a monthly US superhero comic, most people would just have assumed that it was impossible.
Now I`m not saying it`s the perfect comic, it`s flawed, particularly at the end of the saga , but if you want to see where The Sandman and all the ensuing Vertigo stuff actually germinated from, then you need to read Swamp Thing, it`s the very root of it all and is still an extraordinary and wonderful comic.

I`m sad to see that only a relatively small number of the collected volumes are still available. I hope there are reprints planned.

Another classic from Alan Moore, 15 Aug 2002
Alan Moore continues his revamping of the Swamp Thing story in the issues collected here. His girlfriend, Abigail, has been jailed in Gotham City. When Swamp Thing turns up to free her a titanic struggle ensues between the agent of the green and The Dark Knight.
Alan Moore shows he can equal Frank Miller in gritty Batman stories and the Swamp Thing himself becomes a great power in the DC universe. Several other characters from the DC universe have cameos. It is very well written and the exotic artwork matches its brilliance. The final story in the volume, sort of an epilogue, is a superbly dark issue detailing the events in the lives of two of the supporting characters in the series. An excellent read.
Once again, Alan Moore proves he is the best writer in comic books today. Along with the other volumes, this series ranks as one of the finest in DC's history. Buy this book and the volume following as it's just as good.

Loved to death, 14 Jan 2004
Following on from “Saga of the Swamp Thing”, the first TBP of Al Moore’s run on this historical DC title, Love and Death is a beautifully illustrated roller-coaster ride through planes both physical and astral, covering locations as diverse as Heaven, Hell, Limbo, the afterlife and, of course, the bayous of Louisiana.

The lengendary Totleben really gets into his stride as penciller-in-chief during this run of the comics (originally published in issues 28-34), greatly aided by Moore’s expansive notes and annotations. The water looks wet, the Spanish moss looks gossamer-like and the assorted host of Hades look suitably terrifying. The psychedelic last story shows an artist at the absolute capstone of his ability.

The remaining loose threads dangling from the original mythos are cut or tidied up, we see the inspiration for (Sandman creator) Gaiman’s take on Cane and Abel in a particularly well written “filler”, and if you ever wondered how far a 350-pound vegetable would go to get it’s girl, then ponder no more.

Moore always wrote this monthly with a streak of horror through its middle, but “Love and Death” manages to transcend this pulp attitude in a way that the later TBPs (The Curse etc) never quite recaptured.

alan moore, comics genius, 29 Dec 2000
'A book based loosely on the film'????!!!! Some comics education is called for here... Moore is the Orson Welles of the American comic (a Brit of course), and Swamp Thing more than any other was the title that, way back in the 80s (before the movie had been thought about), returned the medium to the intelligent, thought provoking one that the Japanese had always known it could be. Read it...

An excellently illustrated set of stories, 07 Nov 2000
Swamp Thing is one of my favorite films. So imagine my surprise when I found this book on the shelf - It is a graphic novel based loosly on the film, but which takes the character to places the film would never have dared tread. Among the stories, my favorite was about Swamp Thing travelling to another swamp. The illustrations are excellent. The colors are vibrant and really bring the stories to life. A must for any swap thing fan.

Probably the best comic book story ever written, 22 Jul 1997
This graphic novel reprints the early Alan Moore Swamp Thing series. This was the first DC Comics series that was written for an intelligent, adult audience. It also featured some dazzling watercolor artwork.
Though Moore is better known for "V for Vendetta" and "Watchmen," he did some of his best work redefining Swamp Thing.
If at some point in the future comic books become an art form that is taken seriously, this will be one work that stands the test of time.

A Classic, 30 Sep 2006
This is the very first volume of the long running Swamp Thing saga. This is a real classic. No other Swamp Thing volume is quite like this. The next Swamp Thing volume, 'Saga of the Swamp Thing' by the ever excellant legend Alan Moore, is very differant to this, being far more sinister. This reminds me quite a bit of the first volume of The Incredible Hulk.

Len Wein and Berni Wrightson create the original Swamp Thing, 08 Jan 2004
"Swamp Thing: Dark Genesis" reprints not only the first ten issues of the DC comic but also the short story from 1971's "House of Secrets" #92 that introduced the character. The key thing here is that you have in one trade paperback volume the complete run of artist Berni Wrightson, who created the Swamp Thing along with writer Len Wein. There are actually not one genesis but two in the first two stories (just like the original in fact), not to be confused with the famous revision worked by Alan Moore down the road. The first, shorter version, was about a man who was murdered and dumped into a swamp, where his body metamorphosed into a muck monster that rose up and extracted horrible vengeance upon his killer. The story was a bit reminiscent of a character called the Heap, who showed up in the back of "Airboy and Air Fighters Comics" from 1942-1953, but I do not know if that was really in anybody's mind at the end of 1972 when "Swamp Thing" #1 was produced, however, a more likely antecedent would be "Morto do Pântano", created by the Brazilian artist Eugenio Colonesse only two years before the Swamp Thing's advent.

Now the man in the monster was Dr. Alec Holland, who was working on a top secret bio-restorative formula in the Louisiana bayou. The bad guys want it and when their bomb explodes in Holland's face and drives "countless unclassified chemicals" deep into his burning flesh, he dives into the bog and disappears. In the first issue Holland fails to rescue his wife in time and has to take revenge for both of them, at which point we immediately start a multi-issue story arc with Arcane, a crazy rich guy who wants to live forever. This is the plot line that eventually became the less than stellar movie version of the "Swamp Thing," so it will seem somewhat familiar to the uninitiated. The Swamp Thing even left his swamp long enough to battle Batman in issue #7 in what would be one of the few encounters with a traditional DC superhero for the supernatural star of the comic.

Wein and Wrightson's "Swamp Thing" became a cult classic among comic fans because of its dark, moody Gothic style, but mainly on the strength of the artwork by Wrightson, whose style was perfectly suited for this comic. Historically "Swamp Thing" is an important comic book because it was the first horror comic to be geared towards a more adult oriented readership since the glory days of EC Comics with "Tales of the Crypt" in the 1950s. Eventually "Swamp Thing," during the Moore period, would give birth to DC's Vertigo comic book line, which was always PG-13 if not NC-17. "Saga of the Swamp Thing" would be the first mainstream comic to abandon the Comics Code Authority. These first ten stories rest primarily on Wrightson's distinctive art, but Wein does set the foundation for the character to be able to survive once Wrightson departed.

If you begin with "Dark Genesis" and proceed directly to the Moore years in the 1980s (which is basically what these reprints do), you are not going to be disappointed, because relatively speaking, nothing happened in the years in between. I am just happy to be able to read these comics again without having to take my originals out of their plastic bags.

Swamp Thing and the birth of modern American comics., 14 Jan 2003
It`s hard to see back more than 15 years to the time before Swamp Thing. Back before superheros grew up, went all philosophical and got buried under their own ludicrousness. Before Alan Moore came along the US comic was a sad tired thing. Moores`Swamp Thing was a revolutionary statement of intent, it changed everything. Not immediately, it took everyone else a while to catch up . In it`s scope , it`s depth and it`s inventiveness , Swamp Thing was hugely ambitious. It dealt with issues, big ideas, morality and frail human feelings. Very few people had even attempted to deal with this kind of thing in a monthly US superhero comic, most people would just have assumed that it was impossible.
Now I`m not saying it`s the perfect comic, it`s flawed, particularly at the end of the saga , but if you want to see where The Sandman and all the ensuing Vertigo stuff actually germinated from, then you need to read Swamp Thing, it`s the very root of it all and is still an extraordinary and wonderful comic.

I`m sad to see that only a relatively small number of the collected volumes are still available. I hope there are reprints planned.

Another classic from Alan Moore, 15 Aug 2002
Alan Moore continues his revamping of the Swamp Thing story in the issues collected here. His girlfriend, Abigail, has been jailed in Gotham City. When Swamp Thing turns up to free her a titanic struggle ensues between the agent of the green and The Dark Knight.
Alan Moore shows he can equal Frank Miller in gritty Batman stories and the Swamp Thing himself becomes a great power in the DC universe. Several other characters from the DC universe have cameos. It is very well written and the exotic artwork matches its brilliance. The final story in the volume, sort of an epilogue, is a superbly dark issue detailing the events in the lives of two of the supporting characters in the series. An excellent read.
Once again, Alan Moore proves he is the best writer in comic books today. Along with the other volumes, this series ranks as one of the finest in DC's history. Buy this book and the volume following as it's just as good.

Swamp thing gone to seed., 11 Sep 2005
This book is abysmal!
I had heard a lot of good things about Andy Diggle and the writing he was doing for D.C comics and thought that by picking up his take on an old favourite of mine would be as good a place as any to start.
Bad mistake,Just because the story is set in a universe made up and governed by ludicrous conventions doesnt mean you should be able to turn in a script quite as bad as this, Im amazed D.C paid him for it, Im even more amazed that they published it.
Theres no sense of suspense and the conclusion is sign posted way before you reach the punchline.
And the art and page layouts are appalling too, this is a really bad example of decompressed graphic story telling (Pick up any of Warren Ellis's books if you want to see decompressed comic books done well ) ,Enrique Breccias doodlings are terrible, his figure drawing is truly awful, all the faces look like they belong on stroke victims and his rendition of the re-animated Alec Holland is one of the worst walking corpes you are ever likely to see on the printed page.
Its as if he is trying to ape the work of Gustav Dore and Albrecht Durer but doing the illustrations without the lights on and using his car keys instead of pencils and pens.
Its a real shame that one of the classic comic horror characters has been handled so inexpertly.
Avoid this like the plague.

Loved to death, 14 Jan 2004
Following on from “Saga of the Swamp Thing”, the first TBP of Al Moore’s run on this historical DC title, Love and Death is a beautifully illustrated roller-coaster ride through planes both physical and astral, covering locations as diverse as Heaven, Hell, Limbo, the afterlife and, of course, the bayous of Louisiana.

The lengendary Totleben really gets into his stride as penciller-in-chief during this run of the comics (originally published in issues 28-34), greatly aided by Moore’s expansive notes and annotations. The water looks wet, the Spanish moss looks gossamer-like and the assorted host of Hades look suitably terrifying. The psychedelic last story shows an artist at the absolute capstone of his ability.

The remaining loose threads dangling from the original mythos are cut or tidied up, we see the inspiration for (Sandman creator) Gaiman’s take on Cane and Abel in a particularly well written “filler”, and if you ever wondered how far a 350-pound vegetable would go to get it’s girl, then ponder no more.

Moore always wrote this monthly with a streak of horror through its middle, but “Love and Death” manages to transcend this pulp attitude in a way that the later TBPs (The Curse etc) never quite recaptured.

alan moore, comics genius, 29 Dec 2000
'A book based loosely on the film'????!!!! Some comics education is called for here... Moore is the Orson Welles of the American comic (a Brit of course), and Swamp Thing more than any other was the title that, way back in the 80s (before the movie had been thought about), returned the medium to the intelligent, thought provoking one that the Japanese had always known it could be. Read it...

An excellently illustrated set of stories, 07 Nov 2000
Swamp Thing is one of my favorite films. So imagine my surprise when I found this book on the shelf - It is a graphic novel based loosly on the film, but which takes the character to places the film would never have dared tread. Among the stories, my favorite was about Swamp Thing travelling to another swamp. The illustrations are excellent. The colors are vibrant and really bring the stories to life. A must for any swap thing fan.

Probably the best comic book story ever written, 22 Jul 1997
This graphic novel reprints the early Alan Moore Swamp Thing series. This was the first DC Comics series that was written for an intelligent, adult audience. It also featured some dazzling watercolor artwork.
Though Moore is better known for "V for Vendetta" and "Watchmen," he did some of his best work redefining Swamp Thing.
If at some point in the future comic books become an art form that is taken seriously, this will be one work that stands the test of time.

A Classic, 30 Sep 2006
This is the very first volume of the long running Swamp Thing saga. This is a real classic. No other Swamp Thing volume is quite like this. The next Swamp Thing volume, 'Saga of the Swamp Thing' by the ever excellant legend Alan Moore, is very differant to this, being far more sinister. This reminds me quite a bit of the first volume of The Incredible Hulk.

Len Wein and Berni Wrightson create the original Swamp Thing, 08 Jan 2004
"Swamp Thing: Dark Genesis" reprints not only the first ten issues of the DC comic but also the short story from 1971's "House of Secrets" #92 that introduced the character. The key thing here is that you have in one trade paperback volume the complete run of artist Berni Wrightson, who created the Swamp Thing along with writer Len Wein. There are actually not one genesis but two in the first two stories (just like the original in fact), not to be confused with the famous revision worked by Alan Moore down the road. The first, shorter version, was about a man who was murdered and dumped into a swamp, where his body metamorphosed into a muck monster that rose up and extracted horrible vengeance upon his killer. The story was a bit reminiscent of a character called the Heap, who showed up in the back of "Airboy and Air Fighters Comics" from 1942-1953, but I do not know if that was really in anybody's mind at the end of 1972 when "Swamp Thing" #1 was produced, however, a more likely antecedent would be "Morto do Pântano", created by the Brazilian artist Eugenio Colonesse only two years before the Swamp Thing's advent.

Now the man in the monster was Dr. Alec Holland, who was working on a top secret bio-restorative formula in the Louisiana bayou. The bad guys want it and when their bomb explodes in Holland's face and drives "countless unclassified chemicals" deep into his burning flesh, he dives into the bog and disappears. In the first issue Holland fails to rescue his wife in time and has to take revenge for both of them, at which point we immediately start a multi-issue story arc with Arcane, a crazy rich guy who wants to live forever. This is the plot line that eventually became the less than stellar movie version of the "Swamp Thing," so it will seem somewhat familiar to the uninitiated. The Swamp Thing even left his swamp long enough to battle Batman in issue #7 in what would be one of the few encounters with a traditional DC superhero for the supernatural star of the comic.

Wein and Wrightson's "Swamp Thing" became a cult classic among comic fans because of its dark, moody Gothic style, but mainly on the strength of the artwork by Wrightson, whose style was perfectly suited for this comic. Historically "Swamp Thing" is an important comic book because it was the first horror comic to be geared towards a more adult oriented readership since the glory days of EC Comics with "Tales of the Crypt" in the 1950s. Eventually "Swamp Thing," during the Moore period, would give birth to DC's Vertigo comic book line, which was always PG-13 if not NC-17. "Saga of the Swamp Thing" would be the first mainstream comic to abandon the Comics Code Authority. These first ten stories rest primarily on Wrightson's distinctive art, but Wein does set the foundation for the character to be able to survive once Wrightson departed.

If you begin with "Dark Genesis" and proceed directly to the Moore years in the 1980s (which is basically what these reprints do), you are not going to be disappointed, because relatively speaking, nothing happened in the years in between. I am just happy to be able to read these comics again without having to take my originals out of their plastic bags.

Swamp Thing and the birth of modern American comics., 14 Jan 2003
It`s hard to see back more than 15 years to the time before Swamp Thing. Back before superheros grew up, went all philosophical and got buried under their own ludicrousness. Before Alan Moore came along the US comic was a sad tired thing. Moores`Swamp Thing was a revolutionary statement of intent, it changed everything. Not immediately, it took everyone else a while to catch up . In it`s scope , it`s depth and it`s inventiveness , Swamp Thing was hugely ambitious. It dealt with issues, big ideas, morality and frail human feelings. Very few people had even attempted to deal with this kind of thing in a monthly US superhero comic, most people would just have assumed that it was impossible.
Now I`m not saying it`s the perfect comic, it`s flawed, particularly at the end of the saga , but if you want to see where The Sandman and all the ensuing Vertigo stuff actually germinated from, then you need to read Swamp Thing, it`s the very root of it all and is still an extraordinary and wonderful comic.

I`m sad to see that only a relatively small number of the collected volumes are still available. I hope there are reprints planned.

Another classic from Alan Moore, 15 Aug 2002
Alan Moore continues his revamping of the Swamp Thing story in the issues collected here. His girlfriend, Abigail, has been jailed in Gotham City. When Swamp Thing turns up to free her a titanic struggle ensues between the agent of the green and The Dark Knight.
Alan Moore shows he can equal Frank Miller in gritty Batman stories and the Swamp Thing himself becomes a great power in the DC universe. Several other characters from the DC universe have cameos. It is very well written and the exotic artwork matches its brilliance. The final story in the volume, sort of an epilogue, is a superbly dark issue detailing the events in the lives of two of the supporting characters in the series. An excellent read.
Once again, Alan Moore proves he is the best writer in comic books today. Along with the other volumes, this series ranks as one of the finest in DC's history. Buy this book and the volume following as it's just as good.

Swamp thing gone to seed., 11 Sep 2005
This book is abysmal!
I had heard a lot of good things about Andy Diggle and the writing he was doing for D.C comics and thought that by picking up his take on an old favourite of mine would be as good a place as any to start.
Bad mistake,Just because the story is set in a universe made up and governed by ludicrous conventions doesnt mean you should be able to turn in a script quite as bad as this, Im amazed D.C paid him for it, Im even more amazed that they published it.
Theres no sense of suspense and the conclusion is sign posted way before you reach the punchline.
And the art and page layouts are appalling too, this is a really bad example of decompressed graphic story telling (Pick up any of Warren Ellis's books if you want to see decompressed comic books done well ) ,Enrique Breccias doodlings are terrible, his figure drawing is truly awful, all the faces look like they belong on stroke victims and his rendition of the re-animated Alec Holland is one of the worst walking corpes you are ever likely to see on the printed page.
Its as if he is trying to ape the work of Gustav Dore and Albrecht Durer but doing the illustrations without the lights on and using his car keys instead of pencils and pens.
Its a real shame that one of the classic comic horror characters has been handled so inexpertly.
Avoid this like the plague.

Gore, Gore and guess what - more Gore, 26 Oct 2006
If you like gory comics, this is the one for you. As a fan of the early Swamp Thing books, I read this, expecting an updated version, where plot is mixed with a dab of horror and suspense. Instead I got a book about gore and sex. If you like that sort of thing, then you'll enjoy this, but fans of the old series maybe shouldn't. It contains two stories - the rise of Arcane, Swamp Thing's arch enemy, from hell, and the tale of an old man getting conned by a priest, who turns out to be an emissary from Hell. Worms popping out of bodies, a man walking around with a dangling head, killer dogs, rotting bodies in bed together and blood everywhere. Far too over the top. All this blood and gore is at the expense of plot.If you want to read a Swamp Thing, choose Dark Genesis, or an Alan Moore. Definately not for the kids!