Swamp Thing has become a favorite, at least the original Swamp Thing as envisioned by scribe Len Wein and artist Berni Wrightson. I have never to my memory read any of the later renovations of the character by Alan Moore, and know precious little about them really, save that lots of folks love them. For me though it will always be the rockem' sockem' first run which captured and still holds my imagination.
While I only bought and read one or two original issues of the comic during its run, I've since bought the saga in reprint several times. I'm about to buy it again, this time in a very handsome and highly readable trade title Roots of the Swamp Thing. This volume not only collects the vintage Wein and Wrightson stories, which I own a few times, but includes for the first time the last several stories Wein wrote for new Swamp Thing artist Nestor Redondo.
Redondo was an ideal choice to replace the very atmospheric Wrightson, and while his Swamp Thing lacks the sense of awfulness that Berni infused him with, nonetheless Redondo is able to create a creature who is well served by the stories he finds himself in. I wish DC had included all of the first run so that more of Nestor's great art could be savored.
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| All Covers Above by Berni Wrightson |
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| Luis Dominguez |
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| Nestor Redondo |
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| Nestor Redondo |
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I JUST missed Wrightson's run on ST, #13 being the first issue I bought off the racks (I still have it!). It took a lot of trading and wheeling and dealing with my friends to get the issues I had missed, but boy , was it worth it!
ReplyDeleteStill, to this day, that cover to #13 still gives me goosebumps---it's that good!
It's a dandy for sure. Redondo's Swamp Thing is great. One of the early issues I found was twelve.
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