Weird Cover of the Week #4

This photo cover is a favorite of mine for a few good reasons:

...love photo cover art

It was my first glimpse of "Film Swamp Thing" annnnd...

The Letters Column - called Swamp Thing's in this particular DC title. Issue #6 has a letter from a fan proclaiming his amazement at the "genius" of this cover artist.

The gang at DC simply left a space after the letter where a response might have been...
I can imagine the responses - "Should we tell him? ...nahhh.."

Looove that - great laugh for this little teenager.



Down below is the oldest one that came to mind, but there's a nice Firestorm one in the early '80's too..

Looking at it now, I'm wondering what is going on..

Is that the JFK motorcade? Weeiiirrrd, I think I'll have to find a reprint or something ..maybe a Namor collection - gotta see the inside of that one.


Fury of Firestorm #10 has a cool one too - fuck, I love comic books.

A.

Weird Cover of the Week #3

This is a Steve Bissette rough, and I love it..

Toybox

DCU Swampy ...gotta find 'im.

"Are you looking at my roll?"

Weird Cover of the Week #2

To be honest, I can't remember the story in this one - no doubt it's good, with Len Wein lasting 3 more issues than Berni Wrightson, but I wasn't much of a Nestor Redondo fan.

Still, it is a weird one - is Swamp Thing really fighting dinosaurs inside?

That right there, though, is one of my favorite DC elements from way back - the cover that stops before the picture ...and the 20c comic book ...oh, the love I feel..

The GREEN in Black & White

This is a link to an article on Bleeding Cool featuring Yanick Paquette's amazing artwork sans color..
B&W Swampy - check me out..

Solomon Grundy - Born on a..

And back to that DC Presents issue again - it's a really fun little slice of the silver age, and it's got Swamp Thing up against Solomon Grundy - c'mon? ..that's awesome.

  

Now, what I have to do is track down this issue and check out who did all the work.
I think those are Murphy Anderson pencils, but not sure..

Yet another example of Swampy's changing look in the hands of sooo many artists - Love it, I does..



But this would only be Meeting #1 - the next being Swamp Thing #67 in the '80's..


Which didn't go nearly as well..
I will note though, that that looks like the HULK again..

but hey, green monsters have to stick together don't they?

You should go right over and read DC Comics Presents #8..
@MAIL IT TO TEAM-UP.

A.

Easter with Swamp Thing

The current Swamp Thing Comic Book Team loves him almost as much as I do..
Click this link, kiddies:
Easter Eggs Galore!!!

Sooo impressed with Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette. Great work.

Swamp Thing vs. Zombies?

Zombies scare me.

Always have - and Swampy of the '80's fought plenty but this Frank Cho shot just plain rocks.

As I've stated, can't get enough of different artists interpretations - I like these clean lines - Bo and Scott Hampton did some similar work back in SAGA pre-Moore - two cool issues.



Funny though - some of the "Greats" of the industry couldn't get him quite right - George Perez, Dave Gibbons..










But it all goes back to that original look...
I always wondered what motivated Mr.Wrightson in creating that face - the missing nose, and the bridge down around the mouth - been lots of interesting variations on it (the best being Bissette and Tottleben) but it's just a cool look - it works.

Artists clearly enjoy interpreting the character.                              

Thanks for my "look", Berni..

"Much Beauty in the Swamp..."

1982's Swamp Thing isn't a great movie, but it's really good B-Movie..
..and I love those - who doesn't?
The script is efficient but it does have a few genuinely nice moments:

The line about beauty in the swamp echoes in James Cameron's The Abyss nicely..

I'll put the scene here when I find it but it goes a little like this:
Lindsey Brigman: "We all see what we want to see. Coffey looks and he sees Russians. He sees hate and fear. You have to look with better eyes than that."

Cool.
AC out.

Weird Cover of the Week

I'd almost forgotten about this issue of The Brave and the Bold from wayyy back, but it's brought to mind with the return of Swampy to the mainstream DC Universe.
This was a really good idea - he was lost in Vertigo for too long with artists and writers trying to be Alan Moore Part Two - not going to happen, but this radical return to the world of superheroes reminds one that Swampy's place in the DCU has always been Super-connected to the "Big Guns" so to speak.

I can't wait for for team-up adventures with ..well, Alec Holland now I guess - AWESOME.

Now, this Kaluta cover - this brings back memories - I was a teenager and obsessed with finding every appearance he made - tough to pick between Bats and Supes for his best meetings..


One thing I got into pretty quick was the variation from artist to artist of his look - I can't remember Jim Aparo's take inside(I presume it's him) but I'll be searching out these issues(he appears twice in B 'n' B) immediately, starting with this one right here.


I bet it smells fantastic - the new paper never gets a cool smell.

Five Stars

DC's "New 52" Swamp Thing is shockingly good, having just finished reading number 5 - I can't believe Swampy's back in the mainstream, but so is Alec Holland? Whaa?
Just awesome - like JJ Abrams' new Star Trek, the new ST comic is doing things I didn't think any writer could do with the character by this point.
Go read it.

Digging these covers.

Art of the Macabre

Love this panel - amazing stuff from Swamp Thing's best in the '80s - Moore, Bissette, and Tottleben, who's art graces us below..

The first two things I noticed when these two geniuses took over the art chores were the level of detail, and the page layouts - smart and different from anything at the time.
This team pulled me in and I spent years in the Bayou, loving every minute of it.

Whaaa? Swamp Thing in the Justice League?

Big fan of this cartoon...
..buuut did not know Swampy made a brief appearance. Awesome - gotta find it..

..and man, he looks great. He's got a lot of fans for a plant.
Looks like the Hulk may be there too - way over to the right - might have to investigate that further.

Swampy... Moviestar!!

Okay, which Swamp Thing do you prefer?

..or..

Then of course there's the Television version, which ran for a rather surprising three years...

Most of DC's "Heavy Hitters" haven't seen so many screen incarnations, and rumour has it we may see a reboot film pretty soon. I had a great chat with the most excellent Len Wein about it, but legalities are apparently the issue. We'll see..

Man, my show ran almost as long as Star Trek.

I imagine they'll do him in CG - I'm of two minds on that one - as in, may suck - may not, but hey - it's Swamp Thing - Bring it on..

The Image you're looking at.

I'm weird ...for sure..
but I've been realizing that that isn't always a bad thing. I love comic covers by different artists than the interior.
The Tom Yeates' cover to ANATOMY LESSON that graces my page here is a classic. It evokes Hitchcock films or at least a cool Tales from the Crypt issue, and damn, if it doesn't simplify a much darker tale inside.
Stephen Bissette and John Tottleben do the interior artwork and it is magnificent - in fact, the two together are one of the most impressive art teams to ever grace the medium, and sooo perfectly in tune with Alan Moore's evolution of the character and the book's direction, but Yeates - I just like his linework - it's fun.

"Like it?"

 The issue itself is legendary in the comics world. You should read it - Trust me.

Berni Wrightson - I love you..

Skeleton Cruise: SWAMP THING

Skeleton Cruise: SWAMP THING: Of every character and every story I've ever read I have good confidence that Swamp Thing will remain #1 forever. I picked up Saga of t...

'82 to '12

Pretty big fan of ol' Nineteen Eighty Two - Good year in film, TV, and comic books..
But this is the place to celebrate all things Swampy..
..like this..

..and so many other random adventures in the DCU..
Well, I gotta track 'em all down again, and dive right in this year.



I'd like to start my short films about Swampy soon - take scenes from comics - just have some fun...
The Lab Explosion is the one I really want to create on film - we will see.

And on a different note: Jose Luis Garcia Lopez is THE artist of that era, and my favorite for the generic DC look of the '70's. I just love his figure design  ➤➤➤
No one looks grim n gritty, though I suspect Flash is about to..

A.

30 years ago...

I bought The Saga of the Swamp Thing # 1 in 1982 - actually, my Mom probably bought it for me.
Hooked. Absolutely.

All this talk of his "return" put me on the quest to find all things Swamp Thing - 3o years later, and I'm still on it...
Groovy - this is going to be fun.
Arthur