Chris K. :: SWAMP THING

Bissette, Steve - Swamp Thing, issue 40, page 4 (Sep 1985)

Artists: Steve Bissette (Penciller) , John Totleben (Inker)

5 Comments - 1,363 Views - 2 Likes

Bissette, Steve - Swamp Thing, issue 40, page 4 (Sep 1985) Comic Art

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Wrightson, Bernie - Swamp Thing, issue 4, page 20 (May 1973)

Artwork Details

Title:	Bissette, Steve - Swamp Thing, issue 40, page 4 (Sep 1985)
Artist:	Steve Bissette (Penciller)
Artist:	John Totleben (Inker)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Interior Page
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	1,363
Likes on CAF:	2 3
Favorited on CAF:	1
Comments:	5
Added to Site:	10/23/2008
Comic Art Archive:	Swamp Thing Issue: 40 Page: 4 View

Description

Swamp Thing was created by writer Len Wein and artist Berni Wrightson. He first appeared (as scientist turned Swamp Thing, Alex Olsen) in House of Secrets #92 (July 1971) in a stand-alone horror story set in the early 20th century. The character then returned in a solo series, set in the contemporary world and in the general DC continuity. The character is a humanoid mass of vegetable matter who fights to protect his swamp home, the environment in general, and humanity from various supernatural or terrorist threats. Swamp Thing can inhabit and animate vegetable matter anywhere (including alien plants, even sentient ones) and construct it into a body for himself. As a result, bodily attacks mean little to him. He can easily re-grow damaged or severed body parts, and can even transport himself across the globe by leaving his current form, transferring his consciousness to a new form grown from whatever vegetable matter is present in the location he wishes to reach.

After the success of the short story in the House of Secrets comic, the original creators were asked to write an ongoing series, depicting a more heroic, more contemporary creature. In Swamp Thing #1 (October 1972), Wein and Wrightson updated the time frame to the 1970s and featured a new version of the character: Alec Holland, a scientist working in the Louisiana swamps on a secret bio-restorative formula "that can make forests out of deserts". Holland is killed by a bomb planted by agents who want the formula. Splashed with burning chemicals in the massive fire, Holland runs from the lab and falls into the muck-filled swamp, after which a creature resembling a humanoid plant appears some time later.

The creature, called Swamp Thing, was originally conceived as Alec Holland mutating into a vegetable-like creature, a �muck-encrusted mockery of a man�. However, under writer Alan Moore (who took over the writing of the series in issue #21 in February 1984, at that time titled Saga of the Swamp Thing), the character was reinvented as an elemental entity created upon the death of Alec Holland, having somehow absorbed Holland's memory and personality into itself. He is described as �a plant that thought it was Alec Holland, a plant that was trying its level best to be Alec Holland�.

In Swamp Thing #33 (February 1985), Alan Moore attempted to reconcile the two versions of Swamp Thing with the revelation that there have been many previous incarnations of Swamp Thing � perhaps hundred - prior to the death and "rebirth" of the Alec Holland incarnation. Further, all versions of the creature since the dawn of humanity were designated defenders of the Parliament of Trees, an elemental community also known as �the Green�, that connects all plant life on Earth.

In conjunction with gorgeous art by Steve Bissette and John Totleben, Moore's Swamp Thing had a profound effect on mainstream comic books. It was another character revival by Moore (his first being Miracleman) based on stretching the boundaries of not just the character, but also the genre within which he was working. He broadened the scope of the series to include ecological and spiritual concerns while retaining its horror-fantasy roots.

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Joined:	August 2008
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
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Comments on this Artwork

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Simon M.
Member Since 2003

Posted on 10/24/2008

Great page! Wonderful interplay with the 2 main characters!

Timothy Finney
Member Since 2006

Posted on 11/26/2008

This is an excellent example showing why the relationship between Swampy and Abby was one of the most interesting ever in comics. Abby was our bridge from the normality on the edges into the weirdness at the heart of this world. (Plus, it mentions Constantine when he was more mysterious than the Phantom Stranger.)

Felix Lu
Member Since 2005

Posted on 1/14/2010

Please trade this page to me:)

J L
Member Since 2005

Posted on 12/22/2011

I love these moments between Abby and ST. Fantastic page that I somehow overlooked!!!!

Tom Coker
Member Since 2005

Posted on 4/7/2013

Really loved the Moore/Bissette/Tottleben run - my favorite Alan Moore series - which is saying a lot. The inks by Tottleben elevated the story art to legend - such beautiful stuff - last panel testifies! This page really speaks to why this run was so great.

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