The Saga of the Swamp Thing 8 (1982)
Here’s Looking at You Kid

Before jumping right in, please take a moment to enjoy how confident Swamp Thing looks in gold.

Last we saw Swampy, he was plunging to the depths of the ocean to destroy a giant, herpes ridden, alien squid. After destroying the alien being, Swamp Thing finds himself washed ashore a mysterious island, dazed and confused.

The book begins with the players.


This issue takes a timeout from the series (for the most part) to put Liz, Barclay and Swamp Thing in a make believe world made up of familiar/classic moive scenarios.

Nothing seems real and no one is safe. Oh look, King Kong…

The oddball/movie island story makes an abrupt stop to give you the whereabouts of Casey. She’s still going strong and getting more powerful. After being slapped in the face by Feldner, she sets him on fire. These few pages, recapping Casey’s activity, are the only link to the ongoing series (cross country journey to thwart the evil plans of a clairvoyant child). I’ve always felt that this book is kind of a throw away issue. It was a nice opportunity to try out a Twilight Zone-like scenario.

… Back on movie island, Swampy mans a biplane to save Liz who is playing the role of Ann Darrow. The plane turns into a helicopter while King Kong disappears from the scene. Liz grabs a ladder that just happens to be dangling from the chopper and the story plows forward, toward the Paramount Pictures mountain.

What would a movie mystery island be without Rick’s Café Américain? The island nightmare turns out to be the perfect storm of lost souls empowered by toxic waste. The restless memories of the vets who perished in the war keep the island scenario alive. Swampy, Liz and Barclay get to the bottom of it and the dreamscape disappears into the ocean. Somehow our heroes are able to fly away with the help of one final toxic waste powered memory.

I believe I have mentioned it in previous posts that I find the plot involving Casey and Barclay to be a bit stale. I don’t dislike the story run but do think it may have benefited by condensing the storyline.