We were fortunate to see numerous trade paperbacks and omnibus released in the past few years. If you’re a completist like me, they no doubt put a kink in your cash flow. I don’t regret purchasing them but I do overthink the situation while paying for a story I already own.

My favorite recently released Swamp Thing collection was the Nancy Collins omnibus, released last year. Nancy wrote some of my favorite Swamp Thing books and they are the stories I revisit most often. Nancy’s omnibus is slated to be reprinted, so if you missed out the first time around be sure to grab a copy. The other recent trade paperbacks that I absolutely love were released by Eaglemoss in 2018. They just arrived in the mail last week and I wish they were more widely available. The UK editions were part of a subscription based service, much like the one linked here. Because of this, they were a little harder to track down. Part 1 was easier to come by than Part 2.

These two UK Eaglemoss editions are the perfect jumping on point for those interested in getting to know who Swamp Thing is. The two books feature some of the greatest Swampy stories by Alan Moore. Both books feature biographies of the talent that crafted the stories. Both books feature a page of backstory so you know what you’re jumping into. Part 1 features House of Secrets #92, while Part 2 features Swamp Thing #1. Having the two books together provides a well rounded start to a great character (the greatest). 

I took some photos of the key portions of the books. Below is Part 1.

The cover features the artwork of Michael Zulli. This awesome depiction of Swampy has been featured on trade paperbacks, playing cards, a poster, and inspired 2 statues & 2 action figures. It was also featured in an Alice Cooper comic!

Part 1 reprints Swamp Thing #21-27. House of Secrets #92 is also featured in the back of the book.

After the table of contents, each book features an introduction along with brief biographies of the creative team.

I love “The story so far…” portion of the books. For future Swamp Thing enthusiasts, this provides great insight into Swamp Thing. I also love that Woodrue is prominently featured on the page.

I was pleasantly surprised by the recolored pages. Sure, they’re not like Tatjana Wood’s beautifully painted originals, but they’re also not trying to be something else, like other recent trades. 

The back of the book features House of Secrets #92. It is prefaced by the history of the book and how it inspired future stories.

Part 2 follows the same format as the first book, but reprints Swamp Thing #28–34 and Swamp Thing Annual #2. It also features Swamp Thing #1, in the back of the book. 

The cover features Bissette & Totleben’s Swamp Thing.

Like Part 1, Part 2 provides an intro, creative team bios, along with “The story so far…” 

Below is another example of the recolored pages.

The Swamp Thing #1 history brief is a fun primer before reading the first issue.

Below are the back covers of the trades.

On the backs of the books you can see that Part 1 is volume 65 of the entire Eaglemoss collection of books. Part 2 is volume 71. I don’t intend on purchasing the entire set and am grateful that I could get these two books alone. Below is an image of the spines of the books. As you can see, these books make up a large illustration.

I love that the “S” from the Swamp Thing logo is featured on the spines. The great, Gaspar Saladino designed the Swampy logo and I have the same “S” tattooed on my arm.