Articles

Scarce #12 Swamp Thing is in France

Published on April 14, 2021 by Roots of the Swamp ThingLeave a comment

Scarce #12 (1987) – French Fanzine

I’ve been on the lookout for this awesome French book for a few years. I first found out about it when someone posted an image of it on Twitter. The 43-page, magazine sized book features an awesome Swamp Thing cover. The artwork is not original to this book, but a cropped image from the Swamp Thing series.

Another wonderful French book that I’ll need to have translated! Luckily though, I’ve read that the Scarce Alan Moore interview was not an original interview for this book and it was circulated around various European publications. I’ve no doubt it’s published in English in another book I have, so I’ll need to do some digging this weekend.

Below are some spreads from the Moore interview.

the Swamp Thing portion of the interview features various images by Totleben, Bissette and Veitch. This era of Swampy was glorious. Yah the writing is top notch but to have as strong of a visual team, it’s the greatest.

The icing on the cake for this great book is the back cover. It features an ad for the Parisian comic shop, Album. Album is still in business, check them out on Instagram. The illustration is by the great French illustrator, Jean-Claude Gal. The characters gathered together provide an extremely fun moment of firsts, if you’re into that sort of thing.
“Has Swamp Thing appeared in a book with Thor? Has he ever hung out with Spider-Man and Wolverine?” …kinda

Swamp Thing, green and in the spotlight. I’m not sure why he’s in mid chop. Perhaps he has a question.

Swamp Thing Tab & \ Keycap

Published on April 11, 2021April 17, 2021 by Roots of the Swamp ThingLeave a comment

Artist and toy maker, Neil Ewing might have handcrafted the most wonderfully obscure item to my collection. I’m thrilled to have his custom keyboard cap. The cap is hand cast, glow in the dark, neon green resin, with second cast neon red eyes. That’s a mouthful but this little Swamp Thing face is pretty damn adorable and unique. It’s limited to 10 units. There may be more available on Neil’s site, here.

45679BED-5633-4248-8F60-8342C672E6BE

Sized for 1.5U for tab & \ keycaps. I wasn’t sure what a u is but found the following info online. “1u is a standard alpha keycap size. 1.5 is the standard tab or pipe key size.”

2CC9D4D2-FA8E-4BCC-94D8-F9FFF56ADA28

C5C76934-08C4-4229-B153-D57E12DD3C51

For those confused as to where this super awesome keycap goes on a keyboard, I’ve created a diagram for you.

F2DE6957-A1E5-4181-BABF-98A81FFECE13 1E28BE7F-3055-4ED3-A0C3-53030918A012

Neil threw in some sweet extras with my order. His sticker and patch are awesome. Visit his website to support his fun work. Neil made a small batch of custom Swamp Thing figures last week and I picked one up. I’ll be sharing it on the site as soon as it arrives.

F44ADD54-F238-4D22-AAA6-77296AE7A507 9A472FC1-5AD2-4714-A754-9EA46181C3DC

DC in the 80s Fanzine: Baxter Stock

Published on April 10, 2021April 15, 2021 by Roots of the Swamp ThingLeave a comment

Mark from DC in the 80s sent me all 3 issues of his awesome fanzine, Baxter Stock! Swamp Thing is featured on the cover of issue #3 and Rick Veitch is interviewed in issue #1. DC in the 80s posts really great content on Facebook and Twitter. I recommend checking out their website as well. 486A1C09-2B29-4650-AC4C-08EC50F1AE22 C5DC5CC2-6636-46EB-81D3-063309EC4F75

Josh Bayer illustrated Swamp Thing on issues #3, above. Below, “Vertigo Top 10” lists Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing run #1.

5A16D895-AE0A-4046-B2D1-A3E92A808F3D

53BE83BD-9E9A-41F5-8EBD-D31C1B85D455

Fanzines back in the day had really fun extras and Baxter Stock does not disappoint in representing the greatness. Below is an awesome Depeche Mode parody ad. Continue reading “DC in the 80s Fanzine: Baxter Stock” →

The Grail Keepers Podcast

Published on April 5, 2021April 10, 2021 by Roots of the Swamp ThingLeave a comment

The Grail Keepers Podcast asked me to join their live YouTube show tomorrow night, Tuesday April, 6. I’m thrilled for the opportunity. They are extremely knowledgeable and passionate about comics, Swamp Thing and collectibles as a whole. Join us for a fun Swampy filled chat. Ask question, live while you watch. Watch live here. FE7153BE-5370-4D94-981C-3D48BE63C5B2

Matt hosts the show on his YouTube channel, Count Von Strange IV. You can keep up with the show on YouTube & Instagram.

470C4EB6-684E-4654-BD89-6A6E3E8ED285

DC Editorial Presentation

Published on March 11, 2021April 4, 2021 by Roots of the Swamp ThingLeave a comment

“The Time is Right…” DC Comics 1994 Editorial Presentation

AF27D69C-184E-4BB8-8901-C272F78E5303
Pal and purveyor of comics, John Nordstrom brought over a fun gift last night. It’s 336 pages of Editorial Presentation goodness and of course Swamp Thing made it in the book. In fact, this giant book contains a never before published illustration by Phil Hester.

8AE021E2-5DF5-4B59-9819-1605EE9CD889
Amongst the seemingly endless spreads of upcoming comic books-which is all this book features-the Swampy illustration called to me! No, it didn’t but it certainly felt unfamiliar. So much so that I thumbed through every Swampy book that Phil Hester illustrated. Not finding it in his books, I figured I’d send a tweet to my friend, Phil. Below is his response.

4A1187CA-04E8-4A72-8505-356DD8438896 02A2422E-3639-4941-AC0B-0EDD8C0C6316 FD51F149-6627-4254-B10F-A24B6FC75379
As always, he provides fun insight. Continue reading “DC Editorial Presentation” →

Swamp Thing has a new do, and pin

Published on February 21, 2021March 25, 2021 by Roots of the Swamp ThingLeave a comment

Fansets.com has a new Swamp Thing pin. The image says it all. Head on over and check it out, here. The proportions of Swampy makes him look kind of like a toddler. I really like his vine hair/spit curl.

3C06FA08-7AF2-48C4-9D9F-32C9AD00A497

The Comic Report Fanzine

Published on February 20, 2021March 11, 2021 by Roots of the Swamp ThingLeave a comment

I bought this lot of Comic Report fanzines to finally obtain issue #2, which features Swamp Thing on the cover. The Canadian zine from 1976 is produced by Jeff Zinger but features a great deal of artwork from Dave Sim and Gene Day.

C7B908C8-2ABE-4C00-999B-BA88359124AC

The Comic Report #2 – May 1976, cover by Dave Sim

7120AD31-D9E5-43C5-A411-751392AF18DA

The interior features an illustration by Vince Lavarello. I think it’s Swamp Thing but your guess is as good as mine.

AA4D8970-B4D6-4FDB-87C3-3559DCE24D6D

Continue reading “The Comic Report Fanzine” →

House of Secrets & The Swamp Thing Letters

Published on January 29, 2021February 20, 2021 by Roots of the Swamp ThingLeave a comment

These two issues of House of Secrets host some of the earliest fan letters lauding Swamp Thing’s debut appearance in House of Secrets #92 (1971). The cover of House of Secrets 95 (January 1972) was illustrated by Nick Cardy. The cover of issue 96 (March 1972) was illustrated by Bernie Wrightson.

House of Secrets 95 features more muck-monster love than 96. Fans fell quickly in love with Swamp Thing. Some fans were moved to tears.

Miss Henry & students at Carleton University are big fans of DC apparently. Her letter warms my heart.

The Swamp Thing love just keeps coming… Continue reading “House of Secrets & The Swamp Thing Letters” →

Creation Convention ‘82 Program

Published on January 21, 2021February 18, 2021 by Roots of the Swamp ThingLeave a comment

Creation Convention ‘82 Program

This 14 page, 10 3/4″ x 7 1/4″ book features a 4 page interview with Caroline Munro, conducted by Adam Malin and sponsored by Caroline Munro Fan Club (Reading, PA). The program also contains artwork by various artists including Duval Sowers (cover), T. Furry, Thomas Yeates (Swamp Thing!), Dave Simons, Ernie Chan & Rudy Nebres. Below are some images I took of the program.

A53F2A45-5F96-4520-AD43-D8D37D71E052 4800A725-2458-4D4C-9ECA-89D091335A3D
The 1982 Creation Entertainment Convention Promo Program was produced by Adam Malin & Gary Berman.

3766FE58-3FF0-4CC1-B0BE-9932F9AEDC72

The Swamp Thing illustration by Thom Yeates is from Swamp Thing 1 (series 2), it’s also the reason I own this book.

266026A1-5342-4E06-ABD6-4359EA8430C8 CF051C3C-487F-4D8A-982E-CCDD8BF44698

Direct Currents features DC Comics Presents #8

Published on January 11, 2021February 9, 2021 by Roots of the Swamp Thing1 Comment

Direct Currents – What’s News From DC for January ‘79 (Vol. 1, #10 November 1978)

I’ve been lucky enough to find a number of DC’s Direct Currents but never one this old. Apparently DC Currents was a folded mailer in 1978 before growing up into a zine/book, as you can see here. I was thrilled to track down this issue because it features Swamp Thing. It highlights DC Comics Presents #8 (1979) The Sixty Deaths of Solomon Grundy. It’s fun to see Alec is spelled, “Alex” in the write-up. Folded, the piece measures 4 3/4” x 7”. Unfolded, it measures 13 3/4” x 28”.

Back (folded)

0154FC56-0F16-44DE-98DF-225300ED82FF

Front (folded)

77400C7F-2996-4313-A589-1003DD286F99

Side 1 (unfolded)

A14BA010-B339-46F7-9620-1C28C307EB8E

Side 2 (unfolded) Continue reading “Direct Currents features DC Comics Presents #8” →

A Handsome Graph 2010-2020

Published on December 31, 2020January 21, 2021 by Roots of the Swamp ThingLeave a comment

I’m burning the midnight oil editing Holland Files #5. My New Years break started today and what’s more fun than staying up late, editing, and putting together a handsome graph representing every Swamp Thing appearance from 2010 to 2020. I omitted variant covers, non-visual/mention only and trade paperbacks. Seemed like the right thing to do. I’m going to get back to editing but feel free to extrapolate what you wish from the graph. It’s pretty fun looking. I’m going to throw together a graph later this weekend spanning 1971-2020.

Until I get the 1971-2020 graph together, enjoy this other timeline I made.

timeline

Holland Files 5

Published on December 20, 2020January 6, 2021 by Roots of the Swamp ThingLeave a comment

It’s that time of year again. Holland Files #5 will be shipping a little later than usual but it will help usher in a better, new year. I’m excited and grateful for the talented group of contributors. Yanick Paquette, Phil Hester and Álvaro Martínez are only a few of the talented illustrators featured in Holland Files #5.
Books are expected to ship by the end of January. Email hollandfileszine@gmail.com to order your copy.

495C3C77-B79C-44A2-AC51-15847E16A34A

I was thrilled to see Yanick’s post on facebook, screenshot below

D05ADA17-3997-4589-A25A-75AC33401221

Amazing Heroes 71 – The Alan Moore Interview

Published on December 8, 2020December 28, 2020 by Roots of the Swamp ThingLeave a comment

Amazing Heroes #71 (1985)

“Are you quite ready for the Alan Moore Interview?” The cover of Amazing Heroes tries to tantalize readers as so many publications do when featuring Alan Moore, even to this day. Fans are used to reading catchy headlines relating to Moore and his opinions. The headline pairs well with Stephen Bissette’s manic looking portrait of Moore. Unfortunately the hype surrounding his notoriety and his sometimes abrasive demeanor can overshadow his great work. I tend to ignore what I hear about Moore. I appreciate that he has opinions about the industry and his past work, but I enjoy focusing on his efforts related to Swamp Thing. I love reading about his process and understanding what went into the run. The creative team worked their tails off, executing some of Comics most ambitious and well executed books. This Moore interview is full of great content and insightful Swamp Thing information. It’s quite long so I’ll only be featuring the pieces that reference Swamp Thing.

Kim Thompson conducts the interview and is quite thorough. Moore’s career is chronicled and his career highlights are discussed. Below are portions of the introduction that relate to Swamp Thing.

Continue reading “Amazing Heroes 71 – The Alan Moore Interview” →