Swamp Thing – Guardian Of The Earth merchandise promo sign (1990)
This awesome 22″ x 28”, heavy-stock poster/sign has been on my radar for a long time. I’ve been looking for it since the day I began collecting Swamp Thing collectibles. From the start, this sign and the plastic-headed slippers were my grail items, and up until last week I hadn’t seen one available. It’s extremely exciting to finally have it in the collection!
My local comic shop, Rainbow Comics, Cards and Collectibles had comics vet, Doug Mahnke stop in the store for a book signing. Unfortunately I was not able to attend but my friend-–and Rainbow Comics manager–John Nordstrom asked Doug to draw Swamp Thing for me. It was a huge surprise to see the sketch when I picked up my weekly books. I almost didn’t notice his sketch on the inside cover (Swamp Thing Winter Special), it blended in perfectly.
Fellow collector, Robert Barbieri was kind enough to pass these pages along to me. The production pages were used for Swamp Thing 5 (1973) “The Last of the Ravenwind Witches”. Based on the coloring style, the acetate production transparencies were most likely used for a trade paperback. I’m unsure which tpb or the year they were created but am really excited to add them to the collection.
Used during the print production process, the two transparent sheets house the text bubbles and final artwork. I photographed the sheets on a white comic backing-board for clarity sake. To see the sheets interacting, view this video.
Last we saw Swamp Thing on a Garbage Pail Kids card was in 2014. Now he’s back, amongst the “Oh The Horror-ible 80s Sci-Fi” series of sticker trading cards. Swampy is represented by, Swamp Bing & Sammy Swamp. Sammy Swamp appears to be some sort of booger variant card. Look for the cards in stores.
Card 1a: Swamp Bing
Card 1b: Sammy Swamp
This weekend I had the opportunity to catch-up with artist/writer, Phil Hester at the 3rd annual SiouxperCon. Last month, Phil mentioned finding some old Swamp Thing pages (circa 1994) that he’d created for DC Comics in trying to get the on-going Swamp Thing gig. I was chomping at the bit to see these DC test pages and perhaps purchase a few. I’m happy to say that I came home with four beautiful pages.
Friday night kicked things off. The wonderful folks of the Wednesday Comics Podcast held a live recording from the convention. I was fortunate enough to take part in the show that was comprised of a series of comic-themed games. I was on Hester’s team and thrilled to hear that we would be playing Pictionary.
The planets aligned; Phil was tasked with drawing Swamp Thing, I guessed it immediately for the point, and was lucky enough to take Phil’s Pictionary sketch home with me.
The following day, and excited beyond words, I met-up with Phil to get a look at his Swamp Thing test pages. I ended up purchasing 4 of the 7 pages. Below are the beautiful pieces that now hang on my walls. It’s an honor to have a piece of DC history as well as Phil’s artistic process from a time when he was still digging into the comic book industry. Thanks Phil!
From Pixel Elixer and Lightyear Entertainment; the Return of Swamp Thing pin is here! This month, the enamel pin has been making its way into mailboxes everywhere. Get one while they last if you haven’t already. shop Pixel Elixer here
“This 2″ soft enamel pin comes with dual yellow rubber clutches, back logo stamp and comes bagged on a glossy, double-sided backer card.” -via Pixel Elixer
With the release of the Return of Swamp Thing soundtrack and dvd earlier this year, this pin adds to the excitement in celebrating the best comics character in all the land.
Backing card, sans pin
My new favorite Swamp Thing collectible is a metal, die-cast, UK bootleg figure. It arrived in the mail yesterday and I can’t stop admiring it. I’ve been looking for bootleg Swamp Thing figures for a while now and this is the closest one (of quality) I’ve come across. The figurine measures just under 2” tall and is hand-painted. The only marks identifying the producer of this awesome figurine is the word “unicorn” etched onto the bottom of the little platform.
