Tag: Articles

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” →

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)

Front (folded)

Side 1 (unfolded)

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

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.

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” →

Comixscene 6 (September-October 1973)

Traveling back to 1973, this issue of Comixscene is full of John Carter, comics news, snark, strong opinions and a couple fun Swamp Thing mentions.
Cover

Interior Spread

Around this time (September-October of 1973), Swamp Thing was appearing in his first cameo in the form of a carnival statue in, Superboy #198 “The Fatal Five Who Twisted Time”. Within the Swamp Thing series, issue #6 “A Clockwork Horror” was being released. The Comixscene Editorial section was abuzz in response to Joe Brancatelli’s column, “Ten Most Powerful Men in Comics” from Inside Comix #1. Jim Steranko invited Marvel Editor (at the time), Roy Thomas to respond to the column. Below are some of his fun, painfully honest and cringe worthy answers.

Continue reading “Swamp Thing Amongst the Snark and Fuss” →

It’s been a considerable amount of time since I last posted. Like most of you, I’ve had to adjust my life, future plans and daily routines since the Covid pandemic began. Hobbies and interests that were once a priority have taken a backseat to this new way of life. Over the past 9 months I’ve taken to focusing more on how I can be better prepared for the future—financially and otherwise. Needless to say my new found thriftiness (along with life events) have kept me busy and away from this website. But, I’m thrilled to share that my Swamp Thing collection has a new home! …and I got married! Below is the new Swamp Thing room in progress.

Continue reading “Life & The New Swamp Thing Room” →

From Bayou to Abyss: Examining John Constantine, Hellblazer is now available!

A Hellblazer anthology was released on Tuesday and I’m thrilled to have been involved in such a fun book. The 364-page anthology examines the mage’s history from his beginnings to the present with a slew of insightful essays by some familiar names. James Delano, Nancy Collins, James Chambers, Genevieve Williams and Tony Simmons are just a handful of the extremely talented contributors.

A little over a year ago I was contacted by the editor of the book (also a friend & fellow Swamp Thing fanatic), Rich Handley to pitch an idea for an essay. Being more of a know-it-all of all things Swamp Thing, I wasn’t sure if I had it in me to write an in-depth essay focused on John Constantine. Turns out I did indeed have it in me, and the topic of the essay permanently emblazoned on my backside. You may be familiar with the subject matter of my essay, “The Birth of a Mark: Swamp Thing Leaves Revenge Behind.” Below are a couple sample pages.

I had a blast writing the essay and enjoyed chatting with the folks involved in creating John Constantine during the process. You can order a copy here!

Matt from Foreign Comic Collectors Magazine (FCC) contacted me this past weekend to ask if he could use images from my website for his latest episode of Global Comic Safari. Having a hefty collection of non-US Swamp Thing books, I was happy to oblige. In their new episode, Matt and Jon Z (of CBSI) look at international comics featuring Bernie Wrightson & Len Wein’s classic, Swamp Thing #1. The comics feature some beautiful variations from Mexico, France and beyond. Matt also discusses the different styles and sizes that publisher, Navaro (Mexico) used in publishing the comics.

Jon Z is a member of the Tales from the Flipside Podcast team as well as a contributor to comicbookinvest.com

Matt is a foreign comic fanatic and a founder of the Foreign Comic Collector Magazine. You can join the Here

Follow Matt & Jon on Instagram
Matt @Define999
Jon Z @ComicsaretheNorm

It’s that time of year again!

Another issue of Holland Files is nearly complete and I’m taking pre-orders. If you’d like to secure your copy, email me at HollandFilesZine@gmail.com. Books are $10 with free shipping in the US during pre-order only. Issue 4 is packed with in-depth Swamp Thing info along with an interview with Macon Blair (Phantom Stranger from the recent Swamp Thing series/Blue Ruin/Green Room), art by Stephen R Bissette, along with art and articles by 48, talented Swamp Thing fans from around the world. Share in the love for Swamp Thing and order Holland Files today.

Holland Files 4 is expected to be in the mail by mid November. If you missed out on previous issues, 1-3, now’s your chance to order while back-issues are available. Thank you all for your support in celebrating such a great character.

Swamp Monsters – Classic Monsters of Pre-Code Horror Comics (2019)

The much anticipated, Swamp Monsters came out last week and it’s full of stuff you love! I can only assume, as you’re on a swamp monster website. The book reprints a whole bunch of classic, pre-code swamp monster stories-the type of monsters that paved the way for creatures like Swamp Thing and Man-Thing. The book also includes Swamp Thing sketches!

Swamp monster fan and alum/vet, Stephen R. Bissette provides a fantastic introduction for the book, examining his love and history with swamp monsters.

 

I can’t recommend this book enough. For those in love with cryptids and swamp monsters, it’s a fun, inspired history lesson of sorts. The book collects the following swamp monster stories.

Swamp Monster from, Weird Mysteries #5 – June 1953
The Frogman from, Forbidden Worlds #29 – May 1954
Beast of the Bayous from, The Hand of Fate #24 – August 1954
The Swamp Horror from, Beware #3 – May 1953
It Won’t Come Back Until Midnight from, Web of Mystery #16 – December 1952
Demons of the Swamp from, Mysteries #3 – September 1953
The Evil Eye from, Adventures into the Unknown #39 – January 1953
Bayou Vengeance from, The Unseen #6 – September 1952
The Winged Spectres of Dismal Swamp from, The Beyond #8 – January 1952
Creatures of the Swamp from, Chamber of Chills Magazine #22 – August 1951
Nightmare Flight from, Baffling Mysteries #10 – September 1952
I Am A Thing from, Out of the Night #12 – October 1953
Dead Woman’s Swamp from, Crime Mysteries #12 – March 1954
Bride of the Swamp from, Forbidden Worlds #33 – September 1954
Swamp Terror! from, Strange Mysteries #2 – November 1951

Below are some of my favorite pages.

Two big things happened in the world of Swamp Thing this week.
1) Production of the Swamp Thing series was cancelled
2) The series costume was revealed in a teaser

In a seemingly sudden change of direction, DC/Warner Bros. has decided to cancel the remaining production of the Swamp Thing series. The first season was intended to be 13 episodes long but, last night cast and crew members were notified that production will be cancelled except to finish the tenth episode (they are currently working on), along with re shoots they may need. Without a teaser, leaked photo from the set or much of anything at all to entice, eager fans woke up this morning to the unfortunate news. Although the season will not be the full 13 episodes, DC/Warner still plans to release the 10 episode series. The show debuts on May 31st on DC’s streaming service, DC Universe.

Last night (4/16) I was contacted by a crew member who’s working on the series. He relayed the following information.

“We just got told they’re stopping production on Swamp Thing… we had three episodes left and we’re finishing this one and some re shoots and it sounds like that’s it for now. DC streaming is apparently not doing well. Not sure if Warner Bros will try to find Swamp Thing a home elsewhere or what. We were all basically under the presumption this was gonna go five seasons minimum… not good. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”

To make things even more confusing, less than 24 hours after the news broke that production cancelled, DC released the following teaser for the series.
Swamp Thing series teaser

It’s a shame Swamp Thing fans weren’t shown the teaser before hearing about the production cancellation. The suit looks great and I have no doubt it will be a fun series.
Continue reading “Rough start for the Swamp Thing TV series” →