Swamp Thing vs. Dream

Last November, somewhere on 2nd avenue in New York, my friends and I were trekking along to see Neil Gaiman interviewed by Chip Kidd. It was the 20th anniversary of the SANDMAN series, and for me this was a pilgrimage since Gaiman happens to be a favorite author. So wind was kicked up my skirt when my friend said: "I don't really see what the fuss is. SWAMP THING did it first and no one is celebrating it."

It was his opinion that Gaiman had picked up a few tricks and reaped the rewards for it. I’m not zealously literate when it comes to comics but I've read most of Moore's comics: THE LOST GIRLS, V FOR VENDETTA, EXTRAORDINARY LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN, and WATCHMEN, and never really imagined putting Gaiman and Moore in together like that. However, the closest I had come to encountering SWAMP THING was on a glass-bottomed boat ride in Wakulla Springs. I couldn’t argue, so I ignored the blasphemy and thought nothing more of it until I saw this at my local comic book store last week:



Vertigo has begun re-releasing Moore’s THE SAGA OF SWAMP THING in hardcover. The first book was released two weeks ago and binds issues #20 (when Moore took over) through issue #27. My friend’s comments resonated in my skull, so I shelled out the cash and buckled down in my recliner.

I wasn’t disappointed. In the books above, Moore’s work has a lot of world-building, which in and of itself is remarkable. In SWAMP THING, the world is pretty much the Louisiana bayou and that simple setting allows the characters to more develop their psyches.

I have two favorite things about this series so far. The first is seeing how Moore completely overhauled the previously flailing Alec Holland storyline by deconstructing the Swamp Thing’s composition. He’s made of planarian worms that ate his dead body and retained the memories of Alec Holland. It turns out that Swamp Thing is not who he had identified himself with, and the painful memories he had held on too were just fodder.

This brings me to my second favorite thing: Existential exigency. Once the Thing-That-was- Holland realizes his life has been a sham, he sets out to reclaim his humanity, to forge a new identity as not a human trapped within in seaweed, but as an individual sentient being.

In the midst of all this discovering, the Swamp Thing has to contend with mad plant-like scientists who want to destroy humans, and evil corporations that want to harvest Swamp Thing’s mutation.

Steven Bissette and John Totleben’s art is wonderful, as always. Their panoramas of the swamp are detailed and hold tons of tiny creatures that seem to appear suddenly even as you stare straight at them. An effect that quickly and authentically conjures southern swamps perfectly.

This was only Book One, and I am debating waiting on the next hardcovers. Vertigo has no mention of when Book Two will be coming out, and I am tempted to go for the readily available paperback editions because I want to finish the saga now. But, even without finishing the series I feel I can address my friend’s Gaiman reckoning. If the overarching theme in SWAMP THING continues—the existential exploration—I would safely say that Gaiman did not borrow from it. While the two series tackled the big elephant in the room that eighties comics seemed to be contending with--the three dimensional character--Gaiman and Moore achieved it in different ways.



In the SANDMAN series, Gaiman seemed to be tackling universality and his character’s psychology was not driven so much by existential questioning, but a Jungian, mythological hubris. Sandman and his family all have archetypal duties that they have to fulfill, and their interaction with the humans they act on pose their inner conflict. There is not one point (that I can recall) where any of the Eternals doubt who they are, or what their purpose is. They may become disgusted at their inability to love like humans, or regret their inability for many emotional freedoms humans have, but never do they have an identity crisis like the Thing-that-was-Alec Holland.

Without a doubt, Gaiman was influenced by Moore, but if SANDMAN is considered more successful, more widely read than SWAMP THING (which I’m pretty sure is not true) it may have to do with how dreams make people feel and how existentialism makes people feel. The former, no matter how disturbing, transports you to another place. The latter inevitably makes you question yourself, and I think that makes people uncomfortable and hesitant to return to the reflecting pool, as swampy as it may be.

Interesting follow-up fodder:

A vintage KNAVE interview of Alan Moore, written by Neil Gaiman.


Vertigo has the first issue of THE SAGA OF SWAMP THING available for download.