Alan Moore's horrible Thing!

You can never write enough good things about Alan Moore.
He's been cited as the best writer in (and out) of comics, with intelligent, imaginative, ground-breaking, pioneering &standard-setting work up the wazoo (and I mean this very literally) and unlike so many rave reviews that tend to... reek of greased palms (of which I am NEVER guilty, you may note: I always speak the truth, even when I lie!) whenever one of Moore's works are being praised, they're absolutely right.
Of course, he is a commercial writer. He'll write if you pay him (as should be considered no more than self-evident) and the work will be top quality. Yet! There's one series that is sub-par, to the extent where I genuinly wonder whether Alan Moore actually wrote it. It's one I uncovered recently in the Wild Worlds collection, i.e. the WildC.A.T.S./Spawn mini.


Now, as anyone reading me knows, I dislike commenting on bad comics, because I have better things to do with my time, but for a writer with a track-record like Moore's (his own WildC.A.T.S run, for instance, is WELL worth your time) this thing stood out. Badly.
Voodoo may be a second one, but it has been too long ago since I read it, and there was a fairly negligent printing error ruining a big scene in the originals.
Anyway, enough bad words.
I could praise any other series he's worked on, from Halo Jones over 1963 to Killing Joke, From Hell, The Birth Caul, Whatever happened to the Man of Tomorrow? all the way to Top 10 & Promethea (and I believe on occasion, I have) thereby forgetting a ton of other stuff (so don't remind me)...

Today however (and in a bloody roundabout way) I want to share the greatness that is Swamp Thing, or not-Alec-Holland, as you should be aware. (You'll only get this if you read it, so please do!)
This title, between you & me, is what really started the line that would turn into Vertigo, followed closely by Sandman. (Don't know Sandman? Get outta here!)
It started off as a pretty straightforward weird superhero/horror title. (If you'd call that combination straightforward, of course. I would. Shut up.) You know, guy in industrial/corporate accident, changed/mutated, out for revenge etc. etc. Perfectly alright, by Len Wein & Bernie Wrightson (by the by, the former is one of the creators of Wolverine, but he ain't filthy rich. Go figure. Maybe some other post, I'll go into that sometimes? Dunno if I want to go all political.) But then they kind of killed Swampie off, and Alan Moore, more than ably abetted by Steve Bissette & John Totleben took over.


Nobody really remembers the original take by Wein and Wrightson, after Moore was done with Swamp Thing. The very first issue of his run redefined everything (and I mean really everything) about who & what Swamp Thing was. It set a new standard to imagination and to what can be achieved on the printed page.
That first issue is possibly also one of the finest stand-alone comics of the modern age, and at times, it only got better. From a perhaps predictable title, Moore rebuilt Swamp Thing into a creepy, mature, intelligent and organic (excuse the pun) story, creating a rich tapestry of wildly different characters interacting in a dark, desolate world, with only the merest sparks of hope hidden away, cowardly.
All the while, Moore & his artists experiment with page layout, storytelling tactics and methods, designs and art styles.
I know I've been laying on the superlatives a little thick (to counteract my earlier berating maybe?) but there really is so much to this series.
The only thing I feel bad about is not uncovering this gem sooner.


Be seeing you
--nout