Swamp Thing: The Bronze Age volume 1

Swamp Thing: The Bronze Age Vol. 1 by Len Wein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When scientist Alec Holland and his wife Linda are murdered to gain access to their bio-restorative formula, Alec rises from his watery grave as Swamp Thing!

Swamp Thing: The Bronze Age Volume one collects a story from The House of Secrets #92 and Swamp Thing #1-13.

Like a lot of people my age, my first exposure to Swamp Thing was the Wes Craven movie from 1982. I've read some of the Alan Moore issues but I've never read any of the originals until now.

I don't know if Joe Orlando's editorial direction had anything to do with it but Len Wein and Berni Wrightson (and later Nestor Redondo) crafted something that feels like a throwback to the EC horror comics of the 1950s. Wein uses a lot of captions for narrative effect, much like the EC comics, and Berni Wrightson's moody artwork is straight out of the Vault of Horror. Once I forgave Nestor Redondo for not being Berni Wrightson, I liked his art quite a bit as well.

Old Swampy goes from one calamity to the next, hitting many staples of the horror genre, like mad scientists, wizards, werewolves, aliens, robots, secret societies, and horrors from beyond the stars. Compared to today's tales, it feels a little rushed but that's part for the course. Wein and Wrightson embraced the monster of the week formula with great success. Seeds are planted that won't bear fruit until sometime later in the run. Hell, it takes much of the volume for Matt Cable to change his views on Swamp Thing and Abbie Arcane hasn't had much interaction with the muck-encrusted avenger yet.

This run of Swamp Thing is probably more influential than people give it credit for. This feels more like a Marvel book than a DC book. In fact, it feels like a horror take on The Hulk at times, making it a spiritual ancestor of The Immortal Hulk. Also, now that I've read this, it's pretty apparent that Sam Kieth was trying his best to channel Berni Wrightson in the early issues of The Sandman.

The ending left me wanting more but it was a satisfying stopping point. The relationship between Matthew Cable and Swamp Thing turned a corner and it left Swamp Thing in a good place. The wait for the next volume is going to be tough but I think I'll manage.

Len Wein, Berni Wrightson, and Nestor Redondo crafted a great piece of horror that somehow got through the comics code. Four out of five Un-Men.



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