Writer: Len Wein
Artists: Bernie Wrightson, Nestor Redondo
Collects: House of Mystery 92, Swamp Thing (1st series, 1972) 1-13
Whenever someone says Swamp Thing, the first name to ring a bell is Alan Moore. True, Alan took our dear Swampy to places he had never been, but before that, there had to be a writer who took him to some places for the first time. 
That was Len Wein. Granted, those places weren't stupendous or awe inspiring; rather they were more along the line of the old (now!) horror stories featured by EC Comics and Gold Key Comics. But for this old horror story fan, they were a treat to the eyes as well as the mind.
First, we visit the original Swamp Thing, Alex Olsen, in a 8-page tale of twisted love, jealousy, death and resurrection. More than anything else, this looked like beauty and the beast revisited, with creepy art by Bernie Wrightson.
The above story was successful enough to inspire a regular series by the creators, but Len Wein (as he says in the introduction to this book) did not want to revisit Alex Olsen, which would cheapen the first story (Watchmen 2, here goes nothing!) and as a result he created a new character.....and a new world. Alec Holland was working on a bio restorative serum with his wife Linda, under the directions of his friend Matthew Cable. 
When Alec refused to reveal the secret formula to a group of unscrupulous men, they sought to destroy him and the formula. Unbeknownst to them, they ended up creating a new form of life - a monster. Matt Cable blames the Swamp Thing for the death of his best friends, not knowing that Alec Holland is the Swamp Thing!
The next issue brings us to the Balkans where mad scientist Anton Arcane has kidnapped the Swamp Thing (through his Un-Men) to offer him a cure, but nothing's what it seems. Matt chases Swamp Thing over the world and meets Anton's niece, and the love of his life, Abigail Arcane.
The stories now onwards introduce regular mystery tropes - mansions on the moor, prowling werewolves, lovecraftian entities, witch trials, aliens and time paradoxes.
Of particular note is The Last of the Ravenwind Witches, which features a village prosecuting a couple of children as witches as they come from a family of witches. The art is too good to be true.
Len enters Science Fiction territory with the penultimate issue titled The Infinity Man, whose one act has doomed him to an eternity of terror, and he can do nothing to stop it. Features ST against a dinosaur!
Nestor Redondo's art is as good as Wrightson's. I only wish we had gotten to see a few more of his issues with other writers subsequent to these issues, but the packaging here is such that every issue is either worked upon by Len Wein, or Bernie Wrightson, or both and thus collects their whole run.
And though Anton Arcane returns with his Un-Men later on in a supernatural tale, unfortunately, he's on the ordinary side of things in this one.
Also, Batman guest stars in one issue. Though not as stirring as the later epic confrontation near the end of Alan Moore's run, this one serves to give us some much needed star value. That a popular character should appear in a non selling book to boost sales was a given back then, folks.
This one's printed under the DC Classics Library label. It's a nifty hardcover with good quality paper (better than newsprint but evokes the quality of the paper originally used) for US40$ and should be coming out in paperback soon, though I'd prefer the hardcover version.
Len Wein writes perfectly good stories. And Berni makes everything come to life. Also, special mention to the letterer - while Swamp Thing hardly appears to speak in the first few issue, his thought bubbles and speech bubbles have a distinctive feel to them.
While the stories may seem dated, this was the age of TV, secret conspiracies, sparkling springs, heady mountaintops, moonlit mansions, notebooks, cassette recorders, old shacks, old monsters and a lot of things that just aren't going to come again. For someone born in the eighties and who remembers that sort of thing, this one's a no brainer.
Go get it, folks!
Artists: Bernie Wrightson, Nestor Redondo
Collects: House of Mystery 92, Swamp Thing (1st series, 1972) 1-13
Whenever someone says Swamp Thing, the first name to ring a bell is Alan Moore. True, Alan took our dear Swampy to places he had never been, but before that, there had to be a writer who took him to some places for the first time. 
That was Len Wein. Granted, those places weren't stupendous or awe inspiring; rather they were more along the line of the old (now!) horror stories featured by EC Comics and Gold Key Comics. But for this old horror story fan, they were a treat to the eyes as well as the mind.
First, we visit the original Swamp Thing, Alex Olsen, in a 8-page tale of twisted love, jealousy, death and resurrection. More than anything else, this looked like beauty and the beast revisited, with creepy art by Bernie Wrightson.
The above story was successful enough to inspire a regular series by the creators, but Len Wein (as he says in the introduction to this book) did not want to revisit Alex Olsen, which would cheapen the first story (Watchmen 2, here goes nothing!) and as a result he created a new character.....and a new world. Alec Holland was working on a bio restorative serum with his wife Linda, under the directions of his friend Matthew Cable. 
When Alec refused to reveal the secret formula to a group of unscrupulous men, they sought to destroy him and the formula. Unbeknownst to them, they ended up creating a new form of life - a monster. Matt Cable blames the Swamp Thing for the death of his best friends, not knowing that Alec Holland is the Swamp Thing!
The next issue brings us to the Balkans where mad scientist Anton Arcane has kidnapped the Swamp Thing (through his Un-Men) to offer him a cure, but nothing's what it seems. Matt chases Swamp Thing over the world and meets Anton's niece, and the love of his life, Abigail Arcane.
The stories now onwards introduce regular mystery tropes - mansions on the moor, prowling werewolves, lovecraftian entities, witch trials, aliens and time paradoxes.
Of particular note is The Last of the Ravenwind Witches, which features a village prosecuting a couple of children as witches as they come from a family of witches. The art is too good to be true.
Len enters Science Fiction territory with the penultimate issue titled The Infinity Man, whose one act has doomed him to an eternity of terror, and he can do nothing to stop it. Features ST against a dinosaur! 
Nestor Redondo's art is as good as Wrightson's. I only wish we had gotten to see a few more of his issues with other writers subsequent to these issues, but the packaging here is such that every issue is either worked upon by Len Wein, or Bernie Wrightson, or both and thus collects their whole run.
And though Anton Arcane returns with his Un-Men later on in a supernatural tale, unfortunately, he's on the ordinary side of things in this one.
Also, Batman guest stars in one issue. Though not as stirring as the later epic confrontation near the end of Alan Moore's run, this one serves to give us some much needed star value. That a popular character should appear in a non selling book to boost sales was a given back then, folks.
This one's printed under the DC Classics Library label. It's a nifty hardcover with good quality paper (better than newsprint but evokes the quality of the paper originally used) for US40$ and should be coming out in paperback soon, though I'd prefer the hardcover version.
Len Wein writes perfectly good stories. And Berni makes everything come to life. Also, special mention to the letterer - while Swamp Thing hardly appears to speak in the first few issue, his thought bubbles and speech bubbles have a distinctive feel to them.While the stories may seem dated, this was the age of TV, secret conspiracies, sparkling springs, heady mountaintops, moonlit mansions, notebooks, cassette recorders, old shacks, old monsters and a lot of things that just aren't going to come again. For someone born in the eighties and who remembers that sort of thing, this one's a no brainer.
Go get it, folks!
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