Swamp Thing & The Clown Prince of Crime!
Good Afternoon Steemians!
It would appear as if I have again been neglectful toward showcasing any DC books. It's been Marvel heavy, to an extent rightfully so as they comprise the majority of my collection. Tonight I am going to give you two classic Swamp Thing looks from really early in the run, drawn by none other than the dearly departed Bernie Wrightson. This man was a titan of the strange and some of his best work was on Swamp Thing.
Secondly we are going to take a look at three different cover looks of the Joker. Love him or hate him he is as iconic a villain as they come. He has been worked and reworked and immortalized on film more than once. I love when a character really has a personality that allows for the artist to showcase whats inside the madness and well, the Joker epitomizes this!
These are just Super Cool!
Swamp Thing Vol. 1 issue 7
I'm really in love here with the contrasting red and yellow. The cover itself isn't quite as iconic as issue 9 next to it but it really does have that vintage weird feel to it. Like, honestly, what's this swamp monster doing climbing a sky scraper.........in Gotham? Up to this point Swamp Thing had not had any interaction with any of the mainstream DC universe. In this issue he comes to Gotham and Bat hijinks ensue making this kind of his first informal DC universe appearance.....seven issues in. This is also the first instance of Batman ninja vanishing on Commissioner Gordon. Classic!
Swamp Thing Vol. 1 issue 9
Swamp Thing in his element. This is great. Dripping water rising from the muck. Strong hands and pensive expression. Again, the contrasting title work at the top gives this a classic movie feel and it's hard to not be in awe of Bernie's shadowed swamp in the background.
Don't sleep on Swamp Thing. With the popularity and constant rumors surrounding Justice League: Dark plus the announcement about maybe getting his own TV series again on the DC network there is still a lot of room for growth on some of these early issues. Plus, you're getting some really awesome art to boot.These aren't bank breakers but you're not getting them for 20 cents anymore either!
Does anyone remember Joe Bob Brigg's Monster Vision on TNT?
Why So Serious?
Batman Vol. 2 issue 13
New 52, man this was just nuts. The iteration of the Joker in New 52 is absolutely psychotic. I believe it's actually in Detective Comics Vol. 2 issue 1 but he has the Dollmaker cut his face off......The Joker later reattaches it. This die cut cover was re-used across multiple Bat related New 52 books. It's a bit gimmicky but I think overall pretty cool and a constant reminder to the insanity that this Joker brought to the world. I've read the first hardcover trade of the Batman Vol. 2 and I must say, it's pretty good. The Court of Owls, Talon, all of it really. I am trying to round out every issue. Probably have about two thirds. Give it a go if you can!
Green Lantern Vol. 5 issue 41
Where the above issue is a variant that will generally run you over cover price this issue is not. It is a variant but should still be available for 5 dollars or less. This is really a mania filled visage here as well. More terrifying than the above in my opinion. This excellent piece of art is done by Ben Oliver. He really is a Bat specialist. Ben has been knocking it out of the park with some of his Rebirth Detective covers. I don't think he gets enough work as a cover artist but is every bit as good as someone like Jock, and I love Jock!
The Classic, The Crown, You Know It!
Batman: The Killing Joke
This should need no introduction. But just in case.....Spoiler Alert!....... This psycho paralyzes Barbara Gordon. Batgirl, Barbara Gordon. I'm in love with Batgirl, all of them really, but especially Barb! I believe it was last year that DC released an animated version of this. Now usually there animated versions are pretty lauded but this one got panned. It wasn't, as they often aren't, 100% true to the source. I still enjoyed it for what it was and we'll never get this in live action. Gift Horse meet mouth. That said, this is what leads to Barbara becoming the character Oracle. She is a member of Birds of Prey! There is supposedly a BoP movie in the works and they are supposedly going to use Cassandra Cain, Batgirl for it....but don't rule out a Barbara or Oracle Cameo! Also, for the money Cassandra Cain is BAD A$$!
Now that I've shown a couple of Joker looks I'll say that I am really curious as to what DC has up their sleeves here. At the end of New 52 Bruce 'Batman' Wayne was given the ability to have any question answered. He asked "Whats the Joker's true name?". It wasn't until later that we were shown the answer. Apparently there are three....three Joker's! I think in my featured books up there I have two of them pictured. The New 52 psychopath and the Killing Joke Joker. The other one is your classic Golden/Silver Age true clown Joker. I don't know. It's weird but DC is moving forward with it's Three Jokers book.
Is this how they are justifying running two separate movie Jokers in Jared Leto and Joaquin Phoenix at the same time?
Love all the DC animated movies, but never been much of a DC reader...however I do own issue 2 of Swamp Thing.
These are the only two I have. I wish I had issue 2!
How about a freshly scanned front cover to tide you over?
Yep! Awesome. That shoulder head is creepy! Wrightson at his finest!
Fantastic selection as always! That Swamp Thing cover has especially stuck in my head after Frank Cho did a “one moment later” rendition of it.
Wrightson, Bolland, Cho... damn these guys are so good.
Wow, I've never seen that. Published or for funsies? I actually think that DC is getting the cover bit right for Rebirth. Great artists and great "B" covers. I think Marvel is still floundering here and there with the gimmicks.
And yeah, Cho's pencil and pen work.........have you seen the upcoming Harley?
This was actually for a private commission! If you mean the Reaper Harley, yeah... I think that’s the most recent I saw... aside from keeping an eye on what his “Wheat Cakes Vampirella” sketch cover will go for on eBay! 😂
Super Cool! My finger is tired from scrolling up and down. I wish I lived in an area with bigger cons. My areas biggest draw this year is Jason David Frank. No disrespect I love a ranger and JDF is the ranger, but............I missed James O'Barr last year and I love the crow......