Swamp Thing's Halloween
First off, I must mention I love the Swamp Thing. I remember the old television show that was on (I think) the USA Network back in the late 80's / early 90's. Of course then, Swamp Thing was simply an innocent scientist working on a vegetation formula, wrongly murdered through an explosion/fire, only to find the solace of the swamp and change into a living vegetable man/super hero. The scientist, Dr. Alec Holland, of course gets revenge and knowing he can not return to his old life, becomes a recluse of the green.
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Then I read Alan Moore's Swamp Thing after college. Whoa. Not only was the Swamp Thing from TV long dead, but so was Alec Holland. Moore's take on the creature was wonderful; almost as if the consciousness from a materially dead Holland was somehow able to metamorphosis and live on through the organic green. That consciousness took the form of Swamp Thing, and after enduring an epic odyssey of death, acknowledgement, apathy, and eventual resurrection, Swamp Thing became a very powerful mystical character in the DC Universe mythos. I still get goosebumps when I think of reading those Moore scenes in bed at night, wherein Swamp Thing gives up on life and endures a traverse of Hell and the Abyss to test its resolve as a grand mythical hero. It's epic, grand mythological material (and highly, highly recommended if you have not read it before!)
Then came along one of my favorite current writers take on the Swamp Thing; Scott Synder and his examination of the Swamp Thing in the New 52. I was now seeing the idea of the Guardians of the Green, and the idea of the Red, and the idea of the Scourge Black developing over massive story arch. This series too had some lofty themes going on, and I enjoyed it very much. Plus I got to see Swamp Thing fly for the first time.
That trail then led me to Wal Mart, USA, of all places two weeks ago. Why? I wanted to find this issue, and with some good luck, I did:
From the Batman Damned team of Brian Azzarello and Greg Capullo, the first story in this comic book features some arcane Halloween ideas. Set in some dark forest on the night of Halloween, monsters from the other side of the veil have crossed over into our reality for unknown reason. This story is short in pages, but full of some fascinating ideas. We see:
A red headed witch who seeks out the primordial places on Earth where the barrier between our world and the other side are weak
This read headed witch, with the use of a token or possibly straw man, previous in her life, dragged something across the Abyss and into our reality through ritual of symbol
This "thing" attempts to kill this witch, but Swamp Thing intervenes and absolutely destroys this monster
The Swamp Thing then takes (I think) the left eye of the Scarlett Witch as a consequence for what she has seen
The story then returns to modern day, wherein three creatures are confronted by the witch, and Swamp Thing manifests to again return the darkness back to the other side
It's short tale, as previously mentioned, but it appears to be introducing the Red Headed Witch and a thing called the Barren for the first time (at least from a bit of research I did online).
Whether or not this will tie into the ongoing *Justice League Dark / Wonder Woman * mythos, I'm not sure. It is hinting at it, however, as that current series is attempting to address the question : what happens when the most powerful sorcerer in the known Universe turns its back on humanity? What happens when Dr. Fate decides to free the forces of Chaos to reset the known cosmos by unlocking the Veil of the Abyss? And what will happen when this thing (below) returns again? In that epic storyline, Swamp Thing goes ballistic to send it back into the Shadows, only to be burned and welted into a pile of weeds (don't worry, he's still around though!).
All things considered, if one is a fan of Halloween and comic books, now is the time to get caught up on the saga of the Swamp Thing. If you can get a copy of this issue at cover price, I'd highly recommend it. And if you haven't gotten caught up on Justice League Dark yet, I'd make that recommendation highly too. I, for one, will be rereading that series come this Halloween Wednesday night for current day nightmare material. With a new issue of *Justice League Dark / Wonder Woman : The Witching Hour #1 * out this coming Wednesday too, I know my Halloween night will be set. Swamp Thing appears to be in very good hands at DC at the current time, and I do thank the good writers and artists over there for keeping my "comic book dreams" alive.
If you picked this Wal Mart Special up, let me know what you thought. Are you also keeping up on the current Justice League Dark material too? Any thoughts on that? Magic appears to be at the forefront of the DC Universe, and I'm enjoying it all immensely. Thanks again for reading, and drop a line if you can. Cheers, and Happy Halloween!