Tagged: Swamp Thing

MINDY NEWELL: Character

What goes into making a memorable character for a story?

According to Lawrence Block, author of over one hundred novels and recipient of the Grand Master award from the Mystery Writers of America, they must be three things: plausible, sympathetic, and original.

I think that’s a damn good definition of what makes a character real. Except that I think Mr. Block used the wrong word. It’s not “sympathetic,” it’s “empathetic.” Now, sympathy and empathy are kissing cousins, but sympathy, I think, allows the individual to separate from the character just a bit, to feel for the character while still allowing for some separation – six degrees of separation, if you will. Empathy, on the other hand causes the individual to feel with the character– it’s the recognition of self in someone else.

Without that recognition, without that empathy, the character is in danger of falling flat, of eliciting a “who cares?” response. The great characters are empathetic – Scarlett O’Hara of Gone With The Wind, the Joad family (especially Tom and “Ma”) of The Grapes Of Wrath, Vito and Michael Coreleone of The Godfather, Caleb Trask of East Of Eden, Joe and Kirsten Clay of Days Of Wine And Roses, Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, King George VI in The King’s Speech.

In comics there is Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and his sister, Death, the X-Men’s Max Eisenhardt/Erik Lensherr/Magneto and Jean Grey/Phoenix (Dark and “Light”), Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson, Selina Kyle/Catwoman, and Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman. Of course there are more; I just chose those characters that appeared at the top of my head as I write this. You will have your own characters that engender empathy.

Originality is hard.  The history of storytelling begins when our ancestors first sat down around the fire and told tales to ward off the dark night. The history of storytelling is ripe with heroes and villains, love and betrayal, valor and cowardice. Originality, I think, comprises the total picture. As Block says in his book Telling Lies For Fun And Profit, “it’s not the quirks that make an enduring character, but the essential personality which the quirks highlight.” In other words, and like I said, it’s the whole picture, the complete character or individual that makes him or her an original.

Norma Desmond’s quirk is her inability to adjust to age and talkies, to realize and accept that time, and Hollywood, has marched on. Tom Joad’s quirk is his inability to accept injustice, even if it causes him to murder, which he sees as no injustice. Vito Coreleone’s quirk is to see the world as an “us against them” scenario, to nurture the family while attacking the world. Michael Coreleone’s quirk is to talk of love and loyalty to the family while he destroys it.  Swamp Thing’s quirk is that he is a plant trying to be a man. And Death loves life, even as she takes it away.

Plausibility allows the reader to suspend his or her disbelief, to accept that the actions of the character are true and real and acceptable. Now in comics, of course, plausibility is a two-edged sword. Of course we know that nobody can fly; nobody is invulnerable or runs at supersonic speed; no one can turn invisible or survive the explosion of a gamma bomb (except Bruce Banner, of course!) But as readers of superhero comics, we willingly suspend our disbelief, the implausibility of the character, before we even open the book. Why? Well, I think it has something to do with the capturing of our imagination, the “what if?” factor that I wrote about several months ago. But I also think that the other factors mentioned above play a role in our acceptance of Superman or Rogue. Empathy: “I get it. I know what it’s like to be Rogue, to be unable to really touch someone, to really get close to someone.” Or “Yeah, sometimes I feel like Kal-El, a stranger in a strange land.”

I watched Game Change on HBO. The movie is based on Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime, by John Heilemann of New York magazine and Mark Halperin of Time. Both men are seasoned politically analysts, and their book, which was released on January 11, 2010, is an inside look at the Presidential campaign of 2008. The HBO movie focuses on Palin, played by Julianne Moore, from the moment the McCain campaign decides to ask her to be his running mate to Obama’s running mate.

The movie is riveting. Moore buries herself completely into the role, and I’m guaranteeing right now that she wins an Emmy for her performance. Sarah Palin is, without a doubt, love her or hate her, an original. She is empathetic – and sympathetic – as she works to maintain her sense of self and, love them or hate them, her own beliefs against the McCain and Republican political machinery.

But is she plausible? The movie shows that, as far as being capable of being “one heartbeat away from the Presidency,” Palin was an implausible candidate. But don’t tell that to the huge – and I mean huge – groundswell of love and support she engendered.

Yesterday afternoon I went to my local comic book store, Vector Comics, to pick up my haul. Joe and Tina, the terrific and wonderful owners of the shop, were busy with other customers, so I browsed through the stacks to see if anything not on my list that caught my interest. (Actually, almost everything piques my appetite, and if I allowed myself to buy everything I want, I couldn’t pay the rent!)

Know what I found? The Sarah Palin comic from Bluewater Comics.

What a character!

TUESDAY: Michael Davis

 

The Point Radio: A DC History Lesson From Len Wein

The Point Radio: A DC History Lesson From Len Wein

DC’s rich history can best be explained by not only one of their oldest fans, but top creators. The man who gave us SWAMP THING (and much more), LEN WEIN shares a few 75th Anniversary Tales – plus LOCKE & KEY heads to TV.

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‘Swamp Thing’ Volume 3 due on DVD in June

‘Swamp Thing’ Volume 3 due on DVD in June

Shout! Factory has announced a June 22 release for the third volume of the Swamp Thing television series on DVD. The set was being offered as part of their Shout! Select online exclusive line of product.

The first volume, comprising seasons one and two of the USA cable series, and volume two (beginning the third season) were released in 2008. This volume would complete the third season and series.

The series, featuring the character created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, debuted on July 27, 1990 with a total of 72 episodes. The series largely followed the continuity of the horrid film adaptation by Roger Corman and starred Dick Durock who portrayed the misunderstood creature in both feature films.

While the show was once a top-rated hit for the fledgling cable channel, it was poorly received by critics and fans of the source material.

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Review: ‘Hellblazer: Pandemonium’

Review: ‘Hellblazer: Pandemonium’

John Constantine, Hellblazer: Pandemonium
By Jamie Delano & Jock
Vertigo, 128 pages, $24.99

Although crated buy Alan Moore in the pages of [[[Swamp Thing]]], Jamie Delano was the first writer to tackle the punk rocker turned occultist on his own. He wrote the first year or so of the [[[Hellblazer]]] series which helped create the gravity that pulled several titles from the DC Universe into what is now Vertigo. To celebrate the character’s 25th anniversary, Delano has returned for a lengthy graphic novel, a long overdue achievement. With the rise of the format, Constantine lends himself to lengthier explorations of the darker corners of Earth and the black, fiery realms beyond our ken.

Delano slips easily back into writing the beloved bastard as he tricks the authorities, flips the underworld the bird, and once more risks his life to keep ancient evil at bay. This time, though, the British writer intertwines a Sumerian threat with the Iraqi conflict making this more topical than the usual stories (the last time Constantine dealt with current events, it was during Garth Ennis’ Irish issues).

With the wonderful artist Jock at his side, Delano begins the story in London where Constantine encounters a Muslim woman just before things go boom and he suddenly finds himself essentially blackmailed into helping the British military deal with the occult threat. With a fresh pack of Silk Cuts in his pocket, he goes to Hell, once more, and enters a high stakes poker game with a handful of demons in order to keep the ancient threat at bay.

Being a Hellblazer tale, you might imagine John Constantine has an ace up his sleeve and of course the ending keeps the world safe and allows him to have a final word or two for those who have tried to make him their pawn.  The page count allows more than the usual Constantine antics and commentary but what’s particularly nice is the evolving relationship with Aseera, the woman who caught his attention just before things began going downhill. Her beliefs and insights make for a nice counterpoint to John’s usual cynicism.

Delano and Jock don’t waste a panel and keep the story moving quite nicely. The review copy provided by Vertigo was in black and white but knowing the artist’s style, this will really sing in full color, more than justifying the price.

This is a strong, riveting tale and we can only hope the rest of Constantine’s anniversary celebration is equally as compelling.

Review: ‘Saga of the Swamp Thing Book Two’

Review: ‘Saga of the Swamp Thing Book Two’

Saga of the Swamp Thing Book Two

By Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, John Totleben
DC Comics, 224 pages, $24.99

DC’s hardcover collections of Alan Moore’s run on [[[Swamp Thing]]] continues with the release of the second volume next Wednesday. The nicest thing about these releases is that it prompts us to go back and reread the stories to conjure up memories of what it was like the first time we encountered these tales.

By the time these eight stories saw print in 1984 and 1985, the buzz had grown deafening and clearly this was the most talked about series and set of creators at the time. What Alan did was bring fresh thinking to American comic book concepts and played with the readers’ expectations for mainstream storytelling and horror.

Moore’s gift for words crowded the pages with allusions and imagery previously unseen and when we could look at the artwork, it was stunning. Stephen Bissette and John Totleben were ideally suited for the material and they were given free rein by both Moore and their editor, Karen Berger. The critical success encouraged the creators to take more risks and the company wisely backed them, letting [[[Saga of the Swamp Thing]]] be the first series to hit newsstands each month without the Comics Code. Instead, the covers proclaimed the series to be “Sophisticated Suspense”, a gesture to warn potentially offended readers.

Having reimagined Swamp Thing’s origins and exploring the dynamics between the shambling creature and the humans Abigail Arcane and Matt Cable, the stage was set for the return of an old foe. Anton Arcane, Abby’s uncle, was back and the slow realization that he had possessed Matt and therefore committed a form of incest with her was shocking, cold and chilling because we hadn’t conceived of anything so horrible. The trilogy that kicks off the volume is creepy and holds up.

The coda to the tale first saw print in an annual, allowing extra pages and giving Moore a chance to play with the other occult players in the DC Universe: Etrigan, the Spectre, Phantom Stranger and Deadman. All felt fresh and part of some other reality as Swamp Thing traveled to Hell to rescue Abby.

The artists, while incredibly talented, were not speed demons and 22 pages a month was a tough pace for them. The annual, therefore, meant they needed fill-in help. Chapter 2 of the Arcane trilogy was inked by Alfredo Alcala and Chapter 3 was pencilled by Rick Veitch, but at no time is the quality suffering. But they needed a break and Shawn McManus, who already drew the opening story in this wonderful collection, is back for the acclaimed “Pog”. Moore’s tribute to Walt Kelly’s [[[Pogo]]] is a challenging read and still packs an emotional wallop.

The book ends with the award-winning “[[[Rites of Spring]]]” wherein Abby confesses her love to the creature and he offers her a piece of himself as communion, letting her see the world the way he does. It’s touching and once more gives us a new look at the characters while advancing the storylines.

On a personal note, there are two pages that cutaway to the events being watched by the enigmatic Monitor and his aide Lyla. At the time, all of DC’s titles were featuring these teasers setting up [[[Crisis on Infinite Earths.]]] Alan and Karen could have argued against it or thumbed their noses the demand the way Mike Barr did in [[[Outsiders]]]. Instead, Alan complied without complaint and actually made the appearances work, maintaining the eerie feel of the moment. I was always grateful he was willing to play along and rereading them here, does in no way take away from the stories’ impact.

The DCAU Justice League returns in ‘Crisis on Two Earths’: UPDATED

The DCAU Justice League returns in ‘Crisis on Two Earths’: UPDATED

Ain’t It Cool News is reporting that the next direct-to-DVD DC Comics movie after the upcoming Superman/Batman: Public Enemies will be a new release titled Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, tentatively coming Spring 2010.

As you can glean from the title, it takes place on two different planet Earths: one protected by the Justice League, and one ruled over by the evil Crime Syndicate. When a heroic version of Lex Luthor steps over from that parallel Earth to ask the Justice League for help, a superhero fight breaks out. That last part is merely conjecture, but we’d put good money on it.

What we do know for sure is that Dwayne McDuffie, who masterminded the original Justice League cartoon and its Unlimited followup, will be writing the script, and that it’ll feature an all-star voice cast, including Gina Torres (Firefly) as Wonder Woman’s doppelganger Super Woman and James Woods (Ghosts of Mississippi, those episodes of Family Guy) as Good Lex Luthor.

The AICN article has the press release and full details, so go check it out.

UPDATE 9/17: Andrew Laubacher writes in comments:

Based on the image in the AICN article, this is NOT the DCAU Justice
League. Hal Jordan is Green Lantern and Wonder Woman is wearing the
costume from Lauren Montgomery’s WONDER WOMAN animated movie. If you
have some evidence for your assertion, please, give it up.

Well, everybody’s officially locked down for comments while promoting the current release of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. However, someone close to the production confirmed that this is not strict JLU continuity.

On the other hand, since this is dealing with alternate earths, things could be up for grabs– and in fifteen years or so, we’re going to need a “Crisis On Animated Earths” to reconcile this, New Frontier, Challenge of the Super Friends, Swamp Thing, WildC.A.T.S., Krypto the Superdog, and the Superman/Aquaman Hour.

Review: ‘Saga of the Swamp Thing’ Book One

Review: ‘Saga of the Swamp Thing’ Book One

When a comic book gained a new writer, before 1983, they would either keep the status quo, as the writers succeeding Stan Lee did throughout the 1970s, or change the locale and supporting cast (see [[[Supergirl]]] and [[[Wonder Woman]]]’s various careers). Until 1983, no one really rethought the character or series premise.

That is one of the main reasons the arrival of Alan Moore at DC Comics was so pivotal.  He was a long-time fan of DC’s output and had brought his own point of view to the series.  When Swamp Thing co-creator and then-editor Len Wein asked him about taking on the series, Alan had no problem with suggesting his radical rethinking of the premise based on what had been established to date.  Nothing out of left field, but a fresh look at a long-standing character in the DC firmament.

Not only was the thinking fresh, but the writing was also lyrical, something not seen in American mainstream comics.  During the 1970s, “purple prose”, lots of words trying to convey mood and feeling but really just a ton of verbiage, was in vogue and as the 1980s dawned,the state of Americna super-hero writing was fairly mundane.  Once more, Moore stopped everyone in their tracks as he used short phrases and captions to suddenly convey mood, feeling, and foreshadowing.  The repetition helped tie a story together as did his clever use of words to transition from one speaker and scene to another.

The result was revolutionary and propelled [[[Saga of the Swamp Thing]]] to the top of everyone’s To Read stack.  The book was the first true shot in the British Revolution that helped change mainstream comics for the next two decades.

In rereading Moore’s first eight issues in the newly released hardcover Saga of the Swamp Thing, it’s clear to see what Moore brought to the character, the title, and the company. The clarity in thinking, fresh approach to character and captions, and the ability to redirect a title are obvious and stand up after all these years.

Not only did Moore rethink Swamp Thing, he also rethought his supporting characters, building upon what his predecessor, Martin Pasko, did without trashing the work.  He began to explore the greater DC Universe by using Jason Woodrue as the first antagonist, and then brought in Jason Blood/Etrigan showing us he was more than one-trick pony.  In the former, Woodrue had been a neglected Atom villain who was an ideal foe for Swamp Thing and the perfect vehicle for “[[[The Anatomy Lesson]]]”, the aptly titled story that reset the status quo.

For the first time, Moore’s debut issue is reprinted.  While it tidied up some of Pasko’s dandling plot lines, it also really began to set the stage and it a welcome addition to the hardcover. You get a taste of what is to come and works well with the other stories.

Also carrying over from Pasko’s run is the art team of Stephen Bissette and John Totleben.  Fairly fresh to comics at the time, they were an ideal team for the character and quickly improved their work, clearly inspired by Moore’s work and openness to their input. Some pages are overly cluttered while others are beautifully designed and you can watch them grow during these eight issues.  They have as much to do with the title’s resurgence as Moore and should never be overlooked.

The collection comes complete with a nice intro by Wein who explains the character’s birth in real world terms and then we get an essay from Ramsey Campbell that heaps additional praise on the creative team.  Moore deserves his accolades and the hardcover treatment is a welcome addition. If you have never read these stories or no longer have them in your collection, this is a well-priced volume worth having.

Review: ‘Watching the Watchmen’

Review: ‘Watching the Watchmen’

Watching the Watchmen
Dave Gibbons
Titan Books, $39.95
In January 1985, DC Comics sent me to England to begin meeting with the talent working across the pond, reminding them of our needs and working environment.  Dick Giordano and Joe Orlando had been out a few years prior so this was like a booster shot, a tangible sign we loved them and wanted to keep working with them. Titan Books’ Nick Landau helped me organize two group dinners with the rising stars working for [[[2000 AD]]] and [[[Warrior]]] and it was first introduction to them all.

Apart from that, though, was an afternoon session with Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.  Alan’s work with [[[Swamp Thing]]] had already proven captivating and I was an instant fan.  Dave’s work was newer to me but I immediately liked his style.  Interestingly, Dave’s first issue as penciller of [[[Green Lantern]]] and Alan’s first issue as writer of [[[Saga of the Swamp Thing]]] were both cover dated January 1984, just months before I joined DC in the actual January 1984 so I had a year to know their work before meeting.

Both were brimming with enthusiasm for [[[The Watchmen]]], the project they were just getting started on and I had heard about in the hallways. We spent the afternoon sipping tea at the Tower Hotel as Dave pulled out pages of drawings and sketches while Alan talked through the themes of the series. If Dave’s chronology in [[[Watching the Watchmen]]] is correct, our meeting was weeks before the first script was delivered. By then, though, they already had the tag line “Who Watches the Watchmen?” and the bloody smiley face design.

This was going to be a sophisticated story, the like of which was just beginning to find a place amidst the more traditional good versus evil stories that filled the racks. That translated to cover design and even the gents’ notions of how to market the book.  Dave showed off designs for cocktail napkins and coasters that they’d imagine DC printing up to entice college kids and adults to be made aware there was something new to read.

Sadly, those marketing designs seem to have vanished but most of Dave’s other designs, sketches, notes, annotated scripts and paraphernalia was retained.  The result is this handsomely designed book that enhances your enjoyment of the graphic novel and keeps you enticed until the feature film finally arrives in March.

Gibbons writes honestly about the creative process, nicely explaining how things were done back then compared with today.  His recollections are vivid and explain much of what went into the process of conceiving something entirely new rather than rehashing the Charlton heroes (truth be told: I was the one to commission Dave to draw the characters for the aborted [[[Comics Cavalcade Weekly]]] for that very reason). Some of his personal thoughts about favorite characters, scenes, and moments would have been icing on a rich, delicious cake.

Chip Kidd’s design lets the work breathe and makes certain you can see the detail in the thumbnails or color guides.  He takes Dave’s traditional comic book approach to storytelling and enhances it with size and scope. My only quibble is that he lets thumbnails run in the gutters and spoils some of the clarity.  Also, it’d be nice to have seen more of Alan’s scripts and Dave’s notes to better understand the process.

Overall, the big is a huge visual treat and one of the few in-depth looks into the creative process behind any single title.  It’s really the first Making Of book for a comic book that I can recall and there’s no better series than The Watchmen to get the in-depth examination.

‘Roots of the Swamp Thing’ Includes 3 by Nestor Redondo

‘Roots of the Swamp Thing’ Includes 3 by Nestor Redondo

Lost amidst DC Comics’ latest round of solicitations is a historic reprint collection of one of its seminal works: DC Comics Classics Library: Roots of the Swamp Thing. And it’s historic not because it represents the first hardback compilation of the material but because the story is being published in its entirety for the first time ever.
 
Upon her arrival at DC Comics in 1976, Jeanette Kahn made no secret of her disdain for the company’s sampler-style use of reprints in the years prior to her arrival. Instead, she wanted to see specific fan-favorite storylines compiled in a single volume or series. So 1977 saw the release of four key Ra’s al Ghul stories in the tabloid-sized Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-51 and the beginning of an irregularly-published set of one-shots called the Original Swamp Thing Saga (appearing in DC Special Series #2, 14, 17 and 20) that ultimately reprinted Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson’s Swamp Thing #1-10 from 1972-1974.
 
The years passed and collections of specific stories grew to become the industry standard, evolving from the newsprint of these formative examples to much nicer grades of paper and from the traditional pamphlet-type package to paperbacks and hardcovers. There was a tendency, however, to favorite the art over the scripts in many of these early (and not-so-early) collections.
 
When Steve Englehart’s landmark eight-part Batman opus from Detective Comics from 1977 was reprinted (first in 1985/1986 and again in 1999), the impact of his last chapter was blunted a bit by the fact that the Len Wein-scripted Clayface III follow-up was attached by virtue of the fact that it had also been penciled by Marshall Rogers. Conversely, Wein’s own run has only ever been reprinted up to Swamp Thing #10–because that’s the point when artist Bernie Wrightson left the book. Problem is, Len continued to write Swamp Thing for another three issues, ably abetted by artist Nestor Redondo. More significantly, he carried the themes from issue #1 (and specifically the tragic creature’s relationship to his pursuers Matt Cable and Abby Arcane) to a touching, satisfying conclusion in #13.
 
Unfortunately, the fan without access to the original issues has never read it. The first ten issues (along with the prototype story from House of Secrets #92) were gathered again on much nicer paper in 1986’s Roots of the Swamp Thing #1-5 before going the trade paperback route with Swamp Thing: Dark Genesis in 1992. And most recently in the digest-sized Secret of the Swamp Thing (2005). [Meantime, the pre-series short story from House of Secrets #92 is now one of the ten most-reprinted stories in DC’s history, with–to date–ten reprintings compared to Swamp Thing #1’s five.]
 

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Spirit Stories You Should Read Before The Movie

Spirit Stories You Should Read Before The Movie

So Brother Glenn e-mails me with “…we do real well with those ‘stories you should read before you see the movie,’ and if anyone else but you did The Spirit list, you’d probably be insulted.” Maybe.

I’m a bit ambivalent towards this movie. I haven’t seen it, but like most of you reading this, I’ve seen the trailers. I’ve loved The Spirit ever since Jules Feiffer turned me onto the character, back in a 1965 article in Playboy magazine. My appetite completely whetted, the good folks at Harvey Comics stoked me up a year later with two “giant-sized” reprints that still remain the best of the many compilations of the character.

So now Frank Miller, a cartoonist known to be quite the Spirit fan (he even worked a reference to creator Will Eisner into RoboCop II), has directed the big Spirit movie that’s coming out any day now. It was co-produced by another comics fan-turned-writer-turned-movie powerhouse, Michael Uslan, of Batman and Swamp Thing movies fame. And those trailers – well, damn, they don’t look like Will Eisner’s creation at all. They look like Sin City with one extra color added. I try not to judge movies by their promotion (outside of triage), but this stuff’s been a bitter disappointment.

So, perhaps, this list should be perceived as “stories you should re-read after you see the movie so you remember why you went in the first place.” I hope not; I’ll be there to see the movie with the greatest hope.

Either way, coming and/or going, here’s ten of the original, truly worthwhile Spirit stories, as written and drawn by Will Eisner with the assistance of such folks as Jules Feiffer, Jerry Grandinetti, and Wally Wood. Ask me again tomorrow, and I’ll bet I give you at least five different stories.

Yep, The Spirit was that good.

These stories have been scattered among numerous reprint collections. The really cool part is, you can’t go wrong with any of them. However, for those of you who remain both employed and financially flush, I’m including The Spirit Archives volume numbers. If you want to pick up just one volume, I recommend volume 19.

1. Ten Minutes (September 11, 1949; volume 19)

2. The Story of Gerhard Shnobble (October 16, 1949; volume 19)

3. Plaster of Paris (November 7, 1948; volume 17)

4 & 5. Sand Saref and Bring In Sand Saref (January 8 and 14, 1950; volume 20)

6 & 7. The Name Is Powder and The Fallen Sparrow (January 4 and 11, 1948; volume 16)

8. Fairy Tales For Juvenile Delinquents: Cinderella (October 5, 1947; volume 15)

9. A DP On The Moon (August 10, 1952; volume 24)

10. The Story Of Rat-Tat, The Toy Machine Gun (September 4, 1949; volume 19)