Storytelling like this is Gone With the Wind
I doubt anybody really needs a review of a 27 year old comic, especially since its written by Alan Moore, the best writer in the industry, and the whole run is widely accepted as literary gold in comic book circles. However, I loved this book so much this was either going to be a blog post or a review and review one out.
This 2 issue story arc starts with a horrific atrocity that transpired on a Louisiana plantation in the 1840’s. Without putting too much research into this (none in fact) I don’t think Alan Moore has ever lived in the American South, he is from England as I recall and lives there today. However as someone who grew up in the South I have to say Alan nailed it, reading this I almost felt like I was back there. Feeling the humidity, smelling that decay smell of the swamp, and lethargic grandeur of the thick trees with heavy limbs dripping Spanish moss, and the inherited and inescapable relations between the races, good or bad.
One of my favorite things is Alan’s treatment of the subject of death in this comic. It reminded me of “Tales of the Black Freighter” he calls up images of people long dead just to wonder what they would look like and what they have been thinking about.
But the best part, the part I had to read over about 6 times is this. Now let me say it’s not uncommon to find me with a copy of Swamp Thing in my hand and tears in my eyes. Perfect example is in 2 pages from ST #41. I don’t know how many panels of the book they will let me post as pictures without complaint but hopefully you can see below the top of page 11. The dead have risen and Alice is confronted by her father who she buried as just a young girl. Her father sees her now as a old woman near the end of her own life, but she is still his little girl. I wonder if I could see my daughters decades from now when they are in their 80’s what would it be like for them to be so old but still look like little girls to me. It makes you think, deeply, like so many other parts of this book and like only great stories can.
If you haven’t ever read Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing then the story arc here in #40-41 is a great place to start to see what you can be reading, then go back to #20 when this teams run started and enjoy the whole series like I am.
The talent of a storyteller like Alan Moore….. I can’t even put it into words.