“Garbed in bright fetishes.”
Since Swamp Thing is going to be palling around with superheroes in short order (or, at least, hanging out in the same world that they do), I thought I should go back and find that brief bit of business where he reveals what he thinks of the capes ‘n’ tights set. So, here you go, from Swamp Thing #75 (August 1988) by Rick Veitch and Alfredo Alcala:
The lettering in that second-to-last caption box looks…just the slightest bit off from the rest of the lettering on the page. Maybe added after the fact? Or the text was altered from whatever was there before? Or maybe I’m just imagining things?
EDIT: Chris K notes in the comments that a Rick Veitch interview in The Comics Journal revealed that the caption was added after the fact (and I’m sure I’ve read that interview, but obviously didn’t remember that), and Mr. Veitch himself pops in to confirm that caption was a later addition.
It DOES look like it’s lettered slightly differently…the italicization seems less pronounced on the first two lines. But it’s still in tone with the rest of the text and doesn’t appear to be any sort of attempt to blunt or soften the ideas presented. So more likely it was done by someone different or maybe it was accidentally overlooked and then added after the fact?
Hmm. I dunno. I can’t really see it.
I will say this: Man, Ri- I mean, Swamp Thing sure has a bad attitude Towards superhimans or as he likes to call “super jerks”*
*I am pretty sure he would have said this if he were asked.
That caption was definitely added after the fact by DC editorial to blunt some of the anti-superhero sentiment; Veitch talked about it in his Comics Journal interview in the mid-90s. (I don’t remember if he wrote it himself under instructions, or if it was written by someone else entirely.)
Definitely different, but not so different that it’s wrong. I imagine it’s like my own handwriting — if I wrote a long essay all at once, it would look like a consistent style. If I went back a day or two later and wrote just one paragraph at the end, it would look slightly different and stick out. Yet I wrote both parts of it.
I get the feeling that happened with hand lettering, too. If the entire page was lettered in one day, it looked consistent, but the letterers were only human — break a page up across two days and a trained eye might pick up the difference.
There’s also a larger amount of leding (sp?) between the third and fourth lines there, like the fourth line is drawn at a slight angle down and away from the third line.
I’m officially over-analyzing this. Thanks, Progressive Ruin!
I’d like see Swamp Thing say that to Superman’s face!
Swamp Thing: “You super-humans… are totems to… and the protectors of… man…”
Superman: “Is there a point to all this?”
Swamp Thing: “Shut up… and let me talk…!”
Superman: “Okay! Okay!”
Minutes later.
Swamp Thing: “…and free-flowing sexuality…”
Superman: “That reminds me! I have a date with Wonder Woman. I hope this time she’s not wearing pants. I’ll get back to you on this.”
Superman speeds out of the swamp in a blur.
Swamp Thing: “Wait… damn it…!”
Swamp Thing’s one to talk about “free-flowing sexuality.” Ew.
Mike,
Good eye! The “somehow still loved and cherished…” caption was added after the fact at the request of DC.