Okay, gang, the announcement has finally been…um, announced, so I can tell you all that the original conclusion for Rick Veitch’s Swamp Thing run, originally slated for release in 1989, is now going to be unleashed upon the world early next year!
It will continue the original numbering (issues #88 through #91), and will feature the original trade dress (i.e. the classic Swamp Thing logo).
However, unless there’s, like, a 1 in 25 ratio, or 1 in 100 ratio, variant that they’re hiding, it appears they may not be using Michael Zulli’s Veitch’s original cover for #88, the issue in which Swamp Thing encounters Jesus:
Based on the promotional material shown at the New York Comic Con on Thursday (which is why these pics are a bit askew, as I trimmed the covers from the whole slides), the main cover will be this also-symbolic Veitch image of Swamp Thing holding a lamb:
And the variant (or one of the variants, we know how this goes) by Zulli features a close-up of Swamp Thing’s face, chest and shoulders, adorned with a crown of thorns, the crucified bits all tastefully off-panel:
I am disappointed that the “cross” cover doesn’t appear to be the primary one, if it’s a cover at all, but I guess DC is trying to play it at least a little safe given, you know, [waves hands about at everything].
At any rate, I was reading Swamp Thing at the time and was aware of all this going down, and how disappointed I was that DC put Veitch in a position where he felt he had to leave the title. You know, folks wondered, when Alan Moore left the book, who could possibly replace him? And, amazingly, by getting Veitch, they stuck the landing. He was absolutely the right person. And even though it’s taken quite a while, it’s nice that he finally gets to put the proper end onto his story.
Wonderful news, a thread left hanging from my teenage years finally to be tied. Now we just need to know why New Titans #0 is included…
So cool they’re finishing Veitch’s run!
And yeah, the new Zulli cover is giving off a real agony/ecstasy vibe, which is weirder than the straight anguish of the original.
Mike, do you happen to know if Veitch had already written and drawn all the interior art or if he had to go back complete anything?
Ben – the original #88 was canned when it was still in process but nearly completed, so I imagine if any artwork was done on later issues, it was maybe roughs or layouts. I believe it was all (or mostly) scripted, however.
It appears the new issues will feature art by the late Michael Zulli, Veitch, Vince Locke, and Tom Mandrake. I’m guessing most of the art is new, except by the late Zulli, of course.
Been. Waiting. So. So. Long. For this.
Like many…I collected this run and remember feeling like the rug being pulled out…and then when I found out why. Grrrrr
Are we sure we still want this? It’s just that especially in comicdom the wanting is better than the having. I cite as an example MIRACLEMAN: THE SILVER AGE #7.
ScienceGiant – I definitely want it, but I’m a huge Rick Veitch fan anyway. I’ve read a synopsis of the last four issues and would love to see how it looks on a page!
Gloria in excelsis Creatura Paludis!
I think that original 1989 cover for #88 is by Veitch, not Zulli. You can make out the signature at the base of the cross. Though the bones at below the cross do have a heavy Bissette look to them.
But good to see this finally announced. Cautiously optimistic. Many a slip, etc.
Rick Veitxh just posted on Facebook that Vince Locke is doing the inks. These will be the first comics I have purchased off the racks in years, other than that Miracleman special from a few years back.
Unfortunately both Zulli and originally planned inker Tom Sutton are no longer around. Locke was Zulli’s most frequent inker on the mainstream jobs he didn’t ink himself, so the logical choice for this job
BobH – you’re right, just had it stuck in my head that it’s a Zulli image all these years. I’ll correct when I get a chance.
“Mike, do you happen to know if Veitch had already written and drawn all the interior art or if he had to go back complete anything?”
My remembrance is that it was not fully drawn at the time it was canned.
” Vince Locke”
Lock back in comics! I imagine it doesn’t pay as well as drawing Cannibal Corpse album covers.