“Suddenly, nine years later….”

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Funny, it only feels like I’ve been doing this for no more than about, oh, say, twenty or thirty years. But here I am, still plugging along with my slow decline into irrelevance, and here you are (presumably), still putting up with it. Thank you folks for sticking around and reading and commenting and just generally tolerating this sort of behavior. I really do appreciate it.

Thanks also, as always, to my girlfriend Nora, to my parents, to pal Dorian, to my fellow comics bloggers and Bureau Chiefs, and of course to Comics Blogger #1 Neilalien — all of whom are probably secretly plotting an intervention to break me of this blogging habit.

Speaking of which, this was the year I finally, finally stopped updating the site every single day. It took a combination of multiple computer failures (at home and at work) and my immense frustration with same, to drive me away from the internettings for a brief period in time in mid-April. I’m sorry for any concern that may have caused at the time, but I literally could not look at a computer for a few days. But, that did break me of the daily update addiction, and like I’ve said once or twice since then, the reduced schedule has increased my enjoyment of the site, and hopefully yours as well.

And what did I do with my free time? Why, started up a pog website, of course, thanks to a mid-August arrival of a storage unit’s worth of pog store stock. I’m still planning to stop that site in February or March, so enjoy it while you can, pals!

In the last year, I’ve popped up on a couple of other sites: I was interviewed about life in comics retailing here, and I sullied Bob’s fine comics blog by deliberately goading people with this bit of hoohar. If you want me to make a cameo appearance on your site…well, don’t let those two examples scare you off. Particularly if it’s a paying job!

I’m also still hanging out on the Twitter, where, over the past year, I’ve made deep and insightful observations on the comics industry such as these:


Seriously, that last one…I hear that story about once every week or so. “Thanks for your hours of labor, Bill…here’s a box full of comics that smell like cat pee.” “MY FORTUNE IS MADE!”

Anyway, aside from all that, I occasionally posted on this site right here, and here are a few highlights, or lowlights, from the past twelve months:

DECEMBER 2011:

Kicked off year 9 with a look at a naughty Milo Manara card game, the lovely gams of Zatanna and Green Lantern, I will never be cool enough to wear this Fonz shirt, superhero skeletons – the latest fad, I really do completely unironically love Spanner’s Galaxy, the Brat Finks 1 and 2, the infamous Swamp Thing Holiday Hiatus: 1 2 3 4 5 6…

JANUARY 2012:

…and 7, Richie Rich has got money and looks, yes I actually did scan an all-black panel for this post, always time for a Gil Kane splash page, the greatest Gelatinous Cube drawing of all time, trying to find time to reread comics and the follow-up post, behold the infinite sadness of non-white Joker, GRENDEL ‘n’ MAGE TALK: 1 2 3, I thought more people would be amused by this Joker thing, at long last here are the lost Swamp Thing pages.

FEBRUARY 2012:

The greatest Watchmen prequel that never was, it had been so long since I’d done a gaming post that I created a new “gaming” tag without realized I already had one, surely marketing this mask was just asking for trouble, the publishing implications for the Watchmen prequels, hey I finally sold this thing on the eBay just last week, Sgt. Fury teams up with…Dracula!?!?! — how can this be, I am far happier about this Valentine’s Day post than I have any reason to be, I’m never going to top this animated graphic so I might as well just shut it all down then and there, it’s the Champ, I really intended to do more of these, the introduction of…THEN, KOREA and some follow-ups: 1 2.

MARCH 2012:

We think that’s Tom Jones, seriously this was really creepy in the cartoon, CLARK KENT VERSUS ART, FRED FLINTSTONE VERSUS THE FUTURE, they didn’t really think out the full horrible potential of the Phantom Zone, the manifest destiny of Little Lotta, one more THEN KOREA post, no idea what I’m going to do for my 44th birthday, Krypto thinking “look at those eats!” is truly the best thing from the Silver Age, I’m expecting the restraining order from Mr. Snyder any day now, holy crap IT’S SLUGGIUS, there’s probably a series of jokes about what Peanuts character created what Internet-related thingies, Enndo obeys no man while also probably having too many Ns in his name.

APRIL 2012:

The Sluggo/Swamp Thing mash-up you’ve been waiting for (or dreading), pal Casie whips out an awesome green drawing, the Great Progressive Ruin Hiatus begins in this post, I check in here, I ‘splain what’s goin’ on here, the second Ghost Rider movie was really something else, why do people like comic books, more butt, Mike vs. CGC, Mike vs. misogynist jerks, college finally pays off, boy that Man-Thing sure is big, if only I had a way of describing it.

MAY 2012:

I don’t get enough credit for creating the term “panelogical onanist,” Free Comic Book Day 2012 – The Hideous Aftermath, the greatest shirt I’ve seen this year, nobody had anything to tell me about these insanely rare mini-books, I’m wearing my Commtech Chips right now, here’s the good X-Men Versus The Avengers comic, ADAM 12 VERSUS SATAN, I swear I get multiple “Avengers sucked” Google referrals every day since I posted this, the moustache of Jimmy Olsen.

JUNE 2012:

This comic ended up going to the home of the biggest Gil Kane fan I know, and in conclusion these Before Watchmen books are solid mid-rangers at our shop, it was only a matter of time before a Snooki cameo on my site, aside from the shitty writing and the nonexistent editing this book wasn’t all that bad, I am getting serious inquiries via Google as to whether or not the sticker’s presence affects the book’s value, my favorite Swamp Thing panels, “fast as hell,” I never get tired of these kid-drawn monsters, yes Suckmaster Burstingfoam, I see your regular comments on this post (and I swear they make me laugh every time), you have no idea how long I tried to find a good panel with Shipwreck.

JULY 2012:

I’ve heard from a lot of people who’ve had this book and want it again, boy it’s a good thing variant covers are a thing of the past, Alan Scott – the Swamp Thing connection, yes okay fine everything you own is worth millions, CHARLIE BROWN VS. RUSSIA, that is one dreamy Swamp Thing, oh that Richie Rich, MIRACLECOSTELLO, the rare Swamp Thing / Archie crossover, I never thought I’d see a Swamp Thing kid’s book, but here we go.

AUGUST 2012:

Ghost Rider Butt! — er, I mean, buttons, the beginning of the end: THE POGMAN COMETH, turtle power, Squinky Thing, the most terrifying announcement made on my site in its nine years of life (and in response, my single most favorite comment a reader has ever made), the explanation for said announcement, I beat the rush on the Heckblazer joke, some vintage X-Men criticism, this is one groovy cover.

SEPTEMBER 2012:

The Todd McFarlane Action Figure (and the follow-up), Doctor Who Meets The Omen, the Time Bandits comic is a lost classic, I take a peek at Swamp Thing #0, I get all weepy-eyed over an old Archie Annual, Popeye Versus Bull, those 1980s revisionist Popeye comics were darned peculiar, I miss the Jupiter comic, I missed Doop.

OCTOBER 2012:

I ask you folks what creators are without-question must-buys (and the follow-up), that’s a lotta Swamp Thing artists’ signatures on that cover, my look at the Dark Knight Returns cartoon of course brings in Swamp Thing, I managed to sell some Jungle Annuals because of this post, in which I talked my girlfriend into smuggling me some comics from Mexico, POPEYE NO, people sure seemed to take a liking to my Lovecraft/Fantastic Four pastiche, yet another brief discussion of media impact on comic sales, I’ve held this comic in my hands and I still don’t believe it’s real, all those years of Sluggo Saturdays has brought us to this,

NOVEMBER 2012:

Debbie Preston sounds like a happenin’ gal, I go way too in-depth on Swamp Thing continuity stuff — sorry about that: 1 2 3 4, now that I’ve started watching the first season of American Horror Story this panel takes on a whole new meaning, that is one groovy ad, it’s a lot funnier when you hear me doing this in person I swear (I hope),

DECEMBER 2012:

Have I mentioned that I love Golden Age Sub-Mariner, because I love Golden Age Sub-Mariner, more Swamp Things from foreign and exotic lands.

Plus, don’t forget civilization ended all year long. And sometimes there were Saturdays…maybe with Sluggo, maybe not.

Again, my sincerest gratitude to all of you for reading my site. I comment every year about how I’m surprised anyone aside from a few friends even care about anything I have to say here, so I am very grateful for your readership.

And for reading all of that, you get this lovely portrait of me, as drawn (I believe) by Former Employee Jeff:


Yes, Swamp “Thong.” Let’s not dwell on that. Also, my arms are marginally longer than pictured. Otherwise, that’s almost like looking at a photo.

Now, on to Year Ten!

And now, the best use of that “Super Powers” logo ever.

filed under Categories hulk, swamp thing 9 Comments

So you may remember my brief lamentation regarding my girlfriend not spotting any copies of Swamp Thing during her most recent trip to Mexico. To assuage my despair, longtime reader, and resident of Spain, John P. informed me that he had an item or two that might be of interest. And one internationally-shipped package later, BEHOLD:


That is Super Powers #6, a digest-sized comic published in Portugal in 1987. It reprints, in color, issues #29-#31 of Saga of the Swamp Thing from 1984, comprising Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben, and Rick Veitch’s Arcane trilogy. Leaves out the annual that wraps up the storyline, however.

That’s okay, though, as the comic does feature fan art:


That wasn’t bad, I thought. (And before you ask, no, it’s not autographed…that signature is printed on the page.

This next item is the newest of the bunch that John P. was good enough to send – this is the first issue of the New 52 Swamp Thing series, as issued in Spain:


It’s a squarebound book, presenting the first four issues (and cover images) of the Scott Snyder/Yanick Paquette/et al. series, on nice slick paper with no ads (except some house ads inside the covers).

Here’s an earlier La Cosa Del Pantano, dating from 1988:


It’s 48 pages, staplebound, also adless save for house ads and a couple of pages of editorial matter at the back. It reprints Saga of the Swamp Thing #21 (1984), with Moore, Bissette and Totleben’s revision of Swampy’s origin, followed by the first chapter of the Nukeface story from issue #35 (1985).

The fourth and final item John P. sent me was another digest from Portugal, Batman Ano Um #1 (1987):


It reprints, as you might have guessed, or perhaps divined by looking at the scan above, the first chapter of “Batman: Year One” by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, and has as its back-up story the Moore and Shawn McManus story from Saga of the Swamp Thing #28:


There’s also a Marv Wolfman/Don Newton Vigilante story in there, too. An interesting mix of material, I thought. Also of note, there’s a one-page of biography for Batman’s cocreator Bob Kane…and another biography on the facing page for the usually-overlooked Bill Finger.

The Portuguese comics also include this ad for the publisher’s Hulk comic:


…also featuring Sub-Mariner and Rom.

Since my Portuguese is a little rusty, I typed part of this ad into the ol’ Google translator to see what they were saying about our Incredible friend:

“The hate comes up – Hulk loses control

“With terrible nightmares that lead to irreversible abyss of madness, Hulk becomes a savage monster that brutally destroys everything in its path. Read this fantastic story. And much more!”

Also: “Rom the Space Knight” is okay, “Rom, o Cavaleiro do Espaço” is fantástico.

Anyway, a big thanks to John P. for sending these my way. They’re great, and I really appreciate them! The Swamp Thing Shrine grows ever larger.

Progressive Ruin presents…the End of Civilization.

filed under Categories End of Civilization 12 Comments

As not-really-predicted by the Mayan Calendar…The End of Civilization is now upon us! Hide in your shelters, crack open that tin of survivalist-brand crackers and cheese, and follow along in your Diamond Previews December 2012 edition to check out what new items are going to see us out of this world and into the next. PLEASE NOTE: big ol’ spoiler for the Avengers movie, in case you just landed on Earth and haven’t seen it yet:

p. 84-5 – Justice League of America #1:


…with its fifty-something variants for the U.S.’s different states and its bonus extras, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. Frankly, they should combine the blank sketch cover trend with this comic and allow folks at home to make their own variants:


Oh, look, here’s a blank right here:

p. 103 – Batgirl #17:


Hey, remember back when James Gordon, Jr. was like this forgotten minor character from a Frank Miller comic? How long ’til he gets his own New 52 series?

p. 113 – Swamp Thing #17:


I’m going to have to admit to you…I never even considered the idea that having Swamp Thing back in the DC Universe, or what passes for the DC Universe nowadays, could possibly mean a Harley Quinn/Swamp Thing battle (even if it’s “deformed/possessed by Swamp Thing’s nemesis” Harley Quinn)…but I guess I should have realized. THIS IS WHAT I ASKED FOR.

p. 123 – Young Romance A New 52 Valentine’s Day Special #1:


Yup, that’s certainly a couple of nearly 80-year-old characters on the cover of a comic called Young Romance.


Oooh, that misspelling is one letter away from turning a Batman supporting character’s name into something spectacular. “It’s Morgan Freeman in his sexiest role yet!”

p. 167- Mars Attacks #7:


They should do “30 Second Later” variants for more comics! Why, just imagine the possibilities!

p. 230 – Cavewoman Oasis #1:


…Sometimes you just need to say “Well, goodness,” and leave it at that.

p. 233 – Forcebook T-Shirt:


Finally, something to replace my outdated “MyHyperspace” t-shirt.

p. 360 – James Bond FAQ All That’s Left to Know About Everyone’s Favorite Superspy:


“Everyone’s favorite superspy?” Why would a book about Danger Mouse be called James Bond FAQ?

p. 362 – Star Trek The Visual Dictionary HC:

When no one was looking, Cyrano Jones imported forty tribbles. He imported 400 tribbles. That’s as many as four thousands. And that’s terrible.

p. 362 – Stuck On Star Trek:


“Mom! I can’t separate the Captain Kirk sticker from the green alien woman!”

“Um…what?”

“Oh, great, now there’s another alien woman attached to Kirk!”

“I’m returning that toy.”

p. 370 – Son of Satan Black T-Shirt:


I don’t know which is more amazing…that we finally got a Son of Satan t-shirt, or that terrible pun surrounding the picture of the shirt.

p. 375 – Rat Creature T-Shirt:

p. 383 – Star Wars Han Solo in Carbonite Vinyl Bank:


At last. AT LONG LAST. I think my well-earned rest is at hand, now that The Nerdiest Object Ever has been reduced to affordable form. The End of Civilization…finally here.

p. 403 – Avengers Movie Thor Mjolnir Limited Edition Replica:


There may be a slight delay in delivery, as no shipping company seems to be able to pick these up for some reason.

p. 403 – The Avengers Movie Agent Coulson’s Captain America Trading Cards:


Now, I kept trying to get a good look at the cards in the film, and what I saw reminded me a little of those old Comics Images sets from about 20 years ago. But here, you can get replicas of the cards in a dual set: the “Near Mint” set, and, get ready for this, the “Bloody” set. Yes, you can relive that moment when the cards allegedly soaked in the blood of the beloved Agent Coulson are presented to the Avengers. (NOTE: probably not the actual blood of that actor.)

And don’t even get me started on Agent Coulson’s Captain America card set having a card of Agent Coulson in it. That’s some weird self-reflexive ouroboros type stuff and thinking about it will just drive you crazy. Crazy.

Also if you see him there, ask Dorian what he wants for Christmas, because I have no idea.

filed under Categories pal plugging 2 Comments

 

  • Bully brings you the Comic News for November 25th, 2012.

  • Pal Dorian is going to be a panelist at Bent-Con this coming Saturday, discussing the topic “Understanding the Gay Fanboy (and Fangirl!).” If you see him there, be sure to say hello!

  • Tangognat reads Amethyst comics, old and new. …It seems weird to have Amethyst, of all comics, in a black and white format, but…well, I’ll let Tangognat tell you how she feels about that.

  • I saw my old pal Fred Noland for the first time in quite a long while this past weekend, and that reminded me that it’s been a bit since I sent you to his site to enjoy his excellent illustration work. Be sure to check out the comics he has available for sale in his store…I recommend everything.

#sarcastiquotes

filed under Categories scans 5 Comments


 
“Ohhhhh, it’s ‘The Rifleman,’ you’re just soooo great!
You’re such a rifleman! Excuse me, ‘The’ Rifleman.
I bet you’re soooo good with rifles!”

• • •

Yeah, I don’t know, either. Anyway, still in Low Content Mode, will hopefully have something for you tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by, pals.
 
 

The Rifleman #7 (June 1961)

The post that would not end.

filed under Categories archie, batman, blogging about blogging is a sin, collecting, dc comics, does mike ever shut up, everyone's going to hate me, giant-size man-thing, golden age, how the sausage is made, I have no idea how to tag this, indies, linkrot, newspaper strips, other swamp creatures, retailing, scans, swamp thing 16 Comments

So I received a used copy of this hardcover in a collection I purchased the other day:


And, well, I did have it in the shop as a new item before, but I never really did sit down and give it a good looking-at then, despite my enjoyment of Don Newton’s Batman. Thus, before putting it out for sale I thought I’d take it home and give it a read…what, it’s going to get more used? …Well, okay, yeah, I suppose it is, but I’ve the gentle touch of a professional comics handler, and can easily peruse this volume without causing further discoloration, dogearing, spine stress, or, God help us, foxing.

Anyway, I was a fan of Newton’s work, both on Batman and on Infinity Inc., which he had just started to work on when he passed away in 1984 at the too-young age of 49. Reading this book, I find myself struck by one thing, which will hardly be a new or original comment in regards to these sorts of reprint projects, but nevertheless it’s still an honest reaction. The pages are just too white and clean. The Young Mike that’s still rattling around in my head is expecting to be reading these stories on brown-ish newsprint. In fact, when I mentally picture Newton’s art, I imagine dark, moody images…all shadows and mystery. Reprinting in this book on bright pages with bright coloring, even the shadows look like you’re staring at the sun. …Okay, I exaggerate slightly, but still, it was a bit jarring to have the art right in front of me and contradicting my memories of same.

And before you say anything, yes, Infinity Inc. was printed on bright white paper with eye-searingly bright colors, but Newton’s sadly brief tenure there doesn’t have the nostalgic hold his Batman work has for me.

As I was writing this, another sorta unsung comics artist fave of mine came to mind that I’d like to see reprinted in a book like this. I’d totally be all over The Complete Irv Novick.

• • •

One of my readers was kind enough to point out that, in an old post of mine…I mean, really old, within the first month of this site’s life…one of the links I’d posted way back then had apparently since gone feral and now pointed to a porn site. Okay, first off…porn on the Internet? When did that start? And secondly…yeah, link rot. This site is on the verge of turning nine years old, and I’m sure many links in a lot of my old posts now go to destinations I did not originally intend. I mean, if I was sending you to a dirty filthy dirty site, I was usually pretty good about warning you up front.

I’ve heard about some people going through and consistently maintaining and / or removing links on old posts, but frankly, it’s hard enough to find the time to keep with new posts, or sleep. And then there was the great Blogger-to-Wordpress shift I underwent in early ’10, which resulted in some formatting and archived-post issues, and then whatever that company was that was supporting the old commenting system cut that support, so links to those comments are now no bueno, I guess, and…man, sometimes I feel doing a reboot, and just starting this website from scratch. FORGET EVERYTHING YOU KNEW BEFORE: WELCOME TO THE NEW PROGRESSIVE RUIN! and then I’d never refer to anything before that date ever again.

I’m not going to do it, but, back past a certain point, my site’s a mess. I do still go back and fix links and formatting and stuff if I have occasion to link to an old post, so I’m not letting things totally fall into barbarism, but…well, just assume any super old link is probably taking you straight to a site that’ll sell you V1aG4a or promise you pictures of people inserting Tab A into Slot B.

However, I am happy to note that I still occasionally edit my very first post to make sure it’s still sending you where I want you to go. Man, had I known they’d be fiddling with those addresses every year or so, I’d have picked something else for my debut entry.

• • •

Reader d asks

“Hey Mike, we all know you have every Swamp & Man Thing appearance, but do you collect The Heap as well? Just curious.”

Well, I don’t have every Man-Thing appearance…I do have every one written by Steve Gerber, as well as the first appearance in Savage Tales (not by Gerber), but from about the ’90s forward, I’ve been a little pickier about touching Man-Things.

That has nothing to do with the actual thrust of your question, which is all about the Heap, the original comic book swamp monster dating back to the 1940s. Sadly…no, I haven’t gone out of my way to seek out Heap comics, though I have picked up some of the latter day revivals, such as this 1971 one-shot I’ve discussed in the past, or this new version from Moonstone, or the Airboy/Mr. Monster one-shot from 1987, in which the Heap plays a prominent role, and is a great comic, to boot.

The original Heap comics are about to be reprinted in a series of three hardcover volumes, and I’m still waffling a bit on whether I can afford to pick these up for myself. My usual argument to talk myself into such things is “if I don’t get them now, I’ll probably never have another chance, at least this (relatively) cheaply,” so we’ll see. I am tempted.

• • •

On a related note, in that it’s asked in the same comments section, Casey wonders

“Mike, have you ever done a post about toxic Teen Titans continuity?”

Oh God, no. What I’d wished I had done is recorded pal Dorian and myself going on and on and hashing it all out and realizing that some of the time frames involved would make some of the adult characters a lot older than they should be, or that some of the lengths of time of team membership would be extremely short, or…hell, I don’t remember now. This was prior to DC kind of pushing the “sliding scale” of the Modern DC Superhero Universe to being about 20 years old, as of Identity Crisis, which I recall thinking was a slightly more reasonable time frame, given the amount of “important” events and continuity, not just for the Titans but for everyone, you had to squeeze in there.

Of course, post-Flashpoint, that scale is now about 5 or 6 years, depending on who you ask, I guess, so it’s all a moot point. And I hear tell Titans continuity has even more exciting problems now, as in some indecision whether there were previous Titans teams or not, but I leave the pondering of that question to younger, abler folks than myself.

• • •

And then sometimes I repost a gag I already made on the Twitter, such as presenting this gag header from Archie’s Joke Book #134 (March 1969 – hey, my birth month!) and lamenting the fact that in no way does the story live up to this title:


…which is just as well, since Archie couldn’t participate anyway:


Oh, scatological humor! You’re the best!

• • •

To bring things back around to the nostalgia of Young Mike from the beginning of this post, just before I soiled it all with continuity nitpicking, porn, poop jokes, and Man-Thing innuendo, I found myself the other day discussing the joys of Omega Men with a customer of mine.

Although I had read the introduction of the Omega Men in those three or so issues of Green Lantern, I didn’t follow them to their own series (which experienced some small controversy in its early issues due to depictions of violence, back in the “they didn’t know how good they had it” days of fandom). It took Alan Moore, a writer of some note, writing a back-up in two successive issues of the series (#26, pictured, and #27) to get me to take a look…and quite wisely, a new storyline in the main feature started up at that same time, giving Moore-ites like me a solid jumping-on point. It helped that 1) the new regular artist on the series was Shawn McManus, for whom I was developing a strong appreciation, and 2) that the comic itself was just a darned weird, creepy, and plain ol’ interesting sci-fi adventure.

As I was talking about the book with the customer, a couple of things dawned on me that, I suppose, shouldn’t have surprised me but did anyway. The actual run of that “new direction” for Omega Men, from #26 to the book’s eventual cancellation, was only 13 issues, plus an annual. It sure felt like it was longer…not in a bad way, I mean. It’s that a whole lot of stuff happened along the course of that comic, and it’s hard to believe they managed to fit it all into only about a year’s worth of stories (well, technically a year…I think some issues ran a bit late, if I recall correctly). Also, there was a Teen Titans crossover, and, of all things, a Crisis on Infinite Earths-engineered Blue Devil crossover, and an appearance in DC Comics Presents, so that probably helped in the perception of the comics’ apparent length.

The other thing that dawned on me was that the series wrapped up while I was still in high school, which doesn’t feel weird for anyone but me, I realize, but still, it seems like it’s more recent than that. Ah, well…tempus fugit, and all that.

I’ve since picked up the remainder of the series, which of course includes the first appearance of Lobo (which guides at a low $7.00, which sort of surprises me, except I suppose Omega Men print runs at the time were fairly large), and despite the occasional terrifying Kevin O’Neill art job, those earlier issues were fairly staid compared to the outright craziness of the McManus-era stories. Still fun, and worth checking out if you can find ’em cheap, which they usually are.

• • •

Just to let you folks know, I’m probably entering Low Content Mode for the rest of the week, or at least lower content mode…the Thanksgiving holiday is coming up, and I’ve also got another project I’m working on at the moment that requires the focus of my creative energy, he said in a hopefully non-New Agey way, so probably you’ll not be seeing much more out of me this week aside from maybe a pic or two. Or you can follow me on the Twitter where I’m still likely to spout off about something. At any rate, I’ll see you on the other side, and please enjoy your Thanksgiving, where applicable, and everyone else, enjoy your Thursday. Thanks for reading!

• • •

Oh, here’s the end of the post! I was wondering where that was.

You probably shouldn’t be encouraging my behavior.

filed under Categories swamp thing 9 Comments

So reader Michael G. asks, in response to my discussion of Swamp Thing’s continuity nonsense:

“…Maybe in one of these posts you can talk about reasons why you continue to keep up with the character through messes like this. […] …Is there a possibility Swamp Thing could be so badly mismanaged that you would stop buying it?”

To be honest, I really don’t have a problem with them fiddling around with the continuity. I mean, yes, I’ve said that the changes to the new Swamp Thing continuity make my inner fanboy twinge a bit, crying out “b-b-but that’s not how it happened!” — but frankly, I just take it in stride, and so long as this New 52 Swamp Thing comic is 1) entertaining, 2) good, and 3) reasonably consistent with itself, I’m fine with it. (In fact, one of the points in this new series I wanted to double-check was Alec remembering Abby only via fuzzy memories inherited from the not-Alec Swamp Thing that had come before, even though the recent annual presented Alec’s first meeting with Abby before ever “becoming” Swamp Thing…but no, there is an explanation, so everything’s cool there.)

My issues with how it may or may not follow from what has come before…specifically, the Big Event stuff that brought back Swamp Thing in the first place…that’s mostly just a bunch of nerd-pondering, a mental…well, I hesitate to call it “exercise,” but maybe more like a quick mental jog around the block. It’s kind of like when pal Dorian and I used to talk about Teen Titans continuity and how that pretty much screwed up DC’s overall superhero continuity.

The particular problem I had with that Search of Swamp Thing series that following Swampy’s comeback in Brightest Day was first, it complicated that return essentially by undoing it, separating Swamp Thing and Alec Holland again, with no explanation and no resolution. Second, nothing really gets resolved in regards to Alec’s status in relation to Swamp Thing, and the threat set up at the beginning (that Constantine was in danger of becoming the next plant elemental) is more or less unanswered at the end. Not really upset by it, just found it curious.

The other continuity blip I wonder about is in the first issue of the ongoing New 52 seies, when Superman checks in on Holland. Like I said last time, it could just be that Superman knows about Holland’s history vis-à-vis Swampy, and that Holland’s sudden reappearance, alive and well, is of concern to him. But it feels like this is a follow-up to an interaction between the two prior to this new series…an interaction that could be explained by the characters’ involvement in Brightest Day, though the structure of the New 52-version of Swamp Thing is that the events in Brightest Day are no longer necessary.

LFC notes that this could be remnants of story that preceded knowledge of the New 52 reboot, thus the plotting awkwardness. That would certainly explain a few things. But, again, I’m not really all that put out by the changes. I just like discussing them and trying to work ’em out and noting what pieces fit and what don’t. I may gripe about a change or three, but it’s more out of a sense of bemusement than posting-animated-GIFs-on-Tumblr outrage.

To Michael’s other question…honestly, I can’t foresee a reason I wouldn’t buy Swamp Thing. That’s on the “no matter what” list even if, yeah, it’s absolutely terrible. I’d still be interested in what was being done with the character, even if I didn’t like how it was being done. In the case of that aforementioned Search for Swamp Thing mini, I liked most of the covers, I was amused by Constantine’s SUPER-BRITISH, “have we mentioned that he’s British?” dialogue and his interaction with super heroes, and I liked talking here on the site how this series didn’t quite work. So, yeah, it was awful, but I got some measure of entertainment and discussion out of it so it wasn’t a complete waste of time.

Anyway, I didn’t finish my New 52 Swamp Thing reread, so I still have a small handful of questions I am looking to answer. But as our old friend Suckmaster Burstingfoam mentioned in the comments:

“I don’t think it matters.

“Any of it.

“At all.”

Yeah, I can’t say you’re wrong. But since when does something not mattering ever kept me from going on at length about it? That’s the stuff blogs are made of!