Hello readers,

It has been a long time between updates, but I’m still working on the website a little bit when I find the time. Since my last update, it seems that I have re-read all of the fourth Swamp Thing series from 2004, and up to the end of the ‘Rotworld’ arc of mid-2013. By the end of the year, I hope to have created a page for the sixth series, incorporating the ‘Convergence’ crossover event and the Wein/Jones miniseries. I’m still quite busy with work but I am hoping it will get a bit less hectic over the next six months and I’ll get around to reading and documenting a few more articles as well as the first issue of the Holland Files fanzine.

In more sad news, last month Len Wein died at the age of 69. With Bernie Wrightson (who also passed away this year), Wein was a co-creator of Swamp Thing in the early 1970s. After Swamp Thing, Wein continued writing for both DC and Marvel, where he co-created Wolverine and several other X-Men characters. Throughout the 1980s, he was an editor at DC, overseeing Alan Moore’s acclaimed Swamp Thing run and the highly influential Watchmen series among others. Len Wein’s most recent work on Swamp Thing came in the form of a six-part miniseries he created with illustrator Kelley Jones in 2016. Len Wein’s work as writer and editor has had an immeasurable impact on the history of comics and popular culture.

Below is a tribute to Len that has been appearing in some DC comics this month.

Until next time,

Zac.

Hi all,

I recently received in the mail my copy of Holland Files No. 1: International Swamp Thing Fanzine. I haven’t had time to have a good look at it yet but I’ll read it cover-to-cover soon enough and add some interesting items to the Bibliography. I can already see that it contains some great art, and articles on a wide variety of subjects (well, wider than you might expect in a fanzine devoted to a single comic character).  Thanks to John Boylan for putting this all together – I hope this is only the first of many issues.

I’ve just finished the third series in my big Swamp Thing re-read.  Brian K. Vaughan focuses completely on Tefé, who I find to be a great character with a complicated relationship to her parents.  Her unusual conception and trials as ‘The Sprout’ took up much of Rick Veitch’s run, and Doug Wheeler brought her into the world in his third issue.  While she is still a toddler, she manages to wander into Hell, get attacked by Matango, kidnapped by pirates and a serial child murderer, and possessed by her evil great-uncle.  By the end of the second series, she has been used by the Parliament of Trees as a weapon against humanity and is betrayed, and nearly destroyed, by her own parents.  Vaughan’s run sees the teenage Tefé search for the true purpose of her life and learn to control her temper and frightening powers.

In sad news, Bernie Wrightson has died at aged 68. Bernie was a co-creator of our favourite muck-monster with Len Wein, illustrating Swampy’s first appearance in House of Secrets #92 and going on to illustrate the first 10 issues of Swamp Thing in the early 1970s. The quality of the art during that first series greatly contributed to the ongoing success of the character.  It also established a trend of great artistic talents being involved in the title, and set a high standard for comic illustration in general. While only illustrating 11 Swampy appearances, his name will be forever associated with the character and with the genre of horror comics, and his work will continue to be influential on other artists for many years to come.

If you’re looking for an illuminating interview with Wrightson, you can’t go too wrong with Jon B. Cooke’s ‘Bernie and the Bayou Beast’, which appears in Swampmen: The Muck-Monsters and their Makers, a special issue of Comic Book Creator (2014).

Zac.

Happy New Year everyone.

Over the Christmas holidays I kept busy re-reading old issues of Swamp Thing and have now finished summarising Series 2. The list of Series 3-era appearances are now available and I look forward to re-reading the adventures of Tefé Holland. Before this, however, I am going to try and add several new items to the Bibliography, which I have been neglecting lately. I will also probably have plenty to write about the first issue of the International Swamp Thing fanzine, which should be released very soon.

Now that I have seen the film, I have also updated the Justice League Dark film page. Please be aware there are spoilers.  I will add some further information to that page when I receive the Blu-ray, which contains a few bonus features.

In other news, Swampy has been appearing fairly regularly in The Hellblazer but I have not heard about any plans for a solo ongoing series.  The latest news on the Justice League Dark/Dark Universe live-action film is that Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow, Bourne Identity) has signed on as director, but that was several months ago and there hasn’t been any news since.

Zac.

Hello all,

I’ve added a new page in the Film & TV section for news and rumours related to the upcoming Justice League Dark animated feature film.  I’ll continue to update the page as more info comes to light.

Thanks for reading,

Zac.

Hi again,
I’ve been having a bit of a break from the site while I try and get through some other books and generally slow down at the half-way mark of our Southern hemisphere winter.

• Summarised Book 3 of the Alan Moore run, which takes me through to around the ‘Crisis On Infinite Earths’ of mid-1986.
• Added more references into the Bibliography.  I haven’t quite captured all of the Swampmen book yet, but I think I’m finally going to get my hands on an elusive Swampy-related book chapter when I visit my hometown of Adelaide next weekend.
• Added a list of creator websites/fansites into the Links page. I wasn’t able to find any good links for some of the important writers/artists who have been involved in Swamp Thing over the years, so if you see something that I have missed please let me know.

Briefly, in other Swampy news:

• Swamp Thing has started guesting in the Justice League United series. The rest of that 2-parter should be out mid-next month.
• It has been reported that Guillermo del Toro is no longer involved with the Dark Universe film.
• The first issue of the Dark Universe comic, which is possibly a retitling of the Justice League Dark series, has been delayed following the departure of the creative team.
• Swamp Thing will appear in a 6-issue mini-series in early 2015, possibly featuring the same creative team (Len Wein and Kelley Jones) who were involved in the ‘Convergence’ issues.

Bye for now,

Zac.

Hi everyone,

I’ve finally completed an update that I’ve been working on for a while. There are now basic pages of summaries up for Swamp Thing’s appearances since the launch of the ‘New 52’ and up until the current ‘Convergence’ event. I have split these appearances up into two sections: the regular Swamp Thing series, and the appearances more closely related to Swampy’s membership in Justice League Dark. I may need to revise this division again in the future as the team might be changing its name to Dark Universe, and Swampy will also be appearing with the Justice League United when their title resumes in July and it’s unclear at this stage if he will be guesting or joining that team ongoing. Anyway, the summaries for the ‘New 52’ appearances are not yet complete, and probably won’t be for quite a while (I’m still slowly rereading Alan Moore’s run). Please let me know if you think I’ve missed any appearances though.

My next plans for the site include: summarising Book 3 of the Alan Moore run; adding several more entries for the Twomorrows Swampmen book into the bibliography; and adding some links to the websites of some of the writers and artists who have contributed to Swamp Thing over the years. If more information about the Del Toro Dark Universe film begins to surface, I may create a page devoted to news and rumours.

Hopefully my next update won’t take as long. Thanks for reading,

Zac.