Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 1 Review
Alan Moore's Opening Salvo on Superhero Comics
When Alan Moore took over Saga of the Swamp Thing in early 1984, he was in an interesting position. The afterglow of Wes Craven's hit film had waned, leaving the character off the radar in an impermanent are of mainstream comics – the monthly horror title.
With essentially nothing to lose, editor Len Wein allowed the neophyte writer and artists Stephen Bissette and John Totleben an almost carte blanche shot at the character, which gave birth to a run that not only made Swamp Thing a beloved legendary hero, but also helped revolutionize the entire medium.
Fans and critics point to Moore's early superhero work as a definitive shift in thematic weight for the genre, but most of that tends to center around Watchmen. While it's true that Watchmen is basically the textbook by which Comic Books are learned and judged, Swamp Thing was the important first step in Moore's apotheosis.
Saga of the Swamp Thing is all about the dualities of existence, filtering classic dramatic conflict through a superhero analogy. The elegance with which Moore weaves the standard dramatic conflicts into a single thread is astounding. Instead of sticking to a single basic tension (Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Self, etc...), it's as if Moore realized that the basic Swamp Thing story is nearly every story at the same time. He is Man vs. Nature vs. Self vs. Society vs. Supernatural, all at the same time.
The Anatomy Lesson
For Moore, Swamp Thing as conceived didn't make a whole lot of sense. His origin was Comic Book Science in all the wrong ways. Plant tissue is inherently different than human tissue, meaning the formula Dr. Alec Holland created that eventually turned him into Swamp Thing shouldn't have had an effect on him. It was intended to spontaneously create lush plant life in uninhabitable regions, which would really have no effect on a human subject, let alone transform him into a man/vegetable hybrid.
It's the kind of pseudoscience that is commonplace in superhero stories, largely an accepted bit of disbelief readers affect to get into the story. Moore believed that a better story was to be had by pointing out the inherent silliness of what came before. He took an issue to tie up the plots began by outgoing writer Martin Pasko (the appropriately titled Loose Ends), then settled into the issue his run is most known for, Saga of the Swamp Thing #21, titled The Anatomy Lesson.
The Anatomy Lesson is almost entirely absent the titular hero, instead focusing on Swamp Thing's supposed autopsy by D-list Justice League villain Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man. Woodrue is both a human/plant hybrid and an influential botanist, a unique confluence of skills that allows him to make a discovery no one else could make. Alec Holland died in the explosion that supposedly transformed him into Swamp Thing. The creature readers had been following since the beginning was never Holland, rather a plant trying to become him after assimilating Holland's memories and personality in the explosion.
Saga of the Swamp Thing and Superheroes
From that moment on, Swamp Thing ceases to be a superhero. The Justice League even show up straight away, ostensibly to assist Swamp Thing in defeating an out-of-control Floronic Man. Instead, they sit around in their satellite talking about all of the terrible things that could happen if they intervene. It's abundantly clear: this is a superhero comic that no longer has any need for superheroes.
A New Age of Superhero Comics
Alan Moore's Swamp Thing signaled the beginning of a new age of superhero comics. Instead of the more subtle parables in older comics, Saga of the Swamp Thing dispensed with any sense that you were reading anything other than a story with a clear thematic mission.
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