MiracleMan Book Two: The Red King Syndrome!

The Red King Syndrome is the title of the second "Book" of Miracleman stories and focuses on our hero's conflict with his creator Emil Gargunza. In the fanciful Marvelman comics of the 50's Gargunza was the Dr. Sivana figure, a gnomish scientist with everlasting evil intent, and in these new tales for a fresh audience in the 80's he's not changed all that much. His motivations have deepened, he's a product of the Fascist states and now has his own agenda to breed superhumans so that he somehow will be able to live forever. He is a ghastly and bloodthirsty figure as presented in these stories, a man utterly concerned with his own wants to the utter exclusion of all others. Not all our characters will survive this tribulation. 

While Miracleman is attempting to save his pregnant wife from the clutches of the mad doctor, Johnny Bates is dealing with his own demon, Kid Miracleman. We are privy to his mind as the two personalities vie for control. The extended story ends with a birth which is presented in quite graphic terms. Not unlike the exploitation movies of the 30's these scenes merely show the biological process, but nonetheless require a warning for readers who might be shocked by such imagery. 

The artwork in these stories is passed among several diverse hands. Alan Davis handles the thrust of the first several chapters, but he is replaced by Chuck Austen who is in turn supplanted by Rick Veitch. John Ridgeway also delivers a very winsome story starring the late Young Marvelman. 

The last Warrior magazine to feature "Marvelman" in a painting by Mick Austen. 

The series moves past its Warrior magazine origins and slips over to Eclipse Comics who reprint the earlier chapters before beginning new material changing the name to "Miracleman". These books feature cover art by Jim Starlin, Paul Gulacy, Tim Truman and John Totleben among others. 

The Red King Syndrom was collected in this handsome volume touting a John Bolton cover. 

Marvel reprinted the stories decades later with mostly Alan Davis covers thought others took part as well. These stories are for mature audiences for the graphic representation of both life and death. A comic book hovers dangerously close to real life, the fantasy becomes almost too potent for many. Good stuff indeed! 

Next time we visit Olympus!

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Saga Of The Swamp Thing - Book Six!

In the sixth and final volume of Saga of the Swamp Thing as written by Alan Moore things really get wild. As the saga begins Abigail has been rescued from her legal problems and allowed to go home, but it's a home without Swamp Thing who was seemingly killed in the war with Gotham City. Actually he'd been disconnected from Earth but found a somewhat safe haven in the depths of space on a blue world, a world of isolation which proved eventually not to sufficiently satisfactory and so he took a gamble and sent his essence off into space once again. 

Where he landed was Rann, the very same Rann so often visited by Adam Strange by means of the Zeta Beam during the Silver Age of comics in the pages of Mysteries in Space. In this two-part tale by the team of Moore and new regular art duo Rick Veitch and Alfredo Alcala we meet Adam Strange once again as he gets to Rann only to find a "monster" to fight as he so often did in the form of Swamp Thing (now red as per the sparse vegetation of Rann). Also on hand are two Hawk soldiers from Thanagar who are negotiating with Rann for technology to help with their scarcity issues in exhanged for Zeta Beam tech. Turns out not everyone has pure motives and before long Swampy and Strange are battling the Hawks for their very survival. Moore plays around with language in these issues also giving the reader the language of Rann untranslated which seemed somewhat daft to me. 

The next issue is a real change of pace with Stephen Bissette returning to write the story which reintroduces the Patchwork Man from the original Wein and Wrightson run on the series so long before. He's Abigail's father as we learned in that story and now his memories of her have resurfaced to some degree. His body is deteriorating but his reunion with his daughter is touching for them and for the reader as well. 

I'm going to say up front that I did not much like Swamp Thing #60 but I did appreciate the experimentation. I just don't think it worked very well. The art on this one was done by John Totleben and he used collage and other such techniques to try to illustrate an alien technological world and being, one which the Swamp Thing comes into contact with on his peripatetic journey across deep space. I frankly read this one twice and I just couldn't make it out. Not helpful was Moore's text which was over wrought and seemed written more for sound than sense, very poetical but to my eyes at least rather obscure. 

Much more to my liking was the next issue which had the Swamp Thing land on a world of sentient vegetation, so that when he tried to infuse his intellect into it he was in fact displacing and abusing the people of the world referred to only as "J586". I assume that's the designation for the Green Lanterns as this world is lucky enough to have one who helps eventually to separate Swamp Thing from the sundry folks he has possessed. That possession is not without consequence to some of the inhabitants as for a short time they shared a consciousness and that sharing resulted in too much information for some. 

Rick Veitch takes a stab at writing as he and his inker Alfredo Alcala work to present Swamp Thing's encounter with the New Gods, in particular Metron. It's a very trippy issue as most of them have been as the series recently. Swamp Thing works in tandem with Metron to attempt to penetrate the Source and for a time they think they have done. They are disabused of this notion by Darkseid who is interested in what motivates the Swamp Thing on this odyssey across the stars. He does learn and as usual uses that information to help his strategies for the future. Swamp Thing is allowed to continue his journey. 

In the penultimate Alan Moore issue Swamp Thing at last comes to Earth. Chester Williams, the hippie who had turned on a few folks to the magic of the weird yams that sometimes tumbled to the ground from Swamp Thing is a mainstay in the strip now, helping Abigail get her focus back with some environmental work and in this issue meeting Liz Tremayne, still recovering from her captivity with Barclay for the first time. As we encounter old cast members, some of the men responsible for planning and attempting to execute Swamp Thing end up dead in a number of strange ways, all having to do with plants. We sense that Swampy is back even before we see him. 

The last Moore issue is illustrated by three artists -- Tom Yeates, Rick Veitch and Stephen Bissette. Alredo Alcala binds the styles together with his lush pen. The story deals with the reunion of Abigail and Swamp Thing as they bond together in a number of ways and share what they've learned in their forced separation. Swamp Thing is debating whether to use the enormous powers he has to help stop hunger in the world at large. His answer to this dilemma is drawn from his time with Parliament of Trees and he understands that his role in the world is not to save it from itself really. All the time this is unfolding we meet a strangely familiar fellow named "La Bostrie" who is poling a canoe into the story yet takes no part in it. Moore writes himself out of Swamp Thing almost literally as Swamp Thing and Abigail are shown at peace at last. The cover by John Totleben sums up the mood of the story quite well. 

Overall these are very very weird stories and to my mind Moore and at times the artist indulge themselves at the detriment of the clarity of the storytelling. Moore's writing throughout this volume is loquacious to a fault and at times I frankly can't make out what he means. It's intended to be poetic, but it sadly becomes pedantic. More Moore is not better than less Moore when it comes to to Swamp Thing at the very least. That wraps up my look at Swamp Thing. I've read nearly a hundred Swamp Thing stories by a range of very talented folks and it's a saga I'm glad I finally undertook, if it was perhaps several decades late. It's back to Berni Wrightson and Frankenstein this week as Halloween approaches and other things that go bump in the night as well. 

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Saga Of The Swamp Thing - Book Five!

After the long war to save the world from evil designs of the Brujalia, Swamp Thing is at last free to return home to his mucky home and to the arms of Abigail. But he doesn't know that she has been drawn into much trouble because of the dimwitted notions of fools who think it is their right to protect all society from folks who are different from them. Alan Moore is gearing up for some of his most innovative and challenging stories in the series so far. For the record while he has quit doing stories for the time being, Stephen Bissette is still supplying covers for the series. 

Th first issue in this volume is a transitional one in which Swamp Thing leaves behind his allies Deadman and Phantom Stranger and Constantine to return to his swamp home. Meanwhile Abby is freed on bail but she loses her job and many of those whom she had grown close to. After some reflection she jumps bail and heads to a city where she can be anonymous -- Gotham City. That plan backfires when she is innocently swept up in a police operation to curb prostitution. Her identity is learned quickly enough and she becomes even more of a perceived criminal. 

With Rick Veitch and Alfredo Alcala handling the art the book looks great as Swamp Thing speeds to Gotham City to free Abigail from those who hold her. He very quickly and robustly makes his demands known to the powers that be, free Abigial Arcane Cable or suffer a war with Swamp Thing. He begins his war by starting a plant uprising in the city while Lex Luthor is brought in to combat him. Also showing up is a certain Darknight Detective. 

In a giant-size issue drawn by John Totleben the war between Swamp Thing and the city of Gotham rages in all sorts of weird and unexpected ways as the Swamp Thing showcases his new-found might to threaten the city as a giant and as the source of all manner of plagues. Batman tries to negotiate and battle the Swamp Thing but as Gotham becomes overwhelmed by vegetation it's clear that the city is losing. So finally Batman is able to convince the officials of Gotham that Abby's so-called crimes are anything but and she not only must be freed but should be freed. And as they celebrate her release Luthor's plan is put into effect. Swamp Thing is burned up and seems to die. 

With Swamp Thing's seeming demise Abby goes home to grieve but finds Liz Tremayne on her doorstep. Veitch and Alcala are back on the art in this story which shines a light on two characters who have been missing for quite some time. It seems that Dennis Barclay has been keeping Tremayne mostly a captive, depriving her of information and slowly chiseling away at her confidence until she has become his weakened pet. Barclay finds that Liz has found the strength to escape him and takes a gun to get her back. This is a pretty tough one and while I have no trouble buying Barclay in his role as persecutor as it jibes well with his earlier presentations by Pasko, Tremayne as his victim seems a bit of a hard fit. Certainly it can happen I guess, but she seems an unlikely victim of such crime. I'm not at all sure Moore convinces me on that score. 

Moore gives us Swamp Thing's funeral of sorts in the next issue as Abby continues to mourn. Weirdly Gotham City creates a monument to the mucky hero, though that seems a bit off-note as well given the immediacy of his attack on the city. Also Abby's reputation seems to have been healed rather quickly as well. One of the truths of such accusations as she faced is that despite their legitimacy they smear an individual regardless. While all this going on we learn that Swamp Thing is far from dead, just very far away on a another planet, one that is blue. 

Lex Luthor's plan had been to sever Swamp Thing's connection to Earth and then burn him with napalm. That worked but Swamp Thing in desperation is able to find a place to regrow himself in distant space on a world where there is no green, only blue. In a story which reminded me of Ray Bradbury's stuff, we follow Swamp Thing as he attempts to stay sane by fabricating various activities and even pseudo-people to help him pass the time. It's not ultimately successful and he eventually realizes he must get back to Earth. His journey back will the focus of the next and final volume of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing stories. 

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Saga Of The Swamp Thing - Book Four!

In this fourth volume of Saga of the Swamp Thing the grand scheme that Swamp Thing has been battling with the guidance of John Constantine comes to a vigorous climax. Also the Swamp Thing does his bit in the sprawling universe altering event known as Crisis on Infinite Earths. That's the cosmic stuff but on the home front Abigail must confront a threat of another kind. 

With artwork by Stan Woch and Ron Randall, Alan Moore fabricates a very curious story in which some of Swamp Thing's "fruit" is discovered by a hippie drug dealer named Chester Williams. He's reluctant to bite into this unknown tuber but a woman who is dying and an addict who is less scrupulous are not. The effects of their tasting this "forbidden fruit" are quite different and quire remarkable. 

Swamp Thing must battle the "Bogey Man", a serial killer who imagines himself to be part of some grand mythic pantheon of night dwellers. We see much of his story though the killer's eyes and we are there when the scales fall from them and he must confront the truth of what he truly is. 

This issue is all about ghosts, particularly ghosts who have been killed in some or other by a particular type of rifle. In the sprawling abandoned house of the family who manufactured the weapons, two couples find themselves up against threats they could hardly imagine. Not all of them survive and those who do have Swamp Thing to thank, though they hardly see it that way. 

The forty-sixth issue finds Swamp Thing along with John Constantine aboard the Monitor's orbiting spaceship along with just about every other DC hero of the era. We get a view of this grand assembly from Swampy's point of view as he is not actually quite sure why is there. Nonetheless he does his bit to battle against time lost creatures and save time lost people. He also learns for the first time from Constantine of the "Brujeria", a South American all-male death cult who have been the cause of many of the menaces Swamp Thing has struggled against in his time since learning of his true nature. 

The forty-seventh issue of Swamp Thing is easily the best in this volume. It's the totally awesome first encounter by Swamp Thing with his wooden kin the "Parliament of Trees". Located in the lushness of the Amazon all the "swamp things" which have been are assembled in a grove. They have mostly lost the power of movement and most have lost the ability to communicate in any manner one would describe as traditional. They have taken root among their peers and simply are. Their fundamental notions about the world at large and their extreme long view come in handy later for Swamp Thing who is properly in awe of what they are and what he will become. Among this group is Alex Olsen from the original Swamp Thing story in The House of Secrets. Also recognizably on hand is The Heap and if you  squint just right you might be able to see Man-Thing as well. On the downside of things the romance between Swampy and Abigail has been photographed and that will prove traumatic for her. Stan Woch and Ron Randall handle the art. 

Swamp Thing is in full command of his powers when he and Constantine and what remains of Constantine's team strike at the Brujeria. Things do not go as planned when a traitor is revealed and despite Swamp Things potent talents the threat which has so concerned Constantine is about to be summoned. This is an issue drawn  completely by John Totleben and it's lush, though truth told it's a very hard story to tell visually for any artist. Abigail is arrested. 

With the menace on the way, Constantine assembles a team of mystics such as Sargon, Zatara, Zatanna, Dr.Occult, as well as former Doom Patrol sidekick Mento  to confront the enemy on this side of things while Swamp Thing is joined by Deadman, Phantom Stranger, the Demon and possibly the Spectre to fight on the frontlines with other assorted magical beings. It's quite a muster to face against a threat which is still little understood or frankly understandable. Stan Woch is back and joined by Alfredo Alcala on the artwork. 

Stephen Bissette is back with partner Totleben and newcomer Rick Veitch to wind up this long Swamp Thing saga. This is Bissette's farewell to the character and as much as I want to thoroughly enjoy this wild and action-filled finale it's difficult because the inchoate nature of the threat makes the visuals hard. The assembled heroes and otherwise are up against darkness, a darkness which is reluctant to be seen in its entirety until the very end. It's hard to draw that which cannot be seen. The battles are rough and tumble and some vintage DC favorites don't survive. It will some as no surprise that Swamp Thing's journey has prepared him to perhaps save the day, if such a thing is possible. Cain and Abel show up to add a little light-hearted mayhem to the darkness. And that's a wrap on a saga which guess has been dubbed "American Gothic" save for a one more issue in the next volume that winds it all down. There's no time for Abigail's troubles this issue but she will be front and center next time. 

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Saga Of The Swamp Thing - Book Three!

According to the introduction to the third volume of The Saga of the Swamp Thing stories by artist Stephen Bissette, both he and John Totleben (especially the latter) were significantly involved in selecting and developing stories for the Swamp Thing. Alan Moore crafted the script with great care and at times innovative techniques, but it is somewhat of a misnomer to label these stories as being the product of one mind alone. But as Bissette also relates, Moore was able to write more than the artists were able to draw and so other talents were brought in by editor Karen Berger as necessary. It's remarkable how many of the talents involved with is comic hailed from Joe Kubert's school. 

This volume kicks off with a two-part tale about a chap dubbed merely "Nukeface". Apparently he was a creation of John Totleben's and now is worked into a rather creepy and dismal tale about the effects of toxic waste and other kinds of poisons which were and are routinely dumped and pumped into the natural environment. Nukeface is a crazed drifter who has come to live off toxic radioactive waste, but who unmindful of his state roams the land spreading disease and death. He's a powerful fellow and his touch is enough to even "kill" the Swamp Thing. But as we'll see Swampy recovers in a most unusual way. 

Because of his unusual plant nature it's difficult if perhaps impossible to kill Swamp Thing. Using abilities he was heretofore unaware of, Swamp Thing's consciousness empowers another body to take root and begin to grow. It is a relatively slow process and takes seventeen days for him to recover his previous mature state. While Swamp Thing is growing, attended to by Abigail, we also encounter a new character by the name of John Constantine. Constantine (who looks like Sting) is a mystic of some kind who has a network of agents who keep him informed of mystical doings. Something dangerous and deadly is looming and he will consult Swamp Thing to help solve the problem. 

The first problem concerns the town of Rosewood which was inundated by Swamp Thing in an effort to kill off the plague of vampires which had overrun the town. It seemed to work at the time, but some escaped and took refuge in the town now hidden beneath dark waters. There the vampires conspire to create a brood which will be even more deadly than they themselves are. Locals fall victim to these underwater vampires as Swamp Thing struggles to find a way to end this immediate threat. While full of enigmatic information, Constantine proves relatively unhelpful in the actual fight itself. Of note is that Stan Woch, another Kubert School grad fills in on the first half of this story. And while the full title of the series had been Saga of the Swamp Thing, with the thirty-ninth issue it is changed to merely Swamp Thing. 

The fortieth issue of the comic is  my favorite in this particular volume. It deals both bluntly and tenderly with a reality of our existence which almost never spoken about -- menstruation. I can think of no aspect of normal life which is deemed so verboten yet is a normal part of the life of nearly every woman in the land. In this story the concept of monthly cycles is connected to lycanthropy and not in a snide or sarcastic manner, but rather in a fashion which allows the idea to dealt with and still create a fascinating menace for Swamp Thing to contend with.  At this point the Swamp Thing is sending his essence all over the country at the behest to some extent of John Constantine, though he seems to be getting little in exchange in this one-sided partnership.  

Alas the volume closes with a two-part tale that is not very convincing at all. It suggests that a plantation is teeming with ghosts and other unsettled undead and that those spirits are all too happy to invade and pervert the psyches of living folks who themselves are rich with many of the racial prejudices that still inform the fabric of our society much to its everlasting detriment and shame. These are noble concepts to attempt to discuss, but the vehicle here is not at all compelling and rarely scary in any real way. Of all the Swamp Thing scripts by Moore to date, these two seemed to be the most preachy. I did like the zombie who ends up selling tickets in the grindhouse movie theater though -- that was at once profound and downright funny. More to come next week. 

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