Roots Of The Swamp Thing: Swamp Thing, Hellblazer, The Un-Men And More—Converting the Bog Beast, by Dave Ballard

Roots of the Swamp Thing: Your Portal to the Universe of Swamp Thing, The Un-Men and John Constantine: Hellblazer

• Part 1: Before Year 1
• Part 2: Year 1 to 1899
• Part 3: 1900 to 1969
• Part 4: 1970 to 1979
• Part 5: 1980 to 1984
• Part 6: 1985 to 1988
• Part 7: 1989 to 1991
• Part 8: 1992 to 1994
• Part 9: 1995 to 1999
• Part 10: 2000 to Present

Born on the Bayou
A history and introduction

Creature Features
Articles and feature stories

Cover Gallery
Judge the books by the covers

In the Swamplight
Issue-by-issue breakdowns

Elemental Lineage
Past lives and other entities

Upcoming Releases
Coming to a bog near you

What's New Bayou?
Archived news updates

About Me
Portrait of a swamp-nerd

Homepage
Go back to the roots

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Comments, corrections & tubers

Thanks to Joe Bongiorno, who first dragged me kicking and screaming into the mucky mythos of Swamp Thing, and to Paul Giachetti, who created the amazing header banner.

Thanks also to reader 'Alec Holland,' whose support has been invaluable; Mike Sterling, for promoting Swamp Thing and this site; and Kevin Church, for his excellent optimization advice.

And thanks to Len Wein, Bernie Wrightson, Alan Moore, John Totelben, Stephen Bissette, Jamie Delano, Garth Ennis and all the other creators whose work inspired this site.

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Converting the Bog Beast
by Dave Ballard

Writer Dave Ballard offers a look back at the first two series' of comics, with a review of the Niser model kit...and some suggestions on customizing yours. This article is reprinted with the author's generous permission. Originally published in April 1996 by DRONE, the official publication of the Film and Television Model Club. (Image couresy Dave Ballard.)

PART ONE

Here’s your starter for ten.... which comic strip character has been praised by the likes of James Herbert, Clive Barker and Stephen King?

The answer…Swamp Thing!

He first appeared in 1972 in a short story in the DC comics anthology magazine House of Secrets, written by Len Wein and illustrated by Bernie Wrightson. The story told how scientist Alex Olson was caught in a laboratory explosion engineered by his treacherous associate. His not-quite-dead body is dumped into the swamp only to emerge and wreak revenge in true EC comic style.

The story won the comic world's equivalent of an Oscar, and Wein, Wrightson and DC must have wondered if it might work as an ongoing series. They overhauled the premise and it was given a second airing in issue one of DC Comics' Swamp Thing. This time around, our hero was Alec Holland, a botanist working in the Louisiana swamplands trying to solve the world's food crisis by developing a serum that would promote rapid growth in plants. His work was sabotaged by rival factions, and he was caught in an explosion which engulfed him in a mixture of flames and experimental plant serum. He ran screaming and plunged into the waters of the swamp to emerge as seven-and-a-half feet of the “all new” Swamp Thing.

Through the book's initial run, Alec Holland is driven to search for a cure to his condition whilst encountering a bewildering array of supernatural villains. Two things set the comic above others in its field, and these were: far better-than-average writing by Mr. Wein and superb, gorgeous artwork by Mr. Wrightson.

Even so, despite these saving graces, the comic folded after only a relatively short run [ed note: 24 issues]. It was then re-launched with a new writer, Marty Pasko. This latest incarnation, The Saga of the Swamp Thing, never achieved the critical acclaim of its predecessor, yet it somehow managed to sell just enough copies each month to save it from cancellation. The latest Bog brute still desperately searched for a way to restore his human condition whilst battling recurring enemy Anton Arcane.

Toward the end of Pasko’s stint as writer, the creature comes under the scrutiny of the Sunderland Corperation, who desired his body for dissection. In issue 20, they pursue and surround the creature on his home ground. Swamp Thing is caught in a withering hail of crossfire and falls face-first into the muddy waters, apparently dead. Using this moment as a launch pad for a new direction, the most important thing happened to Swamp Thing since his origin took place...the arrival of a new writer, Alan Moore.

Moore already had a considerable reputation as a skilled writer, who had the particular knack of placing his heroes in the “real” world without making them look ridiculous. In Moore’s first true storyline, “Anatomy Lesson” (#21), the Swamp Thing's body is taken to the Sunderland Laboratories for examination. A resident scientist [ed note: Jason Woodrue, a.k.a. the Floronic Man] concludes that this is no human body covered in plant matter but is, in actual fact, a completely vegetable lifeform. He surmises that at the moment of Holland’s death, his psyche somehow imprinted itself onto the surrounding plant life which had mutated due to his experimental formula. The result was a creature who mistakenly believed it had once been Alec Holland.

The scientist also concluded, quite accurately, that you cannot shoot a plant in the head. A regenerated Swamp Thing awakens to the shattering knowledge that he is not, and has never been, Alec Holland. He escapes from the Sunderland building and returns to his swamplands, and from here on the title turned a corner and became a full-blown outright horror series. Mythological horrors such as zombies, vampires and ghosts were given startling new twists, while contemporary horrors such as radioactive waste and racism were presented in a thoughtful, unsettling and unflinching manner. Over Moore’s three-year-run, we slowly learn, along with the character, that he is far more than just a walking plant.

The title quickly established itself as a damn good read, and Moore continually pushed at the boundaries of could be allowed in comics—a practice that ultimately led to issue 29 making comic history by being the first to go out without the approval of the Comics Code of America.

In issue 33, we had a flashback to the original short story by Wein and Wrightson, but Moore used the opportunity to hint that the latest Swamp Thing is not the first such creature to walk the Earth. From this point on, we slowly—and, most importantly, believably—discover that the Swamp Thing is not an accident of science, but a force of Nature. It would seem that in “sour times,” the Earth itself (or, in Moore’s words, "the Green”) feels compelled to create a champion, an Elemental being, to protect nature.

The process of creating such an Elemental always begins with a death by fire and a plunge into the swamps. Swamp Thing learns that he is but the latest in a long line of such champions. He discovers he can manipulate any and all plant life to devastating effect (which has resulted in one or two spectacular and unusual deaths for his human foes). He can instantly discard his current physical body and travel as an elemental force through the Green (like a signal on a telephone line) and grow himself a new body out of whatever local plant life is available.

All good things must come to an end, and Moore left the title, handing the reigns over to the more-than-capable Rick Vietch. Vietch would take the character into new, interesting directions, but many readers felt the loss of Moore was the first nail in the coffin. Eventually, Vietch would leave the title with more than a little noise when a proposed storyline (which would bring the Swamp Thing face-to-face with Jesus Christ [ed note: issue 88, "Morning of the Magician"—click here for more information] was rejected by DC Comics.

To be fair, Doug Wheeler took on the writing chores under what must have been the most difficult of circumstances, but almost single-handedly, he managed to lose most of the following that the title had built up over the years, and his stories are certainly the least memorable of any writer's run.

Celebrated horror author Nancy Collins was next, and she initially showed much promise. It looked like the title would begin to climb back up toward its former glory. Unfortunately, she seemed to lose interest in the character and her later stories, although well-written, were criticised for turning the title into a soap opera where nothing ever seemed to really happen.

The latest teller of Swamp Thing tales is another British writer, Mark Millar, who has managed to turn the tide and put Swamp Thing firmly back on the map. There is a new hard edge to the writing that often borders dangerously on the offensive. Necrophillia, child molesting and incest all get an airing in Millar’s tales, and although he is certainly a gifted writer, there is some speculation as to whether he is really interested in the Swamp Thing itself, as the character seems to have been relegated to a minor player in his own book who drifts in and out of each story without really doing much at all.

Time will tell.

PART TWO

Not only has the muck monster starred in over 150 issues of his own comic title, two crap movies, and an animated and live action series, he has now been singled out to be...NISERED!

The Swamp Thing as envisaged by Vic Door is a 15’-high hulking brute, portrayed ankle-deep in swamp muck with one fist bunched up, ready to flatten anyone who dares to sprinkle him with Baby Bio [ed note: a UK brand of houseplant feed].

Niser delivers the usual high standard of packaging and value for money that we have come to take for granted, and my compliments to Vic for creating another impressive showpiece.

The kit fits together quite nicely, and if you’re the kind of dude (or dudette) who’s allergic to lengthy surface preparation, then this is a veritable wet dream, because due to the irregular nature of the Swamp Thing's “skin,” there is hardly any surface preparation to be done at all. You will need to putty up the joints here and there, but even that is simplified by the rough nature of the beast.

But I wouldn’t be me if there wasn’t something about it that I wanted to change, and sure enough I decided to alter three distinct areas of the existing kit. These changes would find me:

1. Losing the somewhat aggressive “ready to punch” pose. (The Swamp Thing is really a rather placid sort of chap who would rather be left alone to reflect upon the natural beauty of his swamplands than duke it out with trespassers.)

2. Trying to illustrate the creature's ability to re-grow himself a new body out of local plant life.

3. Adding more roots, vines and general vegetation. (This Swamp Thing is relatively smooth compared to his comic counterpart.)

To solve number 1, I wanted the arm to hang down loose by the creature's side. So I cut the angled end section of the right forearm and drilled a hole down the centre (about 1/2 inch), then pushed and glued a length of coathanger wire into it. I drilled a corresponding hole into the right upper arm, and by trial and error gradually cut the wire shorter and shorter until I was happy with the proportion of the arm in its new position. This simple change gave the brute a much more relaxed look, though I still seriously doubt you’d want to come face to face with him. The resulting gap between upper and lower arm was filled and shaped with model putty. This created a new problem in that one hand was now clenched while the other hung loosely at his side. To achieve some more symmetry, I cut away the fingers on the left hand and resculpted a matching mirror reflection of the loosely clenched, right fist.

Adding roots and vines was a more laborious task, but I wasn’t in any rush. Basicly, I rolled out long strings of putty and stuck them on. I used my own veins as a rough guide to their positioning, which believe me wasn’t as messy as it sounds. In the spirit of fair play, I should add that I suspect this aspect of the sculpture was compromised somewhat by Niser’s knowledge that too many intertwining roots would make it impossible to remove from the mold!

Before adding the strings of putty, I’d twist them as much as I could to get that elusive vegetable effect (similar to the one worn by my wife when she’s on a buying spree around the streets of London!).

Last of all, I customised the supplied base. I wanted an effect similar to that of the ruptured earth when the skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts burst from the ground. I glued the swamp creature onto the base and then, using a collection of odds and sods like garden stones and bits of twigs, I built around the legs of the creature trying to give the effect that it was pushing up and rising from the earth.

Painting time! Okay, I know what you’ve thinking…Swamp Thing is green, right?

Welllllllllllll…sometimes. Y’see, it depends on the time of year. Being a vegetable, he tends to change colour with the seasons (who’s that laughing!), so you’ve got the option of going for a nice rich and green summer look, or maybe a shade-of-brown autumn look, or anything in between!

Is this a user-friendly kit or what!

After a couple of false starts, I eventually gave it an undercoat of Matt Black. The next couple of days would find me dry-brushing liberal amounts of various shades of green. I found the black undercoat and green dry brushing gave a more pleasing result than blocking in and giving a black wash. What I also discovered was a surprising amount of intricate detailing on the surface of the kit that only really shows itself after dry brushing. Previously unnoticed flowers, clumps of moss, leaves and intertwining vines leap out at you (but no sign of the psychedelic yams that can be found around Swamp Thing's groin...so there IS a point where Niser draw the line)!

The thing I like most about this hobby is the way most kits lend themselves to this kind of customisation. All the ones I’ve had experience with seem to work on two levels. You can have a standard “from the box” version for the less experienced, and then you’ve got all the ingredients to spark off your imagination and send you off into the “Why the hell did I start this?” trap. Personally, I loathe the idea that my Swamp Thing might be almost identical to someone else’s.

Niser kits, in particular, work equally well on both levels, and the fact that I choose to alter most of them doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate them in their intended, original “from the box” form. Let’s face it…this is my third Niser kit, and I hope that it will not be my last. I’ve got my beady eyes set on “Grimsdyke” next (are you listening, Santa?), so stay tuned.

TA DA!...CONCLUSION TIME!

Okay, straight from the box will give you a good representation of an overlooked classic comic creation. (Whew! Make sure you’ve got your teeth in when you say that!) You get what’s best described as a “generic” Swamp Thing (a kind of cocktail of the creature in all its past forms). You also get good value for money. The reassurance and benefits of an original, professional casting and good documentation—and at the end of the day, you wind up with a bloody huge kit on your shelf. If I were to struggle for any criticism, then I could only say that the original pose struck me as a little stiff.

As a bonus, If you're looking for a foundation for some customising (particularly if you’ve never done it before) then you’d have trouble buying better.

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