Roots Of The Swamp Thing: China Mieville Offers Hints of His Shelved Swamp Thing Plans

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*China Miéville Offers Hints of His Shelved Swamp Thing* Plans by Rich Handley June 3, 2010** As reported yesterday, British science fiction novelist China Miéville had been hired to write a new Swamp Thing comic series, only to have the axe fall once work was already underway, so that DC Comics could instead return the Bog God to mainstream DC continuity. This move polarized fans, some believing the decision to be a logical and natural move (given that Swamp Thing's roots were in the DC universe to begin with), while others expressing concern over Swamp Thing's integrity being damaged by his interacting with costumed superheroes (since the character has grown far beyond the superhero motif since his origin). Those on either side of the debate, however, were disappointed at having lost the opportunity to see what an author like Miéville could do with the character. I chatted with China Miéville yesterday about his canceled Swamp Thing run, and though understandably reticent to discuss what would have been so soon after learning of DC's decision, Mr. Miéville did offer the following juicy tidbits: "My feelings at the moment can doubtless be intuited, though I have nothing but gratitude and respect for the people I worked directly with at DC, who were consummately professional and helpful. Some vague stuff: 1) It was an 'epic' arc, in terms of scale and stakes. 2) It comprised 15 issues, plus perhaps between 1 and 3 'standalone' issues within the arc. 3) At least one issue would have been longer than the standard 22 pages. 4) Five issues have been entirely written (though they'd need some editing). 5) It involved a couple of relatively neglected canon characters. 6) It introduced one totally new character, and reimagined and dramatically expanded the importance of another, hitherto throwaway one. 7) It was (unsurprisingly, I suppose) pretty political. 8) It wasn't, however, entirely straightforwardly traditional 'green' politics, IMO. 9) It was conceived of, at least in part, as a respectful argument with some of Alan Moore's formulations. 10) I did some pictures of ST, including a sketch of what would have been the series' keystone image." Such hints make it even more disappointing that DC would choose to bin an extended storyline from such a noted author. An epic arc is just the jumpstart that Swamp Thing needs, and with an intended run of 15 to 18 issues, it sounds like Miéville had some big plans in store. And to think we missed out on a chance to read "a respectful argument with some of Alan Moore's formulations"... frustrating, isn't it? That he managed to script the first five issues before the series was scrapped is maddening—perhaps, one day, those stories will come to light. Mr. Miéville has a standing invitation to publish or simply discuss those works here anytime he wishes, as other authors of canceled Swamp Thing/Hellblazer tales (such as Peter Hogan, Josh Dysart and Darko Macan) have done in the past. I'm intrigued as to who the "relatively neglected canon characters" were that he planned to bring back. Jefferson Bolt? Edward Holland? John Zero? Sadly, we may never know. Let's just hope the Swamp Thing series DC does put out is worth it, given what we lost as a result. You can read about other canceled or rejected storylines in Forgotten Lore: The Swamp Thing* and Hellblazer Tales That Almost Were, a Roots of the Swamp Thing exclusive.* Archived News >

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