Roots Of The Swamp Thing: One Man's Unhealthy Obsession With Giant-Sized Man-Things

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
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Creature Features
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In the Swamplight
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Elemental Lineage
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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.



One Man's Unhealthy Obsession With Giant-Sized Man-Things by Rich Handley *June 8, 2010* As a full-fledged, unabashed Swamp Thing junkie, I'm ashamed to admit this, but I've never read a single issue of Marvel's Swamp Thing analog, Man-Thing. It's not that I've never wanted to—I've actually thought about tracking down the series on several occasoins. After all, it seems like it would be a good fit for me. He's large and mossy, he was once a man trying to develop a powerful chemical formula, he died a fiery death after being betrayed by someone whom he trusted, and he wanders the swamp dealing with one paranormanl and horrific obstacle after another—hey, what's not to like? If that premise works for Swamp Thing (and it does), then it should work just as well for his phallically named brother in the Marvel Universe, right? The thing is, I've just not been able to get myself to do the work necessary to track the series down. A large part of my reticence stems from the fact that I'm an obsessive-compulsive when it comes to collecting comics. I can't just own part of a series—I have to own everything. (Just ask Mike Sterling, who probably shook his head in disgust a few years ago when, I'm ashamed to admit, I ordered some variant covers from Dynamite's Battlestar Galactica run. I've since been cured of that affliction and sold all of the variants.) And then, for years, I need to devote an absurd amount of time to finding every single obscure appearance of the character I'm currently obsessing over, no matter how trivial. (I searched for several non-Swamp Thing issues, for instance, in which Swamp Thing's arm had the briefest of cameos, or his head, or even, in one case, a smudge of swamp goo on the side of a time machine. Yes, I'm that ridiculous.) So if I began reading Man-Thing, I'd have to do the same for that title, and though I suspect I'd enjoy the series, I'm not sure I'm ready for that kind of commitment. As such, Brian Solomon's recent column for BloodSprayer.com kind of makes me cringe, as it has reignited my curiosity about the series. Solomon's love for the Man-Thing (I wonder how many people will now find themselves dismayed by this page after being directed here by Google while searching for porn) is infectious. "So you love old-school horror comics, do you?" he writes. Why, yes—yes, I do. And after reading Solomon's column, I suspect I'd enjoy getting my hands on a Giant-Sized Man-Thing or two (cue more porn seekers from Google). In fact, I might finally give in and track down a few issues on eBay. And hey, if I enjoy them, I might even forgive Solomon for maligning the gentle Swamp Thing with this utterance: "Far more interesting than his much-more-Hollywood counterpart at the Distinguished Competition, weeping and wailing away like some moss-covered Hamlet as he made his way through one pretentious storyline after another." For shame, Brian. For shame. Archived News >

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