"Night of the Warring Dead"

Hey guys,

my laptop decided to run all by itself, so I decided to kick one more post out.
I decided to finish off my not so Random Comic Reviews about Swamp Thing, so enjoy this other favorite of mine from the original series before Alan Moore got his magical hands on the property.

"Night of the Warring Dead" from Swamp Thing#16(May 1975) by David Micheline and Nestor Redondo.

 

The issue starts off with Abby and Matt Cable aboard a 747 that has just come under attack by a skyjacker. Cable wants to do the hero thing, but Abby warns him that the guy will kill his hostage, a stewardess, if he tries anything. So he reluctantly lets the skyjacker head toward the cargo hold. The skyjacker gets ready to bail, killing the stewardess before he leaves, when all of a sudden Swamp Thing busts out of a nearby crate shouting "No!" Swampy grabs the guy but doesn't know what to do with him. Before he can do anything else, the plane gets tossed around due to a nearby storm, knocking both ST and the skyjacker out of the plane. Despite opening the skyjacker's parachute, they both continue to fall fast. ST remembers back to how he got into this situation, as we flashback to Abby, Matt, and Swampy going off in search of Mr.Bolt, who went missing in the previous issue. The flashback ends abruptly as both plunge hard into the sea below them. Swampy later washes up on some island at the feet of two strange people. The issue quickly flashes to the fate of Mr. Bolt, who finds him self being tortured in a hidden jungle sanctuary by a mysterious bad guy.

Back to Swampy, who awakens to the sight of a woman who calls herself Laganna, high priestess of the island of Kala Pago. She's the leader of the People's Liberation Army on the island alongside a mercenary named Adam Rook. She tells Swampy her whole story about the local government was overthrown, and how her people were hunted and killed for the great power and knowledge the island's inhabitants posses. Laganna possess a mystical talisman that grants her powers and helps her and Rook fight off the opposition. Rook makes with the small talk, relating his back-story about being a former Vietnam vet who became disillusioned with life after finding no place for himself in the world after the war. Eventually he heard about Laganna's plight and agreed to join up with her. The action starts to pick up as Laganna leads them all to a local cemetery, where she plans on awakening the dead to help fight off her foes. Not a bad idea actually.

Before all of this can happen, the evil regime's troops desend on the them, casing Swampy to stubble into a trap that Laganna and Adam Rook manage to avoid. Elsewhere, Matt and Abby discover that ST's gone, and wonder what to do next. Swampy awakens in his jail cell and starts to break out, while Laganna causes the dead to arise once again with the power of her talisman. The former corpses bust out of their graves and attack the the evil army. Swamp Thing soon joins in the attack, but develops a sudden attack of consense when seeing how the troops are getting massacred by the living dead. He breaks Laganna's talisman, and the living dead quickly dissolve into dust. All seems lost for Laganna and Rook, but Rook refuses to quit. "We've lost Adam, it's over." "Maybe for you lady, but not for me!"  Rook goes all Full Metal Jacket on the troops, shooting away like a madman before being gunned down. Swamp Thing leaves the pair to their fates, with Laganna dying not to long after Rook. Swampy looks like he'll head back for the two, but after hearing gunshots, simply shakes his head and walks off. Back to that remote hidden jungle, as a doctor openly questions whether or not to continue frying Bolt. The mysterious bad guy responds "I don't care if it does turn him into a blasted vegetable! Continue! I assure you my good doctor, Nathan Ellery pays his debts!"

End of issue.

My only complaint about this issue, is Swampy suddenly ending Laganna's only hope of getting rid of the bad guys by crush her talisman. So what if he got a little spooked about the dead rising; that evil regime committed worse atrocities and deserved everything they got. St doing that, and then leaving Laganna and Rook behind was a real dick move. Thankfully it's not in canon anymore, but damn that was very unheroic of him.

Well, that's it for me; I'm not sure when the next post will be but I'll update when I can. Man computers suck! The other day I found out that via my Facebook account, that a virus was being sent out to all of the people on my contact list. How the hell does shit like this continue to happen!? I had to deactivate my FB account, but damn do people on the internet suck! When I was first starting to get on the internet back in '95, this never happened. Now it's an all to common occurrence. Shit like this needs to stop, and stop now!

"The Soul-Spell of Father Bliss"

Quick random thought: I was just re-reading the early issues of Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross' Astro City, and in the beginning arc of the title run(#'s 4-9) Aliens pose as superheroes in an attempt to remove them as a threat to their plan to take over Earth. Gee, I wondered, where have I read that before? Oh yeah, that was the main plot of Brian Bendis' Secret Invasion storyline event from the summer of '08. Now I don't know if Bendis ever read Astro City or not, but the fact that he re-used a common plot-point, especially one written in early '97 makes me wonder. I'm not saying he out-right copied Busiek, but I'm saying he possibly didn't either. You be the judge. Oh, and for the record, in my opinion, Busiek's alien invasion was better than Bendis', and it didn't force you buy countless and pointless tie-ins either. Just a thought is all.

For today's Random......Comic......Review.....I decided to review a favorite issue from the 1st Swamp Thing series. Yes, I'm still doing that, so get used to it. I'll at least do one more after this one. This one comes not from the team of Wein/Wrightson, but by the creative team that followed them after they left.

Swampt Thing#15, "The Soul-Spell of Father Bliss" by David Micheline and Nestor Redondo. (Mar-Apr 1975)

 

The story starts off with a bad storm erupting throughout the Louisiana swamp, home of the erstwhile Swamp Thing.  It seems Swampy's hiding out from his friend Lt.Cable, when all of a sudden he finds himself struck by a powerful bolt of lighting. While unconscious, Swampy's friends, Cable,  Abby, Mr. Bolt, and a man named Luke, are shown to be looking for Swampy only a short mile away. They're tired, but committed to finding their friend. Swampy later awakes to find someone helping him up. The older man introduces himself as Father Jonathan Bliss, and he seeks to help and comfort ST. ST decides to go with him to his church to help heal his wounds. Father Bliss leads ST into a old, abandoned church, leaving him to rest in a pew. Father Bliss leaves St in search of ointments, but secretly heads towards to a small, secret chamber. Father Bliss then starts talking to a glowing red orb he calls Nebiros. "Yes dark one, you have chosen well! Our unassuming friend will make the perfect pawn for bringing about the END OF THE WORLD!"

The story then switches scenes to Mr. Bolt, as he searches a section of swamp land, looking for Swampy. He turns around after seeing a giant shadow creeping up on him. A grappling cable appears out of nowhere and captures Bolt, taking him away. Back to the old church, where Father Bliss tries to explain to ST how the church came into such a decrepit state. He blames his former congregation, claiming they had forsaken God and the church, and that they were against all attempts by Father Bliss to bring them back to God. He further states that he had to turn to less conventional methods in an attempt to to save their souls. Father Bliss convinces St to remove some rubble in order to reach his workroom. After doing so, they both go down into the dark and musty workroom, where various mystical artifacts reside. Father Bliss then positions himself in front of an ancient spell-book, and starts to chant an ancient incantation. The chanting lolls Swampy into a very relaxed state of mind, so much so, that he fails to notice the glowing red orb that was seen earlier.

The orb begins to suck the energy out of ST, who only notices what's going on when it's too late. He loses consciousness and falls down to the ground, as Father Bliss comments "I am sorry my son, but there was no other way! Very well Nebiros, do what you will, he is yours!"

The scene switches again back to Cable and his companions as they stumble upon the very church where Father Bliss and their friend is. (Talk about coincidence huh? What are the odds this would ever happen in real life? Only in comic books my friends, only in comic books.)
As they approach the church, they suddenly see their friend. But Abby's quick notice something's not right with Swampy. "Matt, wait! There's something wrong with his eyes!" But before Cable can react, Swampy nails him with a wicked back-hand, knocking him out. ST then goes after Abby, but their new companion, Luke, shoots ST, but to no avail. ST attacks him too, and quickly takes all three of them inside the church. They all awake to finds themselves chained up down in Father Bliss' workroom. There, they notice the glowing red orb, which contains an image of a fallen Alec Holland inside. Bliss calls the orb a Transcendental Globe that houses souls, such as Hollands. Father Bliss goes on to explain that the orb acts as a way station between worlds, allowing a demon named Nebiros to come to our world and possess people. He says that Nebiros needed a host-body to survive in our world, and Swampy's body served as an ideal host. Bliss further claims that when Nebiros becomes fully charged up that he'll have enough power to unleash Armageddon on the world, which is supposed to bring God back down and make people believe in him again. Nice plan huh?

Cable points out to Father Bliss that by allowing Nebiros to bring about Armageddon, that there won't be anyone alive left to believe in God. Bliss starts to question Nebiros, but Nebiros brushes Bliss off, saying "I assured you nothing fool, save the continuance of your own trifling existence! For now I am at full strength and I thirst for the feast of ruin that has been promised me!"  Hey at least he's consistant ain't he folks?
Nebiros then decides to feast on poor Luke's soul, tearing it apart like it was nothing! Cable then attempt to further reason with Father Bliss, asking him if this is his idea of salvation. Cable, continues wearing down Father Bliss in an attempt to dissuade him from what he's doing. Just as it appears that Cable is finally getting through to Bliss, Nebiros turns his attention towards Cable, preparing to tear to his soul apart too. Bliss attempts to stop him though, by uttering a spell designed to remove Nebiros from Swampy's body. But Nebiros proves to be already too powerful and goes after Bliss in attempt to stop him. Somehow Cable gets free, with Abby telling him to smash the globe in order to stop Nebiros. Cable smashes the orb/globe, driving Nebiros out off Swampy's body. All this does is piss Nebiros off even more, and he goes after both Cable and Abby once again. But he's stopped by a now conscious ST/Alec, and they both wrestle around until Nebiros gains the upper hand. Nebiros is now in need of a new host body, which Father Bliss readily offers with his own. "No evil one! you'll not harm these innocents! It was I who brought you into this world, and if anyone must suffer for it...let it be me!"

Nebiros does just that, and quickly inhabits the old priest's body. Unfortunately for him, he didn't count on the old man's body being too frail to contain all of Nebiros' power, as they both suddenly burn to death. Father Bliss let's out one final plea, saying "Forgive....me..." before becoming completely consumed in roar of fire. ST and the others high tail it out of the church just as it begins to cave in on itself, burying Father Bliss and Nebiros. The reunited friends lament Luke's death, until they notice the missing Bolt swinging high overhead.

Next: Night of the Warring Dead.....

I liked this issue because of the character of Father Bliss, and how far he'd go just to regain his follower's faith in God again. This who story proves the old saying right about how the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. It seems that's definitely the case here.

Have a good one......

"The Man Who Wanted Forever"

Well folks, we're still here, so I guess the world didn't end after all. I personally thinks it's sad when doomsday prophesies like this one are trotted out to further scare people into accepting a religion that wouldn't normally follow, or to even cause such an unneeded panic in the first place! The world's bad enough and grim enough as it is without some religious fanatics causing undue stress and worry for the rest of us "Sinners." I hope the people/sheep that fell for this crock of shit feel realllll stupid! And then to make matters worse, I find out that last Thursday or Friday, some woman sacrificed/killed her son in order to prevent the end of the world from coming or as an offering to save her soul or some such nonsense. This is truly a crazy and dangerous world we live in folks; truth really is stranger than fiction at times!

Let's see, watched the season finales of The Simpsons, American Dad, Bob's Burgers, Family Guy. The simpsons one was fine, as was ADad. Bob's burgers was good, while I was disappointed about the Family Guy one. They did their final chapter of their Star Wars tribute they've been doing, called "It's a Trap!" More like "It' Sucks!" The only thing that was slightly interesting was the Seth Green jokes, and then later Seth McFarlene gets his too. I know it's not cool to piss on the creative work of others, but it seems to me that over the last couple of FG seasons, Seth's been "phoning it in", and that shit needs to stop. If you're running out of good ideas for the show, and after what, almost 10 seasons who wouldn't, then you should end the show on top. This wouldn't happen though, because Seth's getting paid damn good money not to, so there it is. It could be just me, but most of the season finales of these shows just aren't that good! Oh well.....

Due to the positive reviews I've been getting regarding my Swamp Thing comic reviews, I'm posting another one. Enjoy:

Swamp Thing Vol.1 #2(Dec-Jan 1972-73) "The Man who Wanted Forever" By Len Wein and Berni Wrightson.

This issue marks the 1st App. of Anton Arcane, who under Alan Moore was really written as an evil sonofabitch! Incest, devil-worship/witchcraft and more were just some of the numerous crimes Arcane committed. Here, he's just getting started, as Lein reveals how this guy wants power badly no matter the cost!

The issue starts off almost parallel to the first issue, as Swamp Thing/Alec's shown hiding out amongst the Louisiana swamp while watching his and his wife's killers being loaded up into a meat-wagon/Ambulance.
While watching them, he flashes back to how it all started, which was covered last issue. He remembers being confronted by his soon-be-killers, being blown up, emerging from the swamps as a new creature, and finally the small measure of revenge he obtained by killing his killers. He's too wrapped up in thinking how his life went wrong to notice a pack of weird and grotesque creatures slowly ganging up on him. Then a weird talking brain/hand hybrid creature shouts out orders: "Swiftly my Un-Men, capture him swiftly! The master will not tolerate your failure!" Yes folks, this is also the 1st appearance of the Un-Men!

ST/Alec just wants to be left alone, and struggles to fight them off! Then one of the Un-Men, Ophidian, a snake-like creature slithers into action and hypnotizes ST/Alec to go to sleep. ST/Alec passes out, leaving himself open to the UN-Men's tender mercies. Meanwhile, Lt. Cable, who's not that far away, hears some commotion. He looks up to discover a large plane flying overhead with ST/Alec chained up underneath the plane. He vows to follow ST, who he mistakenly believes killed Alec and Linda Holland.  We follow ST's journey from the swamps of Louisiana to the European countryside, where ST's taken to a huge, but strange-looking, creepy castle over-looking a small European town. He's then chained up crucifixion-style on some slabs of wood and marched up into the the very heart of the ominous-looking castle.  Then, just as they all approach the castle's gates, ST wakes up! "Chained...they had me chained! The scenery is different but the situation is the same!" He begins to fight with the Un-men again, noting a nearby window and thinking to leap out of it. Before he can, a voice shouts "Now, now my pets...you shouldn't be so rough with your new playmate!" The voice belongs to an old man who introduces himself as simply Arcane! Arcane offers his hand to ST, and ST takes it, as they both go inside the castle. It is here, that Arcane explains how he sought ST out because Arcane's discovered the secret to immortality, but his body's too old and frail to use it. ST's body, on the other hand, seems perfect enough to withstand the ritual needed to obtain the immortality. He then takes ST/Alec on a tour of his castle home, which acts as home/confinement to his numerous experiments that all look like Frankenstein rejects. he explains to ST/Alec how they all came about: "Using my gathered knowledge, I sought to build myself a new, more enduring form, synthetically! My Un-men are the result of my first experimentations, crude, but totally dedicated to me!"  He then goes on to explain to ST/Alec how he found him using an ancient mystical mirror. I need one of those for the house myself.

Arcasne continues on about how he knows of ST/Alec's condition and how it all happened, including the death of his wife Linda. He then says the magic words to ST/Alec with this proposition: "How would you like to be human once again, Doctor Alec Holland?" Arcane goes off on how he can fix ST/Alec and make him human again, all the while ST/Alec's simply staring real hard out the window. Arcane continues to prod him, "What's wrong with you man? Don't you want to be human? Don't you care?", all to which ST/Alec responds with a heart-felt "I, care!"  Arcane then proceeds to give ST/Alec a physical, exploring his plant-like body with a boyish glee. Arcane then says "I would say your body is exactly what I've been looking for!" in a way you just know is not going to end well at all for ST/Alec, and off we go! The scene jumps back to Lt.Cable who's just gotten other government agencies to look for ST. Unbeknownest to hm, the big boss of the Conclave from last issue is secretly listening in on Cable via the dog's microphone also from last issue. He too wants to find Swamp Thing, if only to get revenge on him for killing his men.

Back to Arcane and Swampy, as Anton Arcane shows ST just how he's going to restore ST to normal again. He'll use the mystic Soul Jar to do it, along with an incantation that will basically cause Arcane to get the ST body, while reverting Alec Holland to his normal body once again. Arcane tells ST/Alec to want it while he chants, and after a brief period of pain, Alec Holland awakens to his normal body again. He's initially shocked off course, but deals with it quickly enough. Arcane, now in ST's body talks easily to Alec, something that Alec himself had much difficulty doing. Arcane assures Alec that everything's fine now, and Alec takes off for some time to himself.  Alec thinks to himself how incredible this all is to be free of being a monster, and then pines for his lost wife Linda. After all that, he goes off wandering the castle looking for some drinks, when he overhears Arcane's true reason for trading bodies w/Alec; He ultimately wants to destroy the quiet village underneath his castle and amass even more power for himself, and with his new body he figures he's unstoppable. And he might be just that! Alec runs off towards the soul jar, but it's guarded by a giant 4-armed monster. The monster snatches up Holland, trying to break his back, when Holland strangles the monster out using his nylon robe. With the monster defeated, Alec gets ready to smash the jar, when Arcane runs in to stop him. "Holland, don't! For God's sake man, you'll ruin everything." Arcane pleads. To which Holland replies "Yes, Arcane...for God's sake", and smashes he soul jar. Holland reverts back to Swamp Thing, and Arcane back to his old body. Arcane's not finished yet though, as he orders his creatures to attack ST, while he runs off. ST fights through them to get to Arcane, forcing Arcane to jump out one of his castle windows. The Un-Men all stop, and then after thinking for awhile on what they should do, they simply do what they've always done, and follow their master out the window. ST/Alec's left to ponder what just happened, and then walks off for home. But he doesn't see a very Frankenstein-looking creature watching him!

Next issue: The Patchwork Man!

So what'd you guys think? Not bad huh? And yes we know Arcane's not really dead yet, but ST doesn't! I don't have the next issue, so I can't review that one, but I do have more in this early series. Maybe I'll get to them later. I'm out of here.

"Dark Genesis"

Hello all. After just re-reading the six issues I have of the original Swamp Thing run, his re-introduction to the DCU at the end of Brightest Day, and his Mattel exclusive DCUC figure, I've found myself in a Swamp Thing frame of mind. Nothing wrong with that I guess, as the big green fella's becoming popular all over again.

Here's his new action figure; I'm not totally sold on it because it's nowhere near as articulated as the rest of the DCUC line is. Still, it's not bad for what it is, and there might be some improvements before it goes on sale July 15th.

Now there's been a constant rumbling about ST's reappearance in BD. Mostly the criticism's about Geoff Johns' new(old) rendition of Swampy. Apparently Alec Holland and Swampy are to be one and the same, as opposed to Alan Moore's version where Alec Holland was killed, and Swampy found out he was a living plant that had Holland's memories. I think you can still enjoy both Moore and Johns' stories. One doesn't necessarily negate the other, unlike maybe what Moore did with Len Wein's original vision of ST. Still, it's a good time to be a ST fan, and oh guess what, John Constantine himself is also back in the proper DC Universe. I myself think the whole former Vertigo policy where vertigo characters couldn't interact with the regular DCU was bullshit anyways. DC owns Vertigo, it's a sub-branch of the entire DC line, but instead it was treated like it was a separate publisher that they had to get permission from to use certain characters. The whole thing was ridiculous, and I'm glad these two are back where they belong. And hey, there's still a Vertigo version of John Constantine still being published, so there shouldn't be any more bitching about the whole thing.

With that in mind, it's time for a Random.....Comic.....Review!
Today, we're going to take a look back at where it all started for Swamp Thing, or at least, his first issue of his 1st original series. So without further ado........

Swamp Thing#1(Oct-Nov 1972) "Dark Genesis" Written by Len Wein, Art by Berni Wrightson

 

The story starts off with images of various swamp creatures going about their daily lives in the swamp. We're then directed to a single barn in the swamp. It's being watched over by a strange creature from a distance. He stands, waiting patiently for something or someone. "They will return...those who killed me! They will return...and I will be waiting!" The creature continues to silently stare intensely at the barn. It's then that the creature starts to reflect on the moments that led up to this point. A Lt.Cable brings a husband and wife team of scientists out to a deserted, but refurbished barn deep in the heart of the Louisiana swamp.  This is a top-secret location known to a very select few due to the important research project the couple are working on. Lt. Cable leaves the scientists to their work after reminding them how important their work is and how many individuals would love to get their hands on the Bio-Restorative Formula the scientists are working on.

The story flashes forward to a few days later, where Doctors Alec and Linda Holland are busily working on the formula. All of a sudden there's a knock on the barn door. Thinking it's Lt. Matt Cable, Dr.Holland opens the door. Standing there is a man calling himself Ferrett, and his two associates. "We three represent a private organization interested in purchasing your Bio-Restorative Formula." Ferrett says. He offers Dr.Holland a blank check and insists he takes it. Alec Holland refuses, and before things get rough, one of the associates notices a patrol car coming. The three take off, but warn Dr.Holland to accept the offer. The Hollands inform Cable of what transpired, and he reminds them how dangerous the project is. He leaves, but then another visitor to the couple arrives. This time it's a dog. Linda convinces her husband to keep the dog, which Alec reluctantly does. What they don't know, is that the dog is carrying a hidden radio transmitter in it's head, planted there by the organization that earlier confronted the Hollands. We're then shown who's the boss of that organization, called the Conclave. He wants the formula, even if it means killing the Hollands. The next day, the men from earlier show up to renew their offer to Dr.Holland. Again he says no, and is attacked by one of the thugs, Bruno. Bruno knocks Alec out, and the gang of thugs rig the barn to blow up with explosives. Dr. Holland comes to, noticing the explosives. But it's too late, and the explosives go off, sending a burning Holland to stagger blindly out into the swamp to find comfort from his pain. He proceeds to disappear into the bog, leading his wife and Cable to believe him dead. After the funeral, Cable drives Linda Holland back to the barn, where only she can complete the formula. A harsh rain begins to pour down in the swamp, causing a strange hand to emerge from the muck! Slowly and steadily a figure emerges from the swamp. It's alive! It's Swamp Thing! What was once Dr. Alec Holland slowly makes its way back to the barn. It sees it's reflection, and cries out in horror. Cable and Linda Holland are startled by the noise and open the door, only to unintentionally let the dog out. Cable chases after it, only to be hit from behind by Bruno. Ferrett and Bruno force their way into the barn, killing Linda. Meanwhile, ST notices the dog trapped in the bog. He rescues it, only to hear a loud gunshot. "Nooooo! Linda, my linda...if they've hurt you..." Swampy takes off towards the barn, only to find Linda already dead. He curses himself for saving the dog when he could have been there for her. Pissed off beyond reason, Swamp Alec goes after the men who killed her. Ferrett and Bruno try to run down Swamp Alec with their car, but to no avail! Swamp Alec smashes the fuck out of the car, causing Ferrett to fly out of the window. Bruno goes after Swampy, but he's killed off in blow! Ferrett tries to shot Swampy down, but that doesn't work either. Swampy kills him too, only to be shot out by Lt.Cable, who thinks Swampy attacked him and murdered Linda. Swampy takes off, with Lt.Cable swearing to find him. Swampy's just come down from his state of rage, and is feeling depressed now that his wife's dead and he's a freak. "Dr.Holland had all the answers....he was an intelligent man...but Alec Holland is dead, and in his place stands only a SWAMP THING."  Suddenly we see a mysterious figure observing all of this. "There, my pets, is the one we have spent years searching for. There is the one we must have. Fetch him my pets! Bring him here...to me!"  End of story.

So what'd you think? Yes it's a depressing story at the offset. Stories like this usually are, but things get a whole hell of a lot weirder before this series is done. I'll probably review the rest from here, as I have the next issue after this one. The collection then jumps around a lot, from 1,2, then 13, 15, 16, and finally 19.  I got these issues from my father-in-law, so that's why the collection skips around alot. Not bad though. Len Wein is a pretty good writer, and we all know how awesome Berni Wrightson is! This team sadly wouldn't stick around past the 3rd issue. Instead, Nestor Redondo would fill in for the rest of the series, and damn is he awesome! I love his detailed art. There were other writers on this series too, like David Michelinie and Gerry Conway. So not too shabby huh?