Swamp Thing

More, more, Moore. Alan Moore. Man of the moment. He is seemingly the man of the
moment for the best part of the last 20 years in the world of comics. Watchmen has now finally
appeared on screen and most fans (including myself) thoroughly enjoyed a faithful translation to
film. I had a niggle or two with the film but I think overall it was great and I look forward to a DVD
release with extras aplenty to feast upon. No doubt to ride along with the heat of the motion
picture, DC/Vertigo has decided to re-release the original “Swamp Thing” run from Alan Moore,
with the wonderfully dark artwork of Stephen Bissette and John Totleben. This easily accessible
hardcover also showcases some amazingly atmospheric colour work by Tatjana Wood. Unfamiliar to
me before reading this, I am now a fan. I will almost certainly be researching more of her work. (Why
is it that colourists never get as much limelight as the penciller, or even the inker?) Stephen Bissette
has remarked on his blog that “Tatjana Wood’s exquisite colors offer the best reproduction since the
original comic books were printed. Tatjana’s colors have been ill-served for two full decades, and
that alone makes this hardcover collection my personal favourite of all the collected editions to
date.”
Also, over on his blog, (http://www.srbissette.com — a fascinating artist and self publisher,
well worth a look) are several posts concerning some gaffs in the reproduction of the original issues,
including a missing caption on the final page of the first story arc, essentially missing the punch line
of the story. Swamp Thing as a character has been a bit overlooked in…