In opening shots of the Killing Joke we see the rain and see it again in the closing shots. You can see issue 21 as the first issue that is really pure Moore. This scene and these words frame the whole of the story that happens in between. Moore himself commented on how he became a kind of parody of himself at this time, continually going back to the same bag of tricks and is one of the reasons that he went off in such a radically different direction with his subsequent works like From Hell.
Moore starts off the comic with Woodrue imagining what is happening in a building across town. And will there be blood?
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I like to imagine so. Yes I rather think there will be blood. Moore immediately hooks us in with this incredibly visceral and maniacal scene and his awesome use of the English language. There is a tension so great it is palpable. It whisks you along to the next page and the page after.
Swamp Thing Summary & Study Guide
Bissette , not liking the standard 2 x 6 grid of the average comic page, breaks them up into all kinds of strange and interesting shapes. The effect is not something that has ever appeared a mainstream comic before. On page 15 we can see the stunning realism that Totleben brings to Bissette's quirky panel layouts. On page 22 the panels begin to settle as the shattered glass settles on the floor and Sunderland's life wanes from his body.
Here you can also see the lines, "and will there be blood? Swamp Thing 21 is an amazing work in many respects. It basically heralded the coming of a new age in comics though stating it like this diminishes the immensity of this work. Posted by Piperson at 8: Ridolph September 14, at 3: Piperson September 14, at 6: Newer Post Older Post Home. Frank Quietly 's version of the Endless. On the very first page the Lines, "It's raining in Washington tonight ", will be repeated as the very last lines of the book.
This "ability to enter a state of communication with the environment" is portrayed by Moore as Swamp Thing's ability to physically and psychically enter into a realm known as "the Green. He is able to simultaneously experience the growth, death, and rebirth of all the earth's flora.
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He is thus able to recognize and pinpoint threats to the natural world, an ability we will see him utilize in his encounter with the Floronic Man. Assisting Moore in his transformation of Swamp Thing into a contemporary Green Man were artists Stephen Bissette and John Totleben, supported by a wide-ranging artistic team. Previous to Moore, Bissette, and Totleben's intervention, Swamp Thing appeared as a green humanoid—smooth and rounded with little to no suggestion of his vegetable nature aside from his hue—Swamp Thing may as well have been a slimmer Incredible Hulk.
Totleben comments on this appearance and the way in which his and Bissette's rendering of Swamp Thing served to portray his identity accurately as a plant elemental, as a Green Man:. In their new interpretation of his physical appearance, Totleben and Bissette essentially transformed Swamp Thing from a man who happened to be green, to a Green Man—a figure composed of living vines, growing moss, decomposing leaves, and pure earth. In his analysis of the elements that compose the appearance of the Green Man foliate heads, Varner isolates the various additions that Bissette and Totleben made to Swamp Thing's semblance and their symbolic significance, specifically the vines and leaves.
Varner contends that vines were "the symbol of Dionysus," a figure strongly connected to the Green Man tradition. Leaves, because of their yearly death and reemergence, "denote fertility, growth and renewal. Green leaves are symbolic of life renewed" Many of the figures associated with the Green Man tradition are representative of rebirth, including Jack-in-the-Green, Dionysus, the May King, and at times even Jesus Christ.
The pattern of the seasons is reflected in the changing appearance of the vegetation that composes Swamp Thing's body. The onset of autumn sees Swamp Thing's leaves changing to yellow and red. However, as we will later witness, such an appearance alone does not necessarily denote the presence of a Green Man figure. Moore seems to be well aware of the Green Man tradition, as evidenced by the fact that throughout Moore's run on the series the notion that the current Swamp Thing is only the most recent figure in an ongoing cycle of such beings is often repeated and reinforced.
As revealed to Swamp Thing's human wife, Abigail, by the character Abel, [11] "Alec Holland was not the first thing to walk the swamps! There were others before him" Moore Love and Death Moore expresses this notion most explicitly in Swamp Thing's encounter with the Parliament of Trees. Elusively hidden deep in the rainforests of Brazil is a mystical grove of Swamp Thing's "ancestors," previous incarnations of the Green Man, plant elementals who have retired to this peaceful recluse and given over fully to their vegetable nature.
One of Swamp Thing's predecessors explains, "All our stories are subtly different yet the underlying pattern remains constant" Moore A Murder of Crows This "underlying pattern" perfectly describes the Green Man motif and its subsequent tradition. Indeed, as Swamp Thing absorbs the memories of Parliament of Trees, it is possible to identify a wide variety of mythic and folkloric figures who are associated with the Green Man tradition and have received much attention from Green Man scholars.
As a number of Swamp Thing's ancestors relate their personal histories, they reveal the names bestowed upon them by humanity, and in these names we see familiar Green Man incarnations. While this figure has not been implicitly connected to the Green Man tradition, its connection to the forest makes it a prime candidate for Moore's adaptation. The English variant of the Green Man tradition identifies himself as Jack-in-the-Green, one of the most popular figures Green Man scholars have associated with the motif.
An important element in the traditional May Day celebration, Varner explains, "the Green Man was present in each festival as the May King or Jack-in-the-Green and figuratively laid his life down so that the life of nature would continue" It is appropriate that the cover of the collection in which Swamp Thing's encounter with the Parliament of Trees appears consists of an image of Swamp Thing in the form of a traditional Green Man foliate head.
Perhaps one of the most effective methods of highlighting the defining characteristics and ideology of a fictional character is to create a foil for said character in the form of a similar yet opposing figure. While the Floronic Man does indeed share certain abilities with Swamp Thing—communication with and manipulation of plant life—he remains partially human. This is revealed in the very name Woodrue chooses for himself. The moniker "Floronic Man," composed of "floronic," a word suggestive of flora and plant life, and "man," reveals Woodrue's true nature as a hybrid being.
As a hybrid, the Floronic Man is in essence comparable to the pre-Moore Swamp Thing, and thus the same logic applies to barricade him from the Green Man motif. The Floronic Man serves as a faux-Green Man—an imposter and false claimant to the title. We can see this subtly illustrated in panels where Jason Woodrue peers out from the forest in such a way as to take on an image reminiscent of the Green Man foliate head tradition. According to Elizabeth K. Rosen, "Depicted with a leafy crown and loincloth and striking a statuesque pose, the images of the Floronic Man at the moment of his transformation call to mind classical representations of Spring or nature gods or demigods such as Oberon or Pan" 7.
Believing himself to be a Green Man, and therefore responsible for the protection of nature against civilization, the Floronic Man, in a madness resulting from his forcing a connection to "the Green," begins an assault on human and animal life. Swamp Thing, suspended and at peace in "the Green," encounters the Floronic Man's imposed and corrupt connection to "the Green," represented graphically as a red and deformed tumor-like structure.
As opposed to Swamp Thing's "green" mind, the Floronic Man's mind is described as "red," "painting everything with the sticky darkness of old blood" Moore Saga Beginning his assault on the small town of Lacroix, Louisiana, the Floronic Man first targets and destroys what Harrison has described as "the governing institutions of the West," those set against nature: The Floronic Man's ideology is revealed in a demented speech in which he claims that his actions were commanded by "the Green":.
The Floronic Man's actions and words serve to reinforce the separation of nature and civilization into separate spheres, spheres that are unable to exist cooperatively. His desire to wipe out humanity reflects some of the darker, misanthropic elements of deep ecology.
“The Anatomy Lesson”:
Establishing a physical dominance over the Floronic Man, and breaking the Floronic Man's arm in the process—an act that demonstrates the Floronic Man's semi-human nature—Swamp Thing undermines the Floronic Man's plan with a simple question: Swamp Thing thus elucidates the inherently complex, yet understandably simple, symbiotic relationship that exists between plant and animal life, revealing to the Floronic Man that to harm one element of the ecosphere is to ultimately inflict harm upon oneself.
Taking Swamp Thing's message quickly to heart the Floronic Man ends his struggle and loses his connection to "the Green. Since their inception, comic book superheroes have proven to be fundamentally anthropocentric in their undertakings: Aware of these conventions, Moore instilled within Swamp Thing the Green Man characteristics that would allow him to act outside of this established system. However, it is of the utmost importance to refrain from strictly classifying Swamp Thing as a superhero—his province is that of the natural world, not the urban battleground of the city.
While Swamp Thing exists as part of the larger DC Comics universe, Moore rarely has him interact directly or for long periods of time with the mainstream superheroes of the universe. Geoff Klock acknowledges that "Moore understands the absurdity of Swamp Thing's sharing continuity with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman and conceives of Swamp Thing as a hero of the margins" With this statement, Klock is not contending that Swamp Thing is insignificant when juxtaposed to costumed superheroes; instead he is suggesting that "as a hero of the margins," Swamp Thing is motivated into action by forces and circumstances that occur outside the traditional perceptions of the superhero.
While Superman flies to divert an asteroid threatening Metropolis and Batman diligently works to stock Arkham Asylum with inmates, who is left to act on behalf of the natural world? According to Klock, and correctly so, "The answer, of course, is Swamp Thing" One noteworthy and revealing example of this juxtaposition occurs during the course of the Floronic Man's misanthropic rampage.
In this storyline, Moore introduces as "the over people" the Justice League of America, who observe the inflammatory actions of the Floronic Man from their orbiting space station. In discussing his depiction of the JLA in the storyline, Moore has stated:. The space station itself is the epitome of the technological advancement of civilization, while its position in orbit securely separates it from organic and earthly domain of Swamp Thing. Moore purposefully refrains from naming the various superheroes seen populating the station and by describing them as the "over people," Moore is establishing the JLA as the unseen "powers that be," that are responsible for the protection of the planet and its inhabitants.
However, these seemingly god-like entities are not focused on natural spaces and are not prepared for an environmentally related threat. As the figure of Green Arrow proclaims in alarm and surprise, "Man, I don't believe this! Green Arrow's outburst demonstrates that the powers or forces that have the ability to effect change, for better or worse, are not concerned with or aware of ecological problems.
Instead of protecting the planet as the interconnected and diverse body that it is, the governing powers are focused on the urban centers of human civilization and population. The result of this singular focus is the creation of a blind spot in regards to nature. Moore is thereby exposing the cultural tendency towards urban expansion and the simultaneous fencing off of nature into parks and reserves: However, with Swamp Thing , Moore was not merely attempting to expose these tendencies, but as we will now explore, he was endeavoring to portend the repercussions of such propensity.
One of Moore's most ingenious moments of adaptation occurs in a stand-alone issue entitled "Pog," which serves as a fable or parable of sorts that conveys a warning of potential ecological crises and brings to the forefront Swamp Thing as Green Man's role in these crises, as well as many of the naturalistic attributes that identify Swamp Thing with the Green Man tradition. Moore has transformed Kelly's characters into alien refugees from a planet, which they call "the Lady," that has been overrun by "one solitribal breed of misanthropomorphs" and are in search of a new peaceful planet to inhabit.
The tale that "alien" Pogo tells Swamp Thing about his home planet serves as a parable of warning. It demonstrates what can result from the isolating or overly predatory action of a single species. Alien Pogo demonstrates the relevance of his story when after observing the action of humans he proclaims, "Oh no. Not here as well. They can't own this lady, too! Alien Pogo thus implies that humans are susceptible to the same fate that afflicted his planet if they continue to make the harmful distinction between civilization and nature.
Moore's adaptation of Kelly's unique use of language in "Pogo" offers insight into the character of the Swamp as Green Man.
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Kelly's characters often form their own words, as we have witnessed, by combining two or more words to form a hybrid, which simultaneously conveys the weight and meaning of its core components. In this way, the characters in "Pogo" are able to expresses themselves in a complex and oddly eloquent manner. The title of this essay is itself derived from a statement made by the alien Pogo to Swamp Thing regarding Swamp Thing's relationship to earth, "the Lady. By adapting Kelly's classic characters to fit into his Swamp Thing narrative, Moore is not only able to highlight the Green Man characteristics of Swamp Thing, but he is also able to bring the weight of Kelly's pro-environmental comic strip to his own storytelling.
Di Liddo says of the "Pog" storyline, in relation to Kelly's work, that. Kelly held the belief that in many ways humanity is its own worst enemy when it comes to nature and the environment. One of Kelly's most popular quotations is a line created by the artist for an Earth Day poster from , which proclaims, "We have met the enemy and he is us. Moore himself has stated, "It's sort of my environmental stance with Swamp Thing.
I used that story to extend it—to make sure people know that I was talking about the animal kingdom as well as the vegetable kingdom. That there were big problems in the way we treated most parts of the natural world," a sentiment which Kelly would doubtlessly have endorsed Khoury In the two-part story arc "The Nukeface Papers," Swamp Thing encounters a walking personification of radioactivity, toxicity, and pollution. The character Nukeface, once a human being, was transformed into a radioactive madman by ingesting nuclear waste.
In the way that Swamp Thing serves as an archetypal representative of nature, Nukeface appears as an archetypal figure of toxicity, pollution, and nuclear threat. The "papers" referred to in the title of the story arc are in fact newspapers, which play a double role in the narrative.
Appearing frequently in a collage-like style, newspapers relating incidents of nuclear waste accidents, such as the Three Mile Island incident, are spread across panels and splash pages. Not only do the newspapers convey warnings of pollution, the newspapers themselves, in an ironic turn, are manifested as litter throughout the storyline. Rosen's analysis highlights one of Moore's typical moves when attempting to instill horror in his readers—the connecting of generic horror conventions with real life horrors—bringing elements of the fantastic to bear on reality.
Thus, while Nukeface is terrifying in his own right as a decomposing and toxic body, he also serves to illuminate the much larger environmental concerns that occur as a result of adapting nuclear fusion as an energy source. Nukeface is seemingly unaware of what he has become and the harm that he can inflict. He is ignorant of the threat he poses to animal and plant life—fruit falls dissolving with radioactivity from nearby trees in his presence, and he inadvertently kills a homeless man with his toxicity.
Unaware of the true danger he poses, Nukeface carelessly comments on the waste he has been ingesting: Waste from nuculer fishing.
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Supposed t'be bad for ya" Moore The Curse Nukeface's mispronunciation of "nuclear" and his substitution of the word "fishing" for "fusion" demonstrate his ignorance in regards to nuclear issues. The association between ignorance and the harmful nature of nuclear waste and pollution, exhibited by Nukeface's accidental killing of Swamp Thing, are Moore's way of commenting on the danger posed by a careless and ignorant handling of nuclear waste. While the Nukeface storyline culminates in the "death" of Swamp Thing, as has already been established, rebirth and resurrection are defining elements of the Green Man tradition.
Though his physical body may be destroyed, Swamp Thing is able to allow his consciousness to enter "the Green" and thus be reborn through any of the earth's vegetation. Totleben and Bissette illustrate this notion subtly in the Floronic Man story-arc, which ends with a full-page illustration of Swamp Thing assuming a Christ-on-the-cross pose.
Rosen analyzes the page as follows:. Rosen's observations, which identify Swamp Thing as a sacrificial Christ-figure, not only reaffirm the attribute of rebirth often associated with the Green Man but suggest a further capacity for Swamp Thing to become a symbol for the relationship between humanity and the environment.
In contrast to the parasitic relationship between civilization and nature we have seen illustrated thus far, the union between Swamp Thing and his human wife Abigail presents an image of humanity and nature interacting harmoniously. While the distinctions between "nature" and "humanity" may still exist, they do not serve to limit, harm, or cause conflict in the pair's relationship.
The ultimate emblematic demonstration of a perfectly symbiotic relationship between humanity and nature is seen in the consummation of Swamp Thing and Abigail's love for one another. This sublime merger is manifested in a metaphysical joining of the minds accomplished through Abigail's ingestion of a fruit produced by Swamp Thing's body.
Artists Bissette and Totleben outdo themselves with their blissful psychedelic rendering of this "sex scene" between Swamp Thing and Abigail. The artwork conveys the fusion of the two not as a strictly physical act but as more of a spiritual bonding, one that is highly reminiscent of a psychedelic trip.
Through these psychedelic experiences, "the lovers become one with the waters, fish, insects, reptiles, and amphibians" In other words, through her bonding with Swamp Thing, Abigail, as a human, is able to encounter "the Green," to truly interact with and experience nature, to understand on a profound level the interconnectedness that unites all life, human and plant.
Swamp Thing, consequently, acts as a conduit through which Abigail can experience her "oneness with earth," the prime significance assigned to the Green Man by Anderson. The peace and love between Swamp Thing and Abigail is short lived, however. When a journalist snaps some incriminating pictures of the pair together, the authorities step in and Abigail is arrested for, as colorfully described by one of the arresting officers, "shackin' up with somethin' that ain't even human" Moore A Murder of Crows Upon discovering that Abigail has been arrested, Swamp Thing flies into a fit of rage, becoming the Wild Man of the Green Man tradition.
Lorraine Stock argues that "although the Wild Man's long hair, shaggy beard, and bestial body fur were most often brown, he was also depicted with green fur, reflecting the greenery of his habitat and perhaps connecting him to the Green Man" and furthermore that the Wild Man stood "as the cultural antithesis of 'civilization'" Varner agrees that the Wild Man stood in opposition to civilization, stating that, "the Wild Man became the symbol of popular discontent with the burgeoning cities and court society; he was in a sense, a response of nature towards this unnatural existence and the destruction of the Wild Wood" Harrison identifies Orlando of Ludovico Ariosto's epic Orlando Furioso as belonging to the Wild Man tradition, and indeed the madness and subsequent rampage into which Orlando is thrown when discovering the loss of his love is highly reminiscent of the scene in which Swamp Thing discovers that Abigail has been arrested.
Harrison describes the rage of Orlando as follows:.
Swamp Thing: Anatomy Lesson!
This description could easily apply to Swamp Thing's fury as he single-handedly tears trees from their roots and launches them effortlessly. As the Wild Man of the Green Man tradition, Swamp Thing is swift to direct his rage away from his natural surroundings and moves to demonstrate his true "discontent with the burgeoning cities. Swamp Thing's calculated yet impassioned response is one of Moore's most implicit expressions of the relationship between civilization and nature. In an attempt to recover Abigail, who is being held prisoner because of her relationship with him, referred to as a "sexual crime against the laws of nature" by the authorities, Swamp Thing uses his abilities as a Green Man to engulf the city of Gotham with plant life in an episode known as "the greening of Gotham" Moore Earth to Earth Harrison concludes that the "confessions" of Roquentin, the protagonist of Jean-Paul Sartre's novel Nausea , are "the confessions of a humanist, a Cartesian, a cosmopolitan.
Rarely has a long tradition of thought—the forest phobia of rationalism—been given such a telescopic formulation" The fear and apprehension of creeping and swelling vegetation, as expressed by Roquentin, is shared by a number of Gotham citizens.