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We are finally back with “Just Swamp Things.” In case you missed it, last week, I reviewed three horror comics in Graphic Content #31. I decided to take this week to revisit one of my favorite comic book series ever. We last tackled this comic in Graphic Content #19. I am glad to be back at it here to cover issue six of the original 1970s run of Swamp Thing from DC Comics.

Swamp Thing #6 (October 1973)

Cover to Swamp Thing #6 (1973) illustrated by Bernie Wrightson
A Swamp Thing and a Robot wander into a clock shop when…

“The Clockwork Horror” offers a strange little tale of Swamp Thing in a Swiss village and his encounter with The Conclave’s Task Force Four. Plus, there are robots and heavy German accents. This is a weird one.

The sixth issue of Swamp Thing was published in October 1973. This issue continues the legendary pairing of Len Wein as the writer and Bernie Wrightson as the artist. Wrightson also colors this issue. As for our other contributors, Gaspar Saladino handles lettering, and the editor is, naturally, Joe Orlando.

You can, as always, find this issue in the Swamp Thing: Dark Genesis collection. Please order it through your local comic shop!

Panel from Swamp Thing #6 illustrated by Bernie Wrightson.
Surely there is nothing unusual about this town, right?

Swamp Thing #6 – Issue Impressions

“The Clockwork Horror” finds Matt Cable and Swamp Thing on a collision course in a strange Swiss village. The village, Bürgess Town, VT, is in the middle of nowhere. Their chance crossing, however, is disrupted by The Conclave. Meanwhile, Swamp Thing struggles with seeing robotic duplicates of Alex Holland and Linda Holland, opening all sorts of wounds.

Swamp Thing #6 is a largely silly affair, but it carries a level of pathos associated with Swamp Thing throughout the run and some moments of genuine sadness. Yet, it is also about Swamp Thing and Matt Cable arriving at the same clockwork village in the middle of nowhere where costumed gunman slaughter the town of robot people. All that, plus, Swamp Thing gets his dog back! Early Swamp Thing is fascinating.

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Of the run so far, this is probably my least favorite issue as it arrives at the border of “a little much.” I also found the execution of the ideas to be a bit lacking. That’s not to say this is a bad issue, either. There is a lot to admire here. I appreciate the first major showing of The Conclave in force, even if their look is a bit ridiculous.

Plus, the issue ends us at an intriguing spot. Swamp Thing is heading to Gotham City.

Hans Klochmann welcomes Matt Cable and Abigail Arcane.
Is Hans Klochmann too obscure of a cosplay idea?

Developments

The characterization remains strong in this issue, with emphasis put on Matt Cable’s continually unwinding mental state in his pursuit of truth and the emotional toll Swamp Thing’s life has been on what is left of the psychic imprint of Alex Holland. The story also gives them satisfying emotional developments; Matt is given evidence of a deeper conspiracy and that he is not obsessing, whereas Swamp Thing gets another chance to be with Linda, of a sort, and must struggle between his desires and his reality.

Unfortunately, Abby Arcane doesn’t get much to do; she is reduced to a sounding board for Matt Cable to be angry and frustrated and ask questions for the audience. I am eager to see her role expand and begin her bond with Swamp Thing because, at this point, she serves little purpose beyond being beautiful. Mayor Klochmann is every bit as ridiculous as you’d expect, down to the heavy German accent.

The robotic body Nathan Ellery controls also allows him to mock and taunt Matt Cable and Swamp Thing, indirectly allowing them to encounter their nemesis. Bernie Wrightson’s robot design for Ellery is straight out of the 1950s B-movie style, and I really appreciate that approach, especially in contrast with Klochmann’s robotic citizens. Those robots look human, even down to skeletal-like structures rendering the visuals of charged, smoldering robot skeletons evocative of the genocide it technically was.

Goddamn, Bernie Wrightson is good.

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The Conclave shatters the peace.
Up until this point, I’ve bought everything. But a red bodysuit? Really?

Swamp Seeds

These are some general notes and observations about Swamp Thing #6 I want to make. I have a few notes about continuity here, as well.

  • Mutt continues to be a good boy doing bad things. He is now with Swamp Thing but still seems to be bugged by The Conclave.
  • Matt Cable’s desk is a clever way to handle the credits for the issue while showcasing his apparent obsession.
  • We even see Maxwell Ferrett in issue #1 appear in a dossier on the desk. Very fun.
  • Less fun is that this is the first and only appearance of Bürgess Town, VT, and its residents in the DC Comics canon, as they are all wiped out by the end of the issue.
  • Next time, we’ll see the first encounter between Swamp Thing and The Batman. The connections of Swamp Thing to DC’s larger canon would become cemented then, rather than just oblique references.
  • One of my sources for tracking some of this stuff has been the DCU Guide. I only have so much memory devoted to some of this stuff.

See you next week with a batch of comic reviews for Graphic Content. Thanks for checking out this installment of “Just Swamp Things.” Please let me know what you think. I would love to hear from other Swamp Thing fans about my impressions of the issue.

David Davis is a writer, cartoonist, and educator in Southern California with an M.A. in literature and writing studies.

Horror in graphic novels

Creepy Comics Collages by Jennifer Weigel, Part 5

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Well, you won’t get rid of me that easily… Ha ha, I lied about coming to the end and the afterlife in the Creepy Comics Collages segment, it was just an opportunity for rebirth. Besides, it’s World Collage Day! So having come into another comic book to rework, here we go again…

The Voice creepy comics collage by Jennifer Weigel
The Voice creepy comics collage by Jennifer Weigel

Creepy Comics Story 9: The Voice (of God or Reason or perhaps an homage to my ex)

“Come to me my children, the voice of God awaits!… Don’t let them escape!” Please beam me up out of this weird comic collage alternate reality. “God I am your hand! Lift me… to your place. I commend my spirit!” I want to go back to dreaming about starfish.

The computer programmer behind the scenes turns to face us and smiles. “Guardians! This is a place of God!… Come to the true voice of God!” “I am everything.” “Come to the voice!” And the horrific AI generated creatures abide by his every coded word.

Just like last night in the — signs posted for Nightmare, No Exit. The deer spirit faun screams in surprise, “Eeek!” “No! I defy you!” She returns to the form of a little girl with arms outspread to the open sky. “Y’know, a day like today makes all the stuff that happened last night seem just like a bad dream!” The dream seems so real…

Somewhere in the city, the computer programmer sits up at night in pensive monologue, “You try to make a difference… But it doesn’t really matter.”

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The City creepy comics collage by Jennifer Weigel
The City creepy comics collage by Jennifer Weigel

Creepy Comics Story 10: The City (Metropolis becomes self-aware)

This segment is brought to you by Dead Artists and Talking Dinosaurs. No really, wait for it…

Woooooo Uhhhh Wooooooo Uhhhh… Wump! Uff! Wump! Uff! “She belongs to The City!” The Glenn Fry 1985 hit single looms ominously overhead as Metropolis becomes self-aware. “The City… will live!… The City… will breathe!” The City gasps for air, “Got to… breathe!… Got to… Breathe!

Her breath is the wind… Her eyes are windows. Her heart pumps fluid through buried plumbing… “I’m The City!” Her mind is The City!

And we have a celebrity appearance by Rich Koz “Son of Svengoolie” WFLD 1973: “I take a nap for 10,000 years and look what happens… some-body builds a city!” Kerwyn chimes in, “Geez! Somebody’s been busy!” And we cut out to a scene of Svengoolie standing alongside his coffin.

Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.
Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.

Well, that’s all folks. Or is it? For now, any way… until I get more comic books… Duh duh DUHHHH…

If you want to see more art, check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or on her writing, fine art, and conceptual projects websites.

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Horror in graphic novels

Creepy Comics Collages by Jennifer Weigel, Part 4

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Wow, I can’t believe you’ve stayed the course through four whole strange story posts of these creepy comics collages. But this is the final frontier, the last segment, the standing ovation as it were. So here goes…

The Grave creepy comics collage by Jennifer Weigel

Creepy Comics Story 7: The Grave (shallow enough for ya?)

“It should take longer, it seems to all of them. Such holy flesh should not give before a blade so easily.” “His brow is growing so cold.” “Yes it would be. He’s dying.”

“My god… I’m not dead.” Put the shovel down. “Life is a no-win situation. Besides… You’re already dead!”

“I’m not dead. I’m not dead!… Oh, Oh my god… I can’t move… What’s happened to me?” Buried alive. Or maybe not.

“Dead?” Perhaps I am actually dead. I was expecting something… I dunno… different.

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“I’m not hungry, I’m dead. I’m not sure what I’m doing here, in fact.” At least I’m not a zombie. That seems a small consolation right now though. “My organs are shutting down. It is a relief.”

“Three days have already passed.” We’re just sitting here, rotting. Like Norman Bates’ Mother. At least someone was kind enough to supply a rocking chair. “Oh, one last thing before I go… You’re doing my fucking head in.”

Adrift Afterlife creepy comics collage by Jennifer Weigel
Adrift Afterlife creepy comics collage by Jennifer Weigel

Creepy Comics Story 8: Adrift Afterlife (why you save the best gold coins for the ferryman)

How’d we get here? “I do not stand alone. I am sat in a boat.” “.. to be millions of miles away from any care in the world.” Was that the Ferryman? “Only liberty I know.”

“He does not remember arriving here, or if he has been here before. It is not the island he grew up on, though it feels so very familiar… He has been waiting for the night tides to come in, for they will bring starfish. He has always liked watching them cling to the beach before the current pulls them back into fathoms.”

“And the ocean brings him starfish… Perhaps his father had nothing to do with this place at all.” The ferryman stands on the far shore. It makes no difference now.

“Beneath the ocean, razor-sharp coral grows and plunges towards the surface, sent by a green place that would not like to burn.” “The sand is soft between his toes and he is not ashamed of anything.” The ghosts are here, contentedly it seems.

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Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.

Thank you for joining us for these creepy comics collage art stories. But here’s where we have to leave it off. Trust me, it’s best that way. Besides I’m out of creepy comics to collage with.

If you want to see more art, check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or on her writing, fine art, and conceptual projects websites.

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Horror in graphic novels

Creepy Comics Collages by Jennifer Weigel, Part 3

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We’re ba-ack… Are you ready for the next creepy comics collages graphic story overload? After the last time and the intermission I wasn’t sure I’d see you again, but here we are, together again. You’d almost think we put something in the water – wink.

Now where were we? Oh yeah, the world was going to hell… or was it?

Alien Invasion creepy comics collage by Jennifer Weigel
Alien Invasion creepy comics collage by Jennifer Weigel

Creepy Comics Story 5: Alien Invasion (A Fist Full of Physics!!!)

“Elsewhere… months… earlier…” “It begins as a flicker pin-point of light getting closer ever closer until it takes form.” The sky is falling, damn you Chicken Little.

“…unconfirmed rumors of extraterrestrials have surfaced this evening following reported sightings in upstate New York earlier today.” There’s the news for you. Always blowing things up to increase viewership ratings.

“Then I would suggest a test immediately.” ‘K Doc, we get it; maybe there’s cause for concern. Guessing these aren’t friendlies based on intel, or that the government pissed them off. “Where’s William Shatner when you really need him?”

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“Next morning… City Hall…” “A Fist Full of Physics” Blamm-o! “As if that’s some kind of homage.” It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I was feeling fine but now I’m not so sure. “All of this is on your head.” You can thank the world governments with their shoot first, ask questions later policies for that.

“The act was deplorable. It’s ramifications were permanent.” Doc looks unamused. “And the doctor drones on in his cold monotone… ‘Then we all die.’”

Werewolves creepy comics collage by Jennifer Weigel
Werewolves creepy comics collage by Jennifer Weigel

Creepy Comics Story 6: Werewolves (Londoners, eat your hearts out)

“Fables Werewolves… no one can hear you howl.” So now we’re elbow-deep in lycanthropy? This story just keeps getting weirder and weirder…

“… I feel so… disoriented… is this vertigo?” No, you wouldn’t be so lucky. Once bitten, twice shy. It’s The Change. Prepare yourself for the transformation.

“Hello dear.”

“What now?” Enough with the damned interruptions already, can’t you see I’m at work?!

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“Shall we start a war?”

“No! No! Leave me alone! Leave me alone! No!

“What now?”

“I know one thing.” “Never will you suffer the indignity of this animal’s touch again.” The wolf seems somewhat offended by that statement. No really. And probably rightly so.

“Maybe it’s just an excuse, a fucking cop-out for when we inevitably fuck-up our lives and hurt people… We’re not cursed, we’re rotten, or mad or…”

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“I don’t deserve this!” he howls. Stop blaming the werewolves for your own human indecencies. Teacups get broken and the London werewolves get angry.

Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.
Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.

Thank you for going all in with us over this series, there’s… one… more… final… huzzah… In the meantime, check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or on her writing, fine art, and conceptual projects websites.

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