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the8th's review
4.0
I try to keep in mind that this was written in 1985, but it is still difficult not to constantly have objections about everything back then. Abbie barely says anything most of the time, is victimized in a whole bunch of this and the first TPB. The God as he or she thing was annoying, "you mean God is a WOMAN?" "oh sorry, so God actually isn't a woman?! COOL"�. the "pale as a beautiful flower" thing made me roll my eyes a million times over ( I really don't get the beauty standards set up around whiteness at all, but I guess I kinda do get the imperialism/colonial superiority thing behind it).
I did really like the ending and I do really love the creature that is Swamp Thing. I love how broken he seems, his cracked voice, his hesitation but determination to do the right thing. I love Abbie's hair, haha. Partially because it's curly like mine but has cool white & black streaks in it. Umm. I want to hug the Swamp Thing, and some of the art made me happy, and some of Moore's poetic prose is nice. The end!
I did really like the ending and I do really love the creature that is Swamp Thing. I love how broken he seems, his cracked voice, his hesitation but determination to do the right thing. I love Abbie's hair, haha. Partially because it's curly like mine but has cool white & black streaks in it. Umm. I want to hug the Swamp Thing, and some of the art made me happy, and some of Moore's poetic prose is nice. The end!
michellewords's review
4.0
Volume 2 in the Saga of the Swamp Thing is a bit more experimental. Moore embraces different ways to explore Alec Moore/The Swamp Thing. One story journeys through the after life, another a dream for Abby Crane.
I absolutely adore the art work, the story, and the characters. I can't get enough swamp Thing in my life. His sweet, violent defense of the things and people he loves while battling with his identity and his changing form; I just love it.
Can't wait to keep going. I'm going to feel so bummed when it's over.
I absolutely adore the art work, the story, and the characters. I can't get enough swamp Thing in my life. His sweet, violent defense of the things and people he loves while battling with his identity and his changing form; I just love it.
Can't wait to keep going. I'm going to feel so bummed when it's over.
dantastic's review against another edition
4.0
Saga of the Swamp Thing: Book Two contains Saga of the Swamp Thing 28-34 and Annual 2.
Alan Moore's redefinition of Swamp Thing and comics in general continues in this volume. Swamp Thing buries Alec Holland forever, goes up against an old enemy, takes a trip to hell, and consummates his relationship with Abbie Cable.
Stephen Bissette and John Tottleben handle the bulk of the art, though Alfredo Alcala, Rick Veitch, and Shawn McManus are there to pick up the slack.
Alan Moore continued blazing new trails on Swamp Thing in this volume. I really like how the original Swamp Thing story from House of Secrets was included with a new framing sequence to explain how it fits into the Swamp Thing mythos. Swampy going to hell for Abbie's soul was one of my favorite parts of the book, although setting Arcane's hash was very satisfying. Abbie eating Swamp Thing's sweet potato probably raised a few eyebrows back in the day.
One thing I don't hear mentioned that often is how heavily Neil Gaimain was drawing on Alan Moore's Swamp Thing run in the early issues of Sandman. Sandman is normally the first thing I think of when I think of Vertigo but Swamp Thing was doing the same things years earlier.
It's interesting that the book was still set in the DC Universe at this time, with guest appearances by Phantom Stranger, Deadman, Etrigan, The Spectre, the Monitor, and Harbinger. Did Swamp Thing actually take part in Crisis? I guess I'll find out in future volumes.
Saga of the Swamp Thing: Book Two is another great adventure into the swamp of Alan Moore's mind. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Alan Moore's redefinition of Swamp Thing and comics in general continues in this volume. Swamp Thing buries Alec Holland forever, goes up against an old enemy, takes a trip to hell, and consummates his relationship with Abbie Cable.
Stephen Bissette and John Tottleben handle the bulk of the art, though Alfredo Alcala, Rick Veitch, and Shawn McManus are there to pick up the slack.
Alan Moore continued blazing new trails on Swamp Thing in this volume. I really like how the original Swamp Thing story from House of Secrets was included with a new framing sequence to explain how it fits into the Swamp Thing mythos. Swampy going to hell for Abbie's soul was one of my favorite parts of the book, although setting Arcane's hash was very satisfying. Abbie eating Swamp Thing's sweet potato probably raised a few eyebrows back in the day.
One thing I don't hear mentioned that often is how heavily Neil Gaimain was drawing on Alan Moore's Swamp Thing run in the early issues of Sandman. Sandman is normally the first thing I think of when I think of Vertigo but Swamp Thing was doing the same things years earlier.
It's interesting that the book was still set in the DC Universe at this time, with guest appearances by Phantom Stranger, Deadman, Etrigan, The Spectre, the Monitor, and Harbinger. Did Swamp Thing actually take part in Crisis? I guess I'll find out in future volumes.
Saga of the Swamp Thing: Book Two is another great adventure into the swamp of Alan Moore's mind. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
reickel's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent run continues. POG was weird but didn't hate it. Hallucinogen fruit sex was weird but didn't hate it.
eduardo_san567's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
michael_benavidez's review against another edition
5.0
So far the Swamp Thing series has been building on tying loose ends and build up their own stories. Volume two does both at once. It not only manages to put the original Swamp Thing to rest, but to set a large scale tone of what to expect. It delivers on character development, AND on story.
The visuals are hard to judge, because I love the layout of some of the panels. They are used in such an imaginative way, that it adds to the feel of the story. The panels flow with what's happening and pays very much into the atmosphere of the book. However, sometimes the action scenes do get a bit hectic to catch the full story of what is happening. it's not a bad thing, it just takes a few extra glances to catch it
The visuals are hard to judge, because I love the layout of some of the panels. They are used in such an imaginative way, that it adds to the feel of the story. The panels flow with what's happening and pays very much into the atmosphere of the book. However, sometimes the action scenes do get a bit hectic to catch the full story of what is happening. it's not a bad thing, it just takes a few extra glances to catch it
helpfulsnowman's review against another edition
2.0
How it hurts my heart to say this.
Purple prose out the ass.
This book, like the first volume, has some great moments. Even incredible. But boy, parts of it feel like they were written because someone bought way too much ink and had to kill off a few vats.
I'm going to do some theorizing here. I think what we're seeing, looking back almost 30 years now, is the growing pains of comic books. The teenage years when feelings were FEELINGS and came at a cost. Not only that, but comics were working hard to prove that they weren't just nonsense, that you could go deep, use big words, and ask a little more of the reader. These were definitely books for adults. Not so much in that they had a ton of sex or violence, more in that I can't imagine enjoying this when I was 8.
It's a interesting phase as well because I don't think you could get away with this writing in pure prose. A book written like this, you'd go goddamn nuts trying to figure out what was going on. So in that way, the creators were learning to balance, to let the words do some of the work and the pictures do some as opposed to having them lift the same weight. At this particular point I think we're seeing the balance shift away from the pictures and overly towards the words, still seeking the equilibrium.
Also, this volume concludes with the issue that stopped me reading Swamp Thing the first time I tried a few years ago. Namely, the sex issue.
Swamp Thing can't really have sex with his human girlfriend. Or so he says. They kiss, and that actually goes really well. She says he tastes like a mild version of lime, which sounds a lot better than kissing SOME people (I'm not going to name names, but in my young days there was a woman who tasted like a bread factory, a flavor I'd prefer to forget. I'm not sure that I'd kiss her again over a swamp creature based on flavor alone).
So why wouldn't you go for the...you know, the whole shebang? Not to get overly graphic, but Swamp Thing can regrow arms and legs and even internal organs. How hard would it be to grow a dick? Or strategically place a cucumber? In fact, one could argue that he's got the upper hand here. Ability to grow a dick whatever size and shape he wanted and put it anywhere on his body? And include the nutritional content of any vegetable? THAT'S a super food, my friends.
Anyway, instead of growing a dick, he grows a tuber sort of thing. Which sounds like a slag term for dick, but I assure you it isn't. It's actually a sort of vegetable thing. Sort of looks like a sweet potato maybe...
I'm sorry, I just can't get off this track now. How much less attractive is a sweet potato than a dick? Is it even less attractive? I prefer seeing a pile of sweet potatoes to a pile of dicks at the store, mostly because it means I'm in a store of nightmares, but still. I just can't really understand why he couldn't grow a sweet potato dick, sprinkle on some brown sugar and get down to business.
Okay, on track.
He grows the tuber and his girlfriend eats it. And the experience is like some sort of acid trip sex thing.
Now after all that dick talk, I have to say, if I could chomp down on a piece of ginger root and cum in my pants, I don't know that I'd be opposed to that experience. Granted, I'd have to avoid Asian restaurants when out with the family, but all of a sudden my Fridays eating sushi by hand in the car become "date night".
The problem is this.
Imagine reading eight or so pages that describe the experience of cumming. None of the physical stuff, just the mind stuff. No description that goes on the body. Just, you know, the releasing of floodgates and the rainbows of the soul and the frumious bandersnatch and all that shit. It's cool. Definitely feel free to have whatever orgasm you choose. If it's life of the mind for you, go for it. But if I'm going to read about it, I need something either a little more or a little less expressive. Because ultimately, I feel like those pages would be better replaced with a simple text box that says
Go masturbate.
Pretty much that, but better.
Purple prose out the ass.
This book, like the first volume, has some great moments. Even incredible. But boy, parts of it feel like they were written because someone bought way too much ink and had to kill off a few vats.
I'm going to do some theorizing here. I think what we're seeing, looking back almost 30 years now, is the growing pains of comic books. The teenage years when feelings were FEELINGS and came at a cost. Not only that, but comics were working hard to prove that they weren't just nonsense, that you could go deep, use big words, and ask a little more of the reader. These were definitely books for adults. Not so much in that they had a ton of sex or violence, more in that I can't imagine enjoying this when I was 8.
It's a interesting phase as well because I don't think you could get away with this writing in pure prose. A book written like this, you'd go goddamn nuts trying to figure out what was going on. So in that way, the creators were learning to balance, to let the words do some of the work and the pictures do some as opposed to having them lift the same weight. At this particular point I think we're seeing the balance shift away from the pictures and overly towards the words, still seeking the equilibrium.
Also, this volume concludes with the issue that stopped me reading Swamp Thing the first time I tried a few years ago. Namely, the sex issue.
Swamp Thing can't really have sex with his human girlfriend. Or so he says. They kiss, and that actually goes really well. She says he tastes like a mild version of lime, which sounds a lot better than kissing SOME people (I'm not going to name names, but in my young days there was a woman who tasted like a bread factory, a flavor I'd prefer to forget. I'm not sure that I'd kiss her again over a swamp creature based on flavor alone).
So why wouldn't you go for the...you know, the whole shebang? Not to get overly graphic, but Swamp Thing can regrow arms and legs and even internal organs. How hard would it be to grow a dick? Or strategically place a cucumber? In fact, one could argue that he's got the upper hand here. Ability to grow a dick whatever size and shape he wanted and put it anywhere on his body? And include the nutritional content of any vegetable? THAT'S a super food, my friends.
Anyway, instead of growing a dick, he grows a tuber sort of thing. Which sounds like a slag term for dick, but I assure you it isn't. It's actually a sort of vegetable thing. Sort of looks like a sweet potato maybe...
I'm sorry, I just can't get off this track now. How much less attractive is a sweet potato than a dick? Is it even less attractive? I prefer seeing a pile of sweet potatoes to a pile of dicks at the store, mostly because it means I'm in a store of nightmares, but still. I just can't really understand why he couldn't grow a sweet potato dick, sprinkle on some brown sugar and get down to business.
Okay, on track.
He grows the tuber and his girlfriend eats it. And the experience is like some sort of acid trip sex thing.
Now after all that dick talk, I have to say, if I could chomp down on a piece of ginger root and cum in my pants, I don't know that I'd be opposed to that experience. Granted, I'd have to avoid Asian restaurants when out with the family, but all of a sudden my Fridays eating sushi by hand in the car become "date night".
The problem is this.
Imagine reading eight or so pages that describe the experience of cumming. None of the physical stuff, just the mind stuff. No description that goes on the body. Just, you know, the releasing of floodgates and the rainbows of the soul and the frumious bandersnatch and all that shit. It's cool. Definitely feel free to have whatever orgasm you choose. If it's life of the mind for you, go for it. But if I'm going to read about it, I need something either a little more or a little less expressive. Because ultimately, I feel like those pages would be better replaced with a simple text box that says
Go masturbate.
Pretty much that, but better.
mattycakesbooks's review
4.0
I'm ranking it slightly ahead of the first volume, because I picked up a little bit more of the classic Alan Moore style, but it still isn't as amazing as the other Moore things I've read. I liked the Hell bit, and I liked seeing some of the overlap from characters from Sandman - though this may have predated it? Not sure - but I can absolutely see how this would have influenced Gaiman.
billyjepma's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
After just two volumes, I’m starting to think that there’s a very real case to be made that this is one of the best series DC has ever put out. Moore and company are striking consistent, impressive balance between pulpy genre and sweeping, gorgeously illustrated poetry of theme and subject. The “Rite of Spring” alone is enough to rank this amongst the best comics I’ve ever read, and that’s just one part of a larger story that’s just as intimately romantic as it is cosmically spectacular. I’m so enamored with this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Body horror, Violence, and Sexual content
Minor: Blood, Domestic abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
neon_capricorn's review against another edition
4.0
Alan Moore and company still continue to flesh out Swamp Thing. In this volume, it feels more trippy, but in a good way. Swamp Thing descends to Hell, and also meets Alien creatures which is one of the most heart wrenching stories. As with any Moore title, there is a ton of stuff to unpack.