jonathancrites's review against another edition
4.0
This collection was a truly fun to read throwback to 70s soapy horror from DC. I’ve always like Len Wein as a writer and his plots are pretty good here but I have to be honest in that the Bernie Wrightson art steals the show. What a great combination of talent and subject. Would recommend.
apageinthestacks's review
4.0
I’m not usually a fan of pre-Crisis comics (and even then I much prefer early 00’s), but I actually really enjoyed the Wein/Wrightson stuff. The rest ranged from okay to not great, but it was still a great collection to read overall. Laid some great groundwork, and I’m excited to reread the Moore run with all of the background.
northern_mint's review against another edition
3.0
I read the first 10 issues collected in Dark Genesis and they were really fun. I gave them 5 stars. I think it's real good campy fun. The last four issues are really unsatisfying. Cable and Abigail are weak characters and they always annoyed me but as they take a center stage to wrap up the arc, they really drag the quality down in this series.
studaslop's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Pre-Moore and pre-Crisis Swamp Thing is lots of fun! Ranges from darkness and horror to sci-fi absurdity, sometimes quite introspective and other times full of punch action sequences. It’s a good time and a really great collection of one of comics’ greatest characters.
bstratton's review against another edition
5.0
Swampy is a very different book before Alan Moore, John Totleben, Steve Bissette et al get hold of it. But Berni Wrightson’s art is just gorgeous, and Len Wein’s scripting evokes some of the best elements of the horror and suspense comics of the 50’s and 60’s. I didn’t realize until reading this that, while Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing is some of the best comics ever written, he was handed some strong source material to work from.
dozens's review against another edition
4.0
**Edit**: Browsing the reviews here, there seems to be a lot of hate toward the Nat Broder/Silicon Crystal Man character. That story was one of my favorites! Because a) Phantom Stranger, and b) the character was a great mirror to hold up to Swamp Thing. Their origins were almost exactly the same: bodies suffused with strange science stuff during a lab explosion. Broder's body was literally dumped in the swamp, from which he rose up as the Silicon Man!
He was extremely the Anti Swamp Thing: made of silicon and circuitry instead of roots and moss; cold, unfeeling technology instead of moss and muck that feels too much. Yearning for power and dominion instead of belonging and family. Swampy doesn't have his connection to the Green yet, but Broder's connection to the web and weave of the Internet unknowingly predicts even that. He even *looked* like Bizarro, and was Swampy's inverse every bit as much as Bizarro is Superman's.
**Original review:**
Super fun and nostalgic. Swampy has always been one of my favorites, since I was a kid.
Started reading this when the DC TV series was going to come out. Standout moments:
1. The Monster of the Week format of the earliest issues: Swampy punches a werewolf! A vampire! A Frankenstein! A robot! An alien! A weird worm!
2. Seeing first appearances of TV series tie-ins: Nathan Ellery and the Enclave, Avery Sunderland, the Phantom Stranger.
3. One of Swampy's very first adventures lead him to Gotham, and to an encounter with Batman! Did not know that.
4. There is nothing earth elemental, and nothing about The Green at all about this entire first run. He's just a mossy green hulk who wants to be left alone.
5. The "Karen Clancy/Anti-Christ Saga" was a loooooong run full of characters and content that I've never heard of. That whole bit felt like a fever dream. When it was finally over and we got to another Anton Arcane/Un-men fight, I was happy to be back to "classic Swamp Thing" territory.
He was extremely the Anti Swamp Thing: made of silicon and circuitry instead of roots and moss; cold, unfeeling technology instead of moss and muck that feels too much. Yearning for power and dominion instead of belonging and family. Swampy doesn't have his connection to the Green yet, but Broder's connection to the web and weave of the Internet unknowingly predicts even that. He even *looked* like Bizarro, and was Swampy's inverse every bit as much as Bizarro is Superman's.
**Original review:**
Super fun and nostalgic. Swampy has always been one of my favorites, since I was a kid.
Started reading this when the DC TV series was going to come out. Standout moments:
1. The Monster of the Week format of the earliest issues: Swampy punches a werewolf! A vampire! A Frankenstein! A robot! An alien! A weird worm!
2. Seeing first appearances of TV series tie-ins: Nathan Ellery and the Enclave, Avery Sunderland, the Phantom Stranger.
3. One of Swampy's very first adventures lead him to Gotham, and to an encounter with Batman! Did not know that.
4. There is nothing earth elemental, and nothing about The Green at all about this entire first run. He's just a mossy green hulk who wants to be left alone.
5. The "Karen Clancy/Anti-Christ Saga" was a loooooong run full of characters and content that I've never heard of. That whole bit felt like a fever dream. When it was finally over and we got to another Anton Arcane/Un-men fight, I was happy to be back to "classic Swamp Thing" territory.
More...