Swamp Thing has been killed by government operatives and is locked away in a freezer. Moore begins his run by seemingly killing off his main character. The rest of the issues are solid gold, however. It works as more of a historical curiosity than a satisfying entrance into Moore's Swamp Thing. Still, part of me wonders if it might not have been a better idea to move issue #20 to the back of the book. Also, this issue does set up a major plot point of Moore's first 'real' chapter. Granted, at this point in his life Swamp Thing was more of a vegan-friendly Hulk than anything, so it's not that hard to follow along. Readers are thrust into the climax of a story they probably didn't read, with little real explanation of the characters and their struggles. As such, issue #20 makes for a very strange starting point. Moore came on board with issue #20, but rather than kicking off his extended arc he was required to close off the previous story. One of the biggest selling points is issue #20 itself, as it was never collected in the older paperbacks.

Make no mistake, the stories contained within hold up as well as ever. Unfortunately, I'm not entirely convinced I should let it. Saga of the Swamp Thing, Book 1 has been delayed over and over again, but it's finally here and ready to claim a spot on my shelf. So imagine my delight upon learning that DC planned to finally revisit these landmark issues in a new series of hardcovers. Moore's issues are only available as a set of flimsy paperbacks, with newsprint-quality paper and no real extras to speak of. But poor Swamp Thing has been ignored for these past 25 years.

Most of these books sport revamped coloring and a thick section of bonus material. Batman: The Killing Joke is now available as a Deluxe Edition hardcover, and Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow is due for a similar treatment. Both Watchmen and LoEG have been reprinted as Absolute Editions, with V for Vendetta to follow later this year. Much of Moore's work is available in a series of very nice hardcovers. The reason I've never purchased the trades is that I don't find them to be worthy reproductions. I think that's a bit of a stretch, but it's easily one of the best things Moore has written over the years. There are some who will claim it to be superior even to Watchmen. Moore's run on this series is another of the true classics of the genre.

Alan moore swamp thing vol 1