Saga of the Swamp Thing, Book 1 [Hardcover]

Alan Moore (Author), Steve R. Bissette (Illustrator), John Totleben (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: February 10, 2009

From 1983 through 1987, a young British writer named Alan Moore revolutionized the American comic book. His groundbreaking tenure on DC Comics' SWAMP THING set new standards for graphic storytelling and touched off a revolution in the medium that is still expanding today. Building on the title's framework of gothic horror with a remarkably intuitive narrative style and an unprecedented depth of characterization, Moore's vision was realized through the hauntingly beautiful artwork of such collaborators as Stephen Bissette, John Totleben, Dan Day and Rick Veitch. The result is one of comics' most enduring masterpieces.


Now, for the first time, Moore's entire run — including his never-before-reprinted debut issue — is available in archival hardcover editions. This first volume, collecting issues 20-27 of THE SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING, also features a foreword by famed horror author Ramsey Campbell and a new introduction by Swamp Thing co-creator and original series editor Len Wein.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An influential fantasy author for almost a quarter century."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (February 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401220827
• ISBN-13: 978-1401220822
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 0.8 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #231,554 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, production could be a little better February 18, 2009

By mcg480

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The 8 issues of Saga of the Swamp Thing contained in this volume (#20-27) contain one of the best story arcs in comic history. Anyone who is a fan of Alan Moore (The Watchmen, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, etc.) should put this book high on their list of priorities.

This volume has two major boons over the previously released paperback version of the TPB from 1998:

1. The obvious one: the hardcover is nice for damage mitigation, and is a nice presentation.
2. The important one: the hardcover version contains issue #20, which is actually the first one written by Moore (but illustrated by Dan Day not Stephen Bissette), the *previous version* of the TPB does not.

That being said, I was disappointed that they didn't go with a higher grade paper for this hardcover volume, something glossy would have been nice. Unfortunately it is the same newspaper-print stock type paper that was used in the paperback (were it not for this I would have rated it 5 stars easily).

Another issue, probably due to the fact that I pre-ordered the book and it was shipped the day it was released: the cover feels sticky, like the ink isn't completely dry. We'll see if that goes away after a few days.

All in all a great book. If you don't already have the paperback TPB definitely pick this up. Even if you do, you will probably want to get this version for issue #20 if you are a die hard Moore fan.

*edit* Decided to update this based on a user comment. I noted that the previous version of the TBD does not have issue 20. The new version, basically the same as this hardback, does contain that issue.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars A BIGGER quality control problem January 29, 2010

By Perry Beider

Format:Hardcover

This book reprints issues #20 - 27. The first story-arc ends with issue #24. This book LEAVES OUT THE LAST FOUR WORDS OF THAT STORY! The story ends with a full-page picture of Swamp Thing with arms outstretched, head titled up toward the sky, with the sun setting behind him. In the original comic book, and the first paperback reproduction, the upper left-hand corner of the page has the words "...and meet the sun." Those words are the poignant climax of a five-issue story, and DC somehow managed to omit them, ending the story in mid-sentence.

I know it sounds bizarre, but as Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up. You can read about it elsewhere on the web, including the blog of artist Stephen Bissette and the DC message boards.

Having said that, yes these are absolutely great stories. (The dream sequence in one of the chapters brought tears to my eyes.) I wouldn't tell you not to buy the book because of those missing words...especially now that you can put them in mentally yourself. But you might want to wait until they do a second (hopefully corrected!) printing...or look for one of those first paperback editions (which won't have issue #20, though).

50 of 57 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal Issues...Poor Quality Production February 18, 2009

By RandA

Format:Hardcover

I have to say I was greatly disappointed with this release. I've been a fan of the Moore/Bissette/Totleben run of Swamp Thing since it first came out in the mid-1980s. When I heard about this collection (which I assumed meant the eventual release of all the issues in hardback), I was so excited.

Imagine my disappointment when I took the plastic wrapping off the volume.

First, the pages are printed on the same paper stock as the tradepaperback editions. I know the price of the volume reflects this low-quality paper, but I would have been happy to pay extra to get a high-quality product. Isn't that the point in buying a hardback of something you can get in a paperback for significantly less cost?

Second, the dustjacket was obviously designed by someone unfamiliar with the limitations of offset printing. As I know from my profession, you do NOT print on wax paper type paper. The ink will never completely dry on this type of paper. Unfortunately, that's the material they decided to use for this volume's dustjacket. It's sticky because of the wet ink, and a moderately-pressured wipe of the dustjacket will result in a black smudged finger or cloth. I have yet to risk placing it in my bookshelf with the rest of my volumes, for fear of it leaving ink on the volumes that sandwich.

All that said, would I buy future volumes of this hardback series? Absolutely...but only because I'm such a hardcore fan. And these issues ARE completely amazing. However, unless you're also a hardcore fan, I would have to recommend the tradepaperbacks as a more reasonable option for the money-versus-quality rationale.