dozens reviewed Swamp Thing by Len Wein
Review of 'Swamp Thing' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
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 …
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.