Swamp Thing VOL 03: The Curse: Amazon.ca: Alan Moore: Books

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4.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars The Best of Swamp Thing, May 28 2001

By

Blahblahblah (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Swamp Thing VOL 03: The Curse (Paperback)

This collection reprints the best issues of Swamp Thing. For those not at all familier with the character, it is an excellently written and drawn comic about a good swamp monster battling evil (and is much better than that description makes it sound).

Notable in this third volume of the series, which reprints the beginning of the "American Gothic" story arc, is Moore's greater use of social critique, elevating these stories above mere entertaining, well-written horror stories. By combining fantastic horrors to such real-life horrors as racism and sexism, these stories are far more effective than any in the earlier collections at terrifying the reader.

In "American Gothic", Swamp Thing is sent scurrying to different parts of the U.S. by a manipulative figure (Jon Constantine) to battle all of the classic horror figures (vampires, werewolves, zombies, etc.), but each are handled in an absolutely brilliantly unique and new manner. For example, there is a whole town of vampires living underwater, completely shielded from the sun, in the process of, for the first time, living communally and cooperating to breed a second generation of vampires that are more powerful and horrific (the dedication of the vampires to family is contrasted by the dysfunctional families of the normal humans). The title story, "The Curse", is a unique Werewolf story, tying in the monthly transformation according to the phases of the moon to the menstrual cycle. The Curse was controversial due to its misinterpretation by illiterate readers as being a sexist comment on PMS when in reality it is an extremely feminist story condemning society for its male-driven fear and shunning of the feminine, and the subjugation of women into sexual objects or housewives.

The American Gothic story arc does not conclude in this issue (although the individual stories can be enjoyed on their own) so hopefully a volume 4 will follow.

By this point, Moore was also using word games in his text more frequently (read carefully) adding an extra level of enjoyment. This collection also contains the first appearance of Jon Constantine, and it is a period I miss. Here Constantine is a totally mysterious, manipulative character whose only real power is his mysteriously obtained knowledge and who always adds an element of dark humour (he is still a great character, but far less mysterious, and he now has magical skills, the extent of which appear to change from appearance to appearance).

This collection represents, if not Moore's best, then the best of Swamp Thing.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Horrific Goodness, April 26 2004

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Sibelius (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Swamp Thing VOL 03: The Curse (Paperback)

The saga continues with this third volume in the collected works of Alan Moore's helming of the Swamp Thing comic series spanning issues 35 through 42. Although this middle arc is seemingly lacking in a grand storyline of sorts - important ground is covered with the Swamp Thing discovering new abilities (mainly his ability to abandon his physical body and re-generate a new one), introducing some new characters, espousing on social issues and oodles of horror mainstays (vampires, werewolves, zombies) doing battle with ol' Swampy himself. As far as contributing to the overall story arc this volume is somewhat lacking, but nonetheless makes for a very entertaining read all the way through.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The Elemental Awakens, April 28 2003

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doomsdayer520 (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Swamp Thing VOL 03: The Curse (Paperback)

In this third collection of Alan Moore's important and groundbreaking run on the Swamp Thing series, both character development and sheer gothic American horror become the keys. During this period (original issues #35-42), Swamp Thing learns that he is an elemental spirit in true communion with the plant kingdom. This would become monumentally important to the further development of the character. Moore was tackling both social issues and horror devices at this point, and he was delivering tremendous plotlines in all areas. There are werewolves, vampires, and zombies appearing in the series during this stretch, but this is not cheap slasher fare but strong and innovative literary horror writing. On the social commentary side, the first two installments here, "The Nukeface Papers Parts I and II" tackle chemical and nuclear dumping. Moore dives into women's issues quite believably in "The Curse" (an extreme rarity in comics even today), while "Southern Change" and "Strange Fruit" are very disturbing examinations of slavery and racism in the Deep South. This edition of the Swamp Thing series does not contain any written introductions, but there is a gallery of individual covers featuring the always amazing art of Stephen Bissette and John Totleben. For some reason only four of the eight relevant covers are included, and the withholding of cover art is an overall disappointment in this series of graphic novels. However, that is ultimately a minor concern as the incredible work of Moore, Bissette, Totleben, and their other important colleagues has the power to blow the minds of readers of any kind of fiction.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Swamp Thing in Transition
Alan Moore, one of the legends of comics writers, made his mark on mainstream comics during his long run in the 1980s on the "Swamp Thing" title. Read more

Published on April 1 2001 by colinbi

5.0 out of 5 stars The birth of a legend
The third volume in the Alan Moore Swamp Thing collection, this one may not be the best, but it's certainly one of the more memorable. Read more

Published on Feb 4 2001 by Adam Spiff