Saga of the Swamp Thing—Book 2

Comic Info

The Saga of the Swamp Thing #28

Reprints The Saga of the Swamp Thing #28-#34 and The Saga of the Swamp Thing Annual #2 (September 1984-March 1985).  Swamp Thing is adjusting to his new life and new realization that he has never been Alec Holland.  Swamp Thing must bury the past and finds himself in a life or death battle for Abby Cable who discovers a horrifying truth about her husband Matt and an accident that occurred which will change all of their lives forever.

Written by Alan Moore, Saga of the Swamp Thing—Book 2 continues Alan Moore’s award winning run on the series.  Many of the issues included in this volume were not approved by the Comic Code Authority and helped lead way to the series abandoning it all together to focus on a more adult audience.  The issues in this volume were previously collected as Swamp Thing 2:  Love and Death.

Swamp Thing at this point is just awesome and this book collects one of the most horrifying issues of this series.  With strong art to accompany the great writing, Saga of the Swamp Thing was a must read at the time.

I love the story in this volume of Swamp Thing.  We have the good issue where Swamp Thing buries the remains of Alec Holland.  It is a nice goodbye to the past which was destroyed by Alan Moore in The Saga of the Swamp Thing #21 (February 1984) which revealed Holland died.  It is a nice sign of coping for the character which shows he’s moved past being angry and has moved into acceptance (along with allowing Abby to call him Alec).

A second interesting issue involves the much touted The Saga of the Swamp Thing #32 (January 1985) which is a homage to Walt Kelly’s classic swamp cartoon strip Pogo.  The issue (titled “Pog”) has Swamp Thing encountering small alien creatures which resemble Kelly’s creations.  The issue is a stand-alone comic and was recognized for multiple awards.  It is a nice tip-of-the-hat to an important cartoonist.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing #34

We also have The Saga of the Swamp Thing #33 (February 1985) where Abby learns (from Cain and Abel of the House of Mysteries and House of Secrets) that Swamp Thing isn’t the first Swamp Thing which also reincorporated Swamp Thing’s first appearance in The House of Secrets (1) #92 (July 1971).  It makes the story retroactively in canon and is a nice nod to Swamp Thing’s creators Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson.

The bulk of this collection however is one of the best horror stories.  Abby learns that her husband Matt (who she’s been living and sleeping with) is actually dead…in a great issue, she realizes that everyone in Matt’s life are the embodiment of the dead…it pushes her over the edge, leads to her death, and Swamp Thing’s journey into the afterlife to find her soul.  It is a great ride and also helps establish Abby and Swamp Thing as a couple (with the gross relationship where she will “eat” parts of him in the edible tubers that grow on his body).

Alan Moore did something original with Saga of the Swamp Thing and Saga of the Swamp Thing—Book 2 has some of his best stories.  The comic is very original and fans of Moore and of Swamp Thing must read this book!

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Related Links:

Saga of the Swamp Thing—Book 1

Saga of the Swamp Thing—Book 3

Saga of the Swamp Thing—Book 4

Saga of the Swamp Thing—Book 5

Saga of the Swamp Thing—Book 6