Hey Y’all,
How are you? I am doing well. This year, for whatever reason, the spooky bat bit me. I wanted to enjoy some Horror. I knew one thing on that list was going to be Bernie Wrightson’s Swamp Thing. Spoiler, I really loved it. Okay, Happy Halloween! Haha, okay, let us rewind a bit. In college, I had to take a course called “History of Comics.” That class has been a blessing and a curse. Why? It spoiled a lot of moments, like ‘Watchmen’, but it piqued my interest in Wrightson’s Frankenstein. I got the library edition from Dark Horse. What’s the problem? That has been the only Wright I had for YEARS.
Another issue I always had, this is dumb to admit, but I would get Bernie Wrightson and Berry Windsor Smith mixed up. Every time, Ohhhh, the Frankenstein guy? No, that’s not him. The other issue with Wrightson? He sells out! I feel like companies are like, “He does alright, but we don’t want to print more?!” I never really saw his stuff for years. Then enter comic book YouTube. I hate to admit it, it took me a while to get here, but glad I did. I found Batman: The Cult and BOYYYYYYYYYY! That is one of my favorite Batmans. The story and damn. Seeing that, I figured it was time to try Swamp Thing.
I always saw images like this for Swampy. Just kind of standing. No one told me this was how we got to Hellboy. Wrightson and Wein is just Frankenstein with more punches, haha. Okay, let me start letting loose. All these images are from the Swamp Thing Absolute and damnn. I love Wrightson lighting; no one does it better. One thing never talked about is his acting. I can pick a ton of moments, but issue three became my favorite. For this right here.
This is the PatchWork man, aka Frankenstein’s Monster, but you have this character walking. The first is present and the second is the past, but more importantly… IT IS HOW HE SEES HIMSELF IN HIS MIND. Like what? We get to see how different he is and understand so much has happened to him. Also, it is easy to wax on just about Wrightson, but the colorist understood the assignment. Issue three is one of my favorite issues of all time. This and Hellboy the Corpse.
A master of lighting. The other thing this does, that I do for Bang? The pages aren’t white. They are a very light gray, so they really make the colors pop and make the reading just feel right. It is faint enough that you don’t notice unless you are looking at it. For Bang, I have a paper texture on everything except the word balloons. Easier to read. This is a team I wish we got more from. I loved this so much. It is hard not to just post a thousand images and go, “LOOK!” haha.
One should have gotten better photos. THAT SAID, THIS PANEL ENDED ME. Drawing a reflection in a window? Hard! I mean, extremely hard. Figuring out how to do it in black and white? King, ruler of all. Doing it black and white and have the other window?! On your knees! This still hurts my brain, like what? Using the negative on his face rather than zip on the rest? GENIUS! I cannot praise this enough!
Let’s show a party and a kid being bored and leaving it? Simply brilliant. The background is perfect, and we see so many moments.
I love the action in this, but the reason for the photo? That fifth panel. A simple drawing, but such a great transition panel. Then an amazing back shot. Which, a great artist can draw an attractive front, but a back? Master. Capturing those muscles? Damn.
If you can’t tell, I am happy I got this. This might be a yearly read just to pore over this amazing art. I am so grateful I get to study this master’s and learn so much. This thing is beyond a steal if you love Universal monsters. Pick this up, put on some Misfits, and enjoy. I recommend Omar’s review and Taylor’s! I am going to post some more photos I love!
I hope you all have an amazing Halloween! What are some other spooky books you love? What are some books you are upset you didn’t read earlier?
-Greathouse
