Rating: 
Summary: The setup is what's important here...
Review: This first volume collects the first seven chapters of Alan Moore's highly acclaimed helming of the 'Swamp Thing,' series. Groundbreaking for its evocative bending of the horror genre in a major-label comic series, this collection of 'Swamp Thing,' chapters is not to be missed by anyone interested in comics as a legit form of narrative storytelling.While Vol. 1 isn't the strongest in terms of story-punch and raw emotion, it certainly is required reading, in order to appreciate the full arc of this 30+ chapter series. While the strongest chapters do take place in later volumes this initial volume does offer oodles of horrific goodness not to mention some intriguing layout design in its panels. Definitely not to be missed!
Rating:
Summary: The setup is what's important here...
Review: This first volume collects the first seven chapters of Alan Moore's highly acclaimed helming of the 'Swamp Thing,' series. Groundbreaking for its evocative bending of the horror genre in a major-label comic series, this collection of 'Swamp Thing,' chapters is not to be missed by anyone interested in comics as a legit form of narrative storytelling. While Vol. 1 isn't the strongest in terms of story-punch and raw emotion, it certainly is required reading, in order to appreciate the full arc of this 30+ chapter series. While the strongest chapters do take place in later volumes this initial volume does offer oodles of horrific goodness not to mention some intriguing layout design in its panels. Definitely not to be missed!
Rating: 
Summary: A Revelation
Review: This is a collection of Alan Moore's first Swamp Thing stories, and are amongst the first comics to be published for adult readers by a major comics publisher. The stories do lack the sophistication and literary merit of Moore's best works. And, of course, Moore's ingenious reinterpretation of the character's history will mean nothing to those who had not been fans of Swamp Thing before Moore took over, but unlike most collections of comics about a popular character, this is irrelevant. These stories work well on their own as brilliant entries into the horror genre and can be enjoyed by readers of such authors as Clive Barker. The illustrations by such artists as Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch are still masterpieces and remain superior to most of the artists who are popular today. Unfortunately, the art in this collection suffers from changes in printing techniques since the stories' original publication, leaving the colours a bit too bright and garish in contrast to the moody story and artwork. However, it is difficult and expensive to get the originals so this is something one can live with.
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT, DARK COMIC
Review: This is billed as a horror comic. It is scary, but it resists characterization. The oddest thing about this book is that it takes place within the DC universe. Yes, the tone is VERY dark, and VERY bad things happen--but then there's Superman hanging around in the background...weird. The story begins with a minor DC villain-The Floronic Man. He brings Swamp Thing "back from the dead" and then begins doing things far worse than he ever did against the Justice League. It is (literally) the DC universe in Hell. As is Alan Moore's style, he takes over a character and completely re-defines him. Like Miracleman, we find out that Swamp Thing isn't exactly what he thought he was. The art is first-rate-much better than today's standards...subtler, more expertly drawn, with none of those annoying, PhotoShop embellishments. It is a beautiful, fast, disturbing read from start to finish. You'll never look at a swordfish the same way again...
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT, DARK COMIC
Review: This is billed as a horror comic. It is scary, but it resists characterization. The oddest thing about this book is that it takes place within the DC universe. Yes, the tone is VERY dark, and VERY bad things happen--but then there's Superman hanging around in the background...weird. The story begins with a minor DC villain-The Floronic Man. He brings Swamp Thing "back from the dead" and then begins doing things far worse than he ever did against the Justice League. It is (literally) the DC universe in Hell. As is Alan Moore's style, he takes over a character and completely re-defines him. Like Miracleman, we find out that Swamp Thing isn't exactly what he thought he was. The art is first-rate-much better than today's standards...subtler, more expertly drawn, with none of those annoying, PhotoShop embellishments. It is a beautiful, fast, disturbing read from start to finish. You'll never look at a swordfish the same way again...
Rating:
Summary: The genesis of modern horror comics
Review: This is where it all begins. When the first story in this collection ("The Anatomy Lesson") was published, the industry and fandom was completely blown away. Alan Moore took a throw-away character (the Swamp Thing) and a forgotten villain (Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man) and founded an entire genre of comics that had been long forgotten (or at least neglected) since the 50s or so. DC's Vertigo line, the Sandman series, and very likely, Watchmen all would have likely never happened without the series of comics reprinted here. There is some truly frightening material in here that is unlike most comic fare aimed at younger readers (or at least sanitized for younger minds), but the writing was revolutionary for its time and holds up well today. The artwork maintains the high standards of excellence Moore establishes. The partnership of Alan Moore and Stephen Bissette is one of those magical pairings that occurs so infrequently in comic history (I compare it to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on the Fantastic Four, Chris Claremont and John Byrne on X-Men, and Marv Wolfman and George Perez on Teen Titans). This is truly a treasure to add to your collection.
Rating:
Summary: The genesis of modern horror comics
Review: This is where it all begins. When the first story in this collection ("The Anatomy Lesson") was published, the industry and fandom was completely blown away. Alan Moore took a throw-away character (the Swamp Thing) and a forgotten villain (Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man) and founded an entire genre of comics that had been long forgotten (or at least neglected) since the 50s or so. DC's Vertigo line, the Sandman series, and very likely, Watchmen all would have likely never happened without the series of comics reprinted here. There is some truly frightening material in here that is unlike most comic fare aimed at younger readers (or at least sanitized for younger minds), but the writing was revolutionary for its time and holds up well today. The artwork maintains the high standards of excellence Moore establishes. The partnership of Alan Moore and Stephen Bissette is one of those magical pairings that occurs so infrequently in comic history (I compare it to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on the Fantastic Four, Chris Claremont and John Byrne on X-Men, and Marv Wolfman and George Perez on Teen Titans). This is truly a treasure to add to your collection.
Rating:
Summary: The genesis of modern horror comics
Review: This is where it all begins. When the first story in this collection ("The Anatomy Lesson") was published, the industry and fandom was completely blown away. Alan Moore took a throw-away character (the Swamp Thing) and a forgotten villain (Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man) and founded an entire genre of comics that had been long forgotten (or at least neglected) since the 50s or so. DC's Vertigo line, the Sandman series, and very likely, Watchmen all would have likely never happened without the series of comics reprinted here. There is some truly frightening material in here that is unlike most comic fare aimed at younger readers (or at least sanitized for younger minds), but the writing was revolutionary for its time and holds up well today. The artwork maintains the high standards of excellence Moore establishes. The partnership of Alan Moore and Stephen Bissette is one of those magical pairings that occurs so infrequently in comic history (I compare it to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on the Fantastic Four, Chris Claremont and John Byrne on X-Men, and Marv Wolfman and George Perez on Teen Titans). This is truly a treasure to add to your collection.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the series...outstanding
Review: This trade collects issues 21-27 of Alan Moore's heralded run on Swamp Thing, which he took over way back in 1983. (Issue 20, which was actually Moore's first issue wasn't collected, which is a shame.) Simply put, this first ST collection is magnificient: some of Moore's best writing ever. Moore re-invents Swamp Thing and then delivers the goods with some of his strongest plots ever. (Jack Kirby's Demon as a guest-star is particulary strong.) Bissette and Totleben's artwork is also equally beautiful and horrific. DC has since collected the rest of Moore's run on ST (28-63 and ST annual #2). While good, the rest of the series doesn't hold up quite as strong. The American Gothic storyline for ex., is interesting, but (to me) it simply doesn't have the impact of these early issues. Also, the romance between ST and Abby just isn't believable...But that doesn't matter, these early issues still hold up quite well-20 years haven't diminished their impact.
Rating:
Summary: Something great in the making
Review: Truly one of the best TPB's I read in a LONG time. This one reprints #21-27 of the Alan Moore run on Saga of the Swamp Thing. It starts of with one of the best issues in the trade and then after a minor backfall with #22 (it's not bad, just less than #21) it keeps on getting better and better with the coming of Abby,Jason Blood and Swamp Thing himself mixing in more. Especially the last three issues are for the fans of better horror-comics. I think every comic-reader who's mind isn't stuck on just superheroes can enjoy him/herself greatly with this one.
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