#Rick Veitch

[smashedpages]

On this day in 1985, John Constantine debuted in Saga of the Swamp Thing #37 by Alan Moore, Rick Veitch and John Totleben!

[coverpanelarchive]

Swamp Thing #73 (198?)

[writing-for-life]

Morpheus meets Matthew—The Rest Is History…

Swamp Thing: Final Payment (#84, March 1989)—Rick Veitch (writer), Tom Mandrake (penciller) & Alfredo Alcala (inker)

I’ve been itching to share these for our community re-read of “Into the Night” (#15).

Some of you might recognise these panels, but not everyone has read Swamp Thing (or watched the one season they gave us), and this is the first and only time Morpheus appears in it. So for those of you who don’t know and always wondered who Matthew was before he became a raven, here comes a bit of background info (spoilery, so skip if that’s not your thing):

Matthew Cable has been part of Swamp Thing since the very first issue in 1972. He was a government agent assigned to protect scientist Alec Holland and his wife (who were developing a biological formula to end world hunger) but failed to save them. He then mistakenly believed the Swamp Thing was the killer of Holland (the Swamp Thing initially also believed he was an altered form of Alec—all very convoluted, partly retconned at some point, too, but in short: When Alec was killed, his body was drenched with the formula, which affected the plants in the swamp. They basically formed a new organism that held his memory).

Lots of stuff happened in the years in between, and I won’t go into it all here, but suffice it to say that when Matthew the Raven admits he’s not always been a good person, that’s a bit of an understatement.

The Sandman #15, “Into the Night”

In short: He basically lost his mind, but that also gave him powers (to alter reality no less, ha! No wonder he piqued Dream’s interest 🤣). Unfortunately, Matt didn’t exactly use those powers for good (since he could only really access them when drunk or severely distressed, he had “wonderful” ideas like manipulating reality for creations he could have sex with, and those acts got more and more grotesque as time passed). That obviously wasn’t great for his marriage to Abigail Arcane (or rather: Holland at the time he meets Morpheus). Now you know why he got so excited about strip clubs in Brief Lives 🙈.

Matthew then had a car accident while driving under the influence in 1984.

Swamp Thing #84, cover art by John Totleben

Lots of goings on between this point and issue #84, but again long story short: Matthew eventually ended up in a coma, and since he was an organ donor, a corrupt hospital administrator uses him as an organ farm. Enter first Eve in dreams (ha! again) and then Morpheus, who basically advises him to end his life so his ex-wife Abby can exist in peace after all these years (she is pregnant with… something, which Morpheus also cryptically alludes to here. Plus the hospital administration tries to land her with a nearly 3 million dollar bill for all the years Matt has been on life support). Before Abby can unplug said life support herself, Matthew comes to, gathers all his strength for one final time and destroys the machines that keep him alive to spare Abby the guilt. In his final moments, he asks her to forgive him and move on. Also: He quite strictly did not die in his sleep, so how did that work? 🧐 Dream logic 🤣

Morpheus’ cameo had been agreed upon with NG at the time (he is mentioned in the credits). And since issue #84 has been published in March 1989, you can also tell that we’re pretty firmly in Sam Kieth territory, and that Mandrake & Alcala tried to replicate Dream’s look accordingly. Plus: The first issue in which Matthew the Raven appears in The Sandman (“Moving In” of The Doll’s House arc) was published in October 1989. So they had this cooking for a bit.

Oh, John Constantine also makes an appearance in that issue. They worked really hard at the time to tie it all together…

[browsethestacks]

Swamp Thing #066 (1987)

Art by Rick Veitch And Tom Yeates

[balu8]

Epic Illustrated #1: The Answer

by Stan Lee; John Buscema; Rudy Nebres and Rick Veitch

Marvel

[drafthearse]

Swamp Thing #37. Rick Veitch, John Totleben (artists), Tatjana Wood (colorist), John Costanza (letterer), Alan Moore (writer).

[ultrameganicolaokay]

John Constantine, Hellblazer by Jamie Delano Omnibus Volume 1 by Jamie Delano, Rick Veitch, John Ridgway, Richard Piers Rayner, Alfredo Alcala and more. Cover by Dave McKean. Out in October.

"The story that defined John Constantine! For the first time, experience the series as it was meant to be read with the interweaving narrative between Hellblazer and Swamp Thing restored and the story of Constantine in the wake of Moore’s saga finally told. Collects John Constantine, Hellblazer #1-22, John Constantine, Hellblazer Annual #1, Swamp Thing (vol. 2) #65-77, and The Sandman #3, along with a foreword by Garth Ennis, an introduction by Delano, and more!"

[dinosaurgiantpenny]

[thecomicsnexus]

SWAMP THING #69-75

FEB - AUG 1988 By Rick Veitch , Brett Ewins, Alfredo Alcala, Tatjana Wood, John Costanza, Dave McKean, Tom Yeates, John Totleben, and Mike Kaluta.

After refusing to destroy his successor, Swamp Thing accidentally puts his world at risk. Now with the help of John Constantine, he will need to find a new soul for the sprout, and finally retire to live with Abby.

SCORE: 9

The only thing stopping this review from being a 10 is the very complex lore that is starting to make the book very dense. Especially if you come back to the back after a long break. And it's not just the lore, it's also how long these stories are running.

In any case, reading these issues was very refreshing. It was back when stories, no matter how serialized they were, still had a good sense of pacing. And Rick Veitch made sure to give you something back for your money every month.

To me the best episode of this batch was the one with the plane accidents. Looking for a successor for Swampy, John Constantine does all kinds of risky things, just to be able to single out a person who was about to die who was somewhat related to Alec Holland.

But this Gary Holland immediately realizes he is about to die, and every single moment of his last day is plagues with bad omens. Still, John has no other choice but to get in the plane that was about to crash, just to save the world. John survives the plane crash, but then find out that Swampy found the souls of the plane crash and helped move on to the afterlife (he was unaware of John's plan). It was so dark and funny, that it really reminded me of Vertigo comics (or perhaps the average Alan Grant story).

The next episode had also a very creative narrative device. With the panel orientation being taken over by the line of captions, making every page with the character, technically a maze.

These are all very thought-provoking stories with a lot of poetry in the art itself.

But I have to repeat myself here. The great moments were possible thanks to the super long arc, which doesn't even end with issue #75. However, I felt it was the right time to finish the binge. I already knew that Abby was going to try to be a mother, so it didn't come as a surprise.

And here's another thing that's going to make this story even longer. It will crossover with Hellblazer. And I am not sure how much it will matter for the book, but Invasion will also tie in with this book.

Nevertheless, I'll take that small flaw (same problem the Legion books always have), in favor of stories like these.

[tomoleary]

Rick Veitch and Steven R. Bissette 1941 (1979) Source

[smashpages]

Out this week: Swamp Thing by Rick Veitch, Book One: Wild Things (DC, $29.99): Oh, now this is both interesting and welcome — DC begins to collect Rick Veitch’s run on Swamp Thing, which ended in controversial fashion. This first volume features the beginning of his run, from issue #65 through #73, as well as the issues of Hellblazer that crossed over around that time by Jamie Delano and John Ridgway. It also includes a story from Secret Origin #23 that Veitch wrote featuring the Floronic Man, with art by Brett Irwin.

The question I have, though, is whether we’ll see a second volume — and if that volume will include the version of Swamp Thing #88 that Veitch wrote and Michael Zulli drew, that featured Swamp Thing meeting Jesus Christ. The controversial issue was completed but never published, and Veitch quit the title as a result. Which is too bad, because it was part of a bigger time travel epic that Veitch never got to finish.

See what other comics and graphic novels are arriving in stores this week.

[anotherbuskitten]

Swamp Thing #72

[radiodormouse]

[balu8]

Star Wars #42: The Empire Strikes Back Chapter Four

by Archie Goodwin/Carlos Garzon; Glynis Oliver and Rick Veitch

Marvel

[ladythatsmyskull]

King Hell Heroica grawlix-style t-shirt ad featuring deceased politicians and celebrities. Art by Rick Veitch.

Published in MAXIMORTAL #1-7 (1992).

[comicartarchive]

Swamp Thing 79 Cover by Rick Veitch