Took a break yesterday since my girl and I were still celebrating her 25th birthday,
so you know, priorities;)
Working on the second skit strip now, so we'll get to that one Thursday.
Today, is another edition of Back Issue Spotlight featuring Swamp Thing.
Specifically, Swamp Thing#15 from his first ongoing series all the way back to 1975.
So break out your pet rocks, bell-bottoms and tube socks, 'cause we're going back in time......
Swamp Thing#15 (Vol. 1) (April '75) "The Soul Spell Of Father Bliss" By David Micheline and Nestor Redondo.
Who says you don't learn things from comics?
If the groovy title doesn't grab you, how about Swampy getting straight up struck by lighting?
That'll sure sell some copies, by God!
Poor bastard was just minding his own business, when he just happens to run afoul of mother nature.
Layed out like a champ, he comes to as a strange man happens by to help him.
The guys justhappens to be a priest. A "father" if you will. Maybe like the one in the title of today's story perhaps?
Father Bliss is the name of the stranger, and unlike most people who comes across Swampy, he doesn't run from fear of him, nor want to kill/hurt him.
Actually he just wants to help him....and rub him down with some lotion/"home remedies"
You know were thinking it too
Swampy seeing that his church is looking kinda' fucked up and bombed out(even by middle eastern standards), starts to head for the door, but then Father Bliss feels compleed to explain why his church looks the way it does, and why there's no congregation there anymore.
Basically Bliss says that his "flock" have strayed away from God so much, he felt he had to resort to using the other side's tactics in an attempt to win them back.
Obviously its worked so well for him so far since he's still spends his days preaching to an invisible choir.
Look at Swampy over there. He's like "Awww, that old priest looks so cute trying to use black magic."
Actually no, not cute.
Turns out Father Bliss has been working with a demon named Nebiros(*who may or may not be the same demon that created the Blue Devil*) and that demon sensed Swampy's presense and now wants to posses his body since Swampy's so....sturdy.
*
- "Even though they share the same name, Nebiros is not the same demon which appears in the 1980's comic Blue Devil. Different appearances aside, this is confirmed in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #16 (1986)."
Well that answers that huh?
Oh yeah, forgot to mention Swampy's friends.
Matt Cable and Abigal Arcane. They were regulars during this time period, and definitely before Abbie and Alec/Swampy hooked up during Moore's run.
A very possessed Swampy attacks his concerned friends and takes them straight to Father Bliss who has some nice and very family-friendly plans for them. NOT!
Bliss' pal Nebiros needs all the nice fresh souls he can get, so Bliss plans on helping him since Nebiros promisedf to return his congregation to him.
But Bliss starts to get second thoughts after seeing him destroy a human soul in person.
Matt's words are enough to convince Father Bliss he was wrong to help Nebiros, and Bliss starts to fix things by freeing Swampy of his new host.
This naturally pisses off Nebiros something fierce and after Abby breaks the mystical orb that held Swampy's soul, Nebiros begins to attack everybody.
An epic battle rages between Swampy and Nebiros once they lock up, with a stalemate occuring.
It's then that Bliss decides to con Nebiros into possessing his tired old body, and Nebiros practially kills the both of them once Bliss' body burns up due to being way to frail to contain all of Nebiros.
After that, what's left of Bliss' church blows up and collapses on itself.
And that's how it pretty much ends.
Say what you will about this era of Swampy's history, but it definitely opened the door for all sorts of weirdness and fucked up shit to happen alot. If it wasn't demons trying to posses him, it was fucked up monsters, and zombies that happened to cross his path. Trust me, all that weird and philisophical shit that Alan Moore is praised for bringing to Swampy hadn't set any precedents that writers like Micheline, Wein, and others hadn't already introduced into the book themselves.
4 comments:
i gotta take some issue with that last sentence in your posting Dale. i've read a lot of Swamp Thing in my time and when Moore came on board he immediately blew readers away with a totally original concept. that being that ST was not a plant/human hybrid that could some how be cured but in fact is a sentient plant with the conscience of Alec Holland. and he introduced this revelation in an absolutely horrific and yet eloquent story line. the direction that Moore took ST in was truly unique and is part of an era of comics during the 80s that started to be more geared toward older readers.
True, and I'm not disputing that fact. Moore helped revitalize and revolutionize modern comics into what they are now.
What I was trying to say was he wasn't the first guy though to set the tone of sheer weirdness and unpredictibility in Swamp Thing.
But yes, he did do it better than those who came before.
that's the ticket.
@Shlomo: You Moore Whore;) lol
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