There’s a darkness spreading out from the heart of America. A darkness that finds its roots in the past, but whose evils are a reminder of our present suffering. It’s a darkness that Swamp Thing will discover for himself, even as he learns truths that will reshape his entire world.
Alan Moore’s run on Swamp Thing from 1984 through 1987 redefined the title as a modern existential classic that touched everything from the nature of identity to the legacy of comic books. From the internal reformation of “The Anatomy Lesson” to the cosmic love of “Rite of Spring,” the first half of Moore’s Swamp Thing run is intensely focused on the creature who once thought himself to be Alec Holland gaining a greater understanding of his true self and finding love with longtime friend Abigail Arcane. It’s a series of stories that slowly push into the mystical nature of reality and consciousness, and it’s that mysticism that violently collides with modern societal issues in a 14-issue arc known as “American Gothic
writer Alan Moore was on the book for well over 40 issues.