#comicbookchallenge

#comicbookchallenge with @spidersaiyan ! Part 2. As the deadline closes in, I feel the quality of my panels get worse and worse haha.

#comicbookchallenge with @spidersaiyan #! Part 1. As the deadline closes in, I feel the quality of my panels get worse and worse.

#38 is the first issue of Swamp Thing I ever bought. It scared the living sh*t out of me. That alone is reason to recommend it. At the time, nothing in mainstream comics had the pure emotional resonance of Swamp Thing, and, honestly, nothing really has ever since.  Macabre, political, subversive, disturbing - these are not words usually associated with DC and Marvel comics even today. Somehow Alan Moore and his collaborators pulled it off again and again with this series. I remember trying to convince my peers in the 80s that Swamp Thing was a reason to take comic books seriously. No one really listened. They listen now.

I was always a Marvel/DC kind of guy and never cared much for indie publishers or books until I discovered Mage: The Hero Discovered. Clever writing, brilliant art (that improves SUBSTANTIALLY over the course of the series) and a mysterious concept hooked me from the start. I don’t think Matt Wagner has done anything better, and even the sequel series failed to live up to the beauty of this one. My former students may note that I’ve always had a Kevin Matchstick figure on or around my desk, usually just to irritate those who have no idea who he is. I don’t think anyone has ever guessed accurately. More fun for me.