#Rick Veitch & Steve Bissette

[70sscifiart]

Left: Frank McCarthy's 1964 poster for "The Train." Right: Rick Veitch & Steve Bissette's 1979 artwork for the Heavy Metal graphic novel adaptation of "1941"

[neil-gaiman]

Hello, a fan from Lithuania here :). First of all, I really admire and and appreciate the way you interact with fans, it's truly unique and precious :). And I also love how you deal with the haters, your classy yet completely devastating sass is something to behold :D.

Now the question: I was watching a Sandman cast interview today, and I was surprised you all pronounce the surname "Constantine" as "Constant-EYE-n". I've watched the DC series "Constantine", "Legends of Tomorrow" and that movie with Keanu Reeves and they all pronouced John Constantine's name as "Constan-TEEN". Considering Joanna is supposed to be his relative in the same/related universe, I assumed her last name would be pronounced the same? Did people never bothered to decide how to pronounce John Constantine's (and his relatives') name, so it's open to anyone's guesses?

Alan Moore named and co-created the character, and that's how he pronounced it.

And that's how it was pronounced in the comic he first showed up in.

[dinosaurgiantpenny]

[smashedpages]

While the rest of the DC Universe was dealing with a Crisis on Infinite Earths, Swamp Thing and other mystical characters had a crisis all their own to contend with. It came to a head in Swamp Thing #50 by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, Rick Veitch and John Totleben, which was released on this day in 1986.

In this issue, Swamp Thing, Deadman, Etrigan, Phantom Stranger, Doctor Fate and an army of angels and demons would face off with the Great Darkness as John Constantine and a circle of magic types tried to help from Earth via a séance that would not end well for Sargon the Sorcerer, Mento or Zatara. This was Moore's Swamp Thing at its finest.

[the-gershomite]

Monkey See by Steve Bissette & Rick Veitch 

Epic Illustrated #2 1980

[celestialmega]

The Saga of The Swamp Thing by Alan Moore, John Totleben, Steve Bissette and Rick Veitch.

[balu8]

Epic Illustrated #2: Monkey See

by Steve Bissette and Rick Veitch

Marvel

[rolledspinepodcasts]

The Spawnometer

Episode 0:0:3:7

1963

Spawn #37 & 1963 (1993)

[dynamobooks]

John Ostrander, Del Close et al: Munden’s Bar, Volume 1 (1984-1986/2007)

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"IMAGE COMICS GOES BACK TO THE FUTURE" -- COMMEMORATING 30 YEARS OF "1963" IN 2023!

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on cover art to "Inside Image" #2 (April, 1993), and featuring an interview about the then newly-released "1963" comic-book series by Image Comics, with creators Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and Rick Veitch.

""1963" is a statement about superheroes, from their humble and simplistic beginnings to the complex and cynical brand of super-heroes that are state-of-the-art these days. The evolution of the genre, from what it was to what it is now, is what makes "1963" work for me. The stark contrast between its beginnings and its current state are going to be right there for everyone to look at."

-- RICK VEITCH (American comic-book creator/artist/co-creatir of "1963")

Source: https://glycon.livejournal.com/11597.html.

[brettsinger]

American Flagg! and More

My guest this week is comedian Al Bahmani! Spoilers for Black Adam and American Flagg. What nationalities would enjoy the Black Adam movie? What is the comic American Flagg! about? What does Howard Chaykin do every year? What did TV shows did Gerry Conway write for? And J. Michael Straczynski? What characters did Gerry Conway create? What's wrong with Superman movies? What should Zack Snyder be directing? Who is Hitman? What's a good way to get rid of comic books? What did Amazon do to Comixology? What is the Hoopla app? Why won't George RR Martin ever finish Game of Thrones? What is Six String Samurai? Who should do a movie of The Spirit?

(Long) Reading list: American Flagg! https://amzn.to/3Xn0DFk

Wild Cards novels, some comics https://amzn.to/3D5qEAO

Tuf Voyaging by George RR Martin https://amzn.to/3XJ3oQZ

The Armageddon Rag by George RR Martin https://amzn.to/3GWrktF

Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel by Reginald Hudlin, Aaron McGruder and Kyle Baker https://amzn.to/3XH6rdb

King David by Kyler Baker https://amzn.to/3XJ0Xy6

Contract with God trilogy by Will Eisner https://amzn.to/3J4hyby

Old Shazam! comics

The Cold Equations (also Twilight Zone episode) https://amzn.to/3QWid0l

Pre Alan Moore Swamp Thing

John Ostrander Suicide Squad https://amzn.to/402dLBE

Hitman by Garth Ennis https://amzn.to/3kx6cTa

Issue #13 of Hitman Zombie Night at the Gotham Aquarium

Issue #34 of Hitman, Superman story

Hellblazer by Garth Ennis https://amzn.to/3GTmdu9

Preacher https://amzn.to/3wjozha

The Kingdom by Mark Waid https://amzn.to/3XKA0tH

The Boys https://amzn.to/3WrUXZl

The Foot Soldiers https://amzn.to/3J376Rq

Unknown Soldier by Garth Ennis https://amzn.to/3J0ajRS

Powers https://amzn.to/3QT6U9k

Once and Future by Kieron Gillen https://amzn.to/3J0j1zp

Young Avengers by Kieron Gillan https://amzn.to/3QWOB33

Uber by Kieron Gillan https://amzn.to/3wj9VGs

Avengers: The Children's Crusade https://amzn.to/3Xqo6Wf

D.P. 7 https://amzn.to/3HjFNB1

The Stars My Destination, novel and graphic novel https://amzn.to/3ZPAQHo

Google steve bissette rick veitch for a bunch of stuff

Klaus by Grant Morrison https://amzn.to/3kupGYv

Longshot by Ann Nocenti https://amzn.to/3wk6uzo

Fabian Nicieza X-Factor with Joe Quesada artwork https://amzn.to/3iPc4Xw

Watch list: Mo Amer - The Vagabond (comedy special, he was in Black Adam) https://www.netflix.com/title/80239503

Dealer's Choice Twilight Zone episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuxhcHiRDo

The Nightcrawlers Twilight Zone episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfGT4kzTevI

Once and Future King Twilight Zone episode (written by George RR Martin) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6vdsmrNerI

Paladin of The Lost Hour Twilight Zone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdgpx_VtO30

Invincible https://amzn.to/3kzBJnh

Six String Samurai (full movie) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaPP00uNkNI

Check out Comics Who Love Comic Books!

[thecomicsnexus]

SWAMP THING #29-31, ANNUAL #2 OCTOBER 1984 - JANUARY 1985 BY ALAN MOORE, STEVE BISSETTE, RICK VEITCH, JOHN TOTLEBEN, ALFREDO ALCALA AND TATJANA WOOD

SYNOPSIS (FROM DC DATABASE)

Abby Cable reunites with the Swamp Thing, after he had sent her away in a rage weeks before. Despite having yelled at her about it the last time they met, he allows her now to call him Alec. Prior to this, after his revelation about his true identity of not being Alec fundamentally, he feels that he should not be referred to as such. She had been afraid that he hated her, and that she would lose her good friend, but they embrace, as good friends as ever.

Later, she and her husband Matt go for a drive, and he announces that he has three surprises for her. After some playful teasing, he reveals that he has made a down payment on an enormous mansion. As he gives her a tour, she is overwhelmed by how great it looks. However, in the bedroom, she catches a faint odour of burning insects, but it fades.

He takes her for a second surprise, showing that he's found a job at Blackriver Recorporations under a man named Eric Loveday. Inside, she has visions of Matt's coworkers as disgusting, decaying corpses, but a moment later, they appear normal. She doesn't mention what she saw to Matt, nor does she ask what "recorporations" means. Instead, she asks what the third surprise is. Matt opts to save that one for later.

She was happy to go back to the mansion, and was pleased (albeit somewhat suspicious) of the change in Matt's personality. They went to the bedroom, and made love. Afterwards, she went to the library to look up books on autism for her job. In the psychology section, she discovered a book about one of Matt's coworkers suggesting that she was a murderer. She returned home, and read it frantically, discovering that the woman called Sally Parks had killed 15 people for no reason at all, and was finally shot dead by police 22 years ago.

Abby recalls that Matt had been different since the strange events at Elysium Lawns, her workplace. In fact, he had been acting strangely since they were last in West Virginia. Suddenly, she realizes what the significance of Matt's job is, and who he really is. She understands, finally, that for months she has been married to her uncle, Anton Arcane.

After this disturbing revelation, Abby tries to burn her clothes, and uses up all of the soap trying to wash a horrible stink from herself. Finally, she turns to a steel brush used to scrape potatoes, and uses it on her own skin, eventually passing out from pain and blood loss after 20 minutes.

She wakes naked in the kitchen, and searches for her clothes, trying to get out before Matt returns. Unfortunately, he discovers her, and along with all of his 'coworkers'. They drop their facade when Anton Arcane mutters to her, “Just say uncle,” as he grips her by her hair.

Anton Arcane, having possessed the body of Matthew Cable uses his new found reality-warping powers to incite acts of evil and violence all over Louisiana. After thinking on all of the carnage he's causing, his thoughts return to his niece Abigail, who he is holding captive.

Arcane explains to her how his soul was hurled into the region of “bodiless men” after his death in combat with the Swamp Thing. He fought free of that plane, and began his plan to inhabit Matt's body. He explains that Matt was not free of corruption, squandering his reality-warping powers by attempting to satisfy his own insatiable lust. Arcane had then incited a young autistic boy named Paul's late parents to summon the Monkey King, thus luring Abby and Swamp Thing away, and leading Matt Cable into his fateful accident. After the accident, he had easily taken the opportunity to possess Matthew, with the dying man's consent. Finally, he declares to Abby that he is Arcane, as hands drag her down through the floor.

In outer space, the Monitor is notified by his assistant Harbinger to the strange happenings in Louisiana. Rather than intervene, they simply observe. At Arkham Asylum, Jason Woodrue screams in a deranged state about something coming out of the bayou. In his own cell, the Joker has stopped laughing.

In the swamp, Swamp Thing is confused by a sudden snowfall. Suddenly, Arcane attacks. It doesn't take Swamp Thing long to realize that his old adversary has returned. Arcane mocks him, baiting him by stating that he has Abigail. Lured by Arcane to his mansion, Swamp Thing enters and then emerges with Abigail's lifeless body, demanding to know how long she has been dead.

Possessing the body of Matthew Cable, Anton Arcane reveals to Swamp Thing that he has not only killed his friend Abby Cable, but he has also sent her guiltless soul to Hell. He chases Swamp Thing with a plague of abominations, but he is lured back to the swamp by his prey.

From outer space, the events in Louisiana are being observed by Harbinger and The Monitor. Despite Harbinger's concern about the dramatic levels of supernatural activity going on there, The Monitor refuses to intervene. He is, however, unable to tear his eyes away from his viewer.

Arcane believes that his power gives him control over the swamps, but it is there that Swamp Thing reveals to his foe the new power he has gained from communion with the world of flora. Arcane is taken aback, unaware of the fact that Alec Holland and the Swamp Thing were never one and the same. Swamp Things' elemental power is able to hurt Arcane, and weaken his hold over his host's body to the point that he is forced into an internal struggle with Matthew Cable's consciousness.

Matt wrests some of Arcane's control away, and decides that after what happened to Abby, he would give up the extension that his life was given in order to send Arcane to Hell. Arcane's soul is condemned to Hell, leaving only Matthew's battered and broken body - the wounds from his car accident returned to him. He admits to Swamp Thing that it was his own weakness that allowed Arcane to kill Abby.

Swamp Thing suggests that Matthew could use his reality-warping powers to heal himself. Matthew doesn't want to live, however, and instead, decides to help bring Abby back to life. Though he is weary, Matthew is able to regenerate his wife's cells, making her blood flow, her heart beat, and her lungs breathe, but he fails to return her soul before dying. Swamp Thing then gathers Abby into his arms and walks further into the swamp, leaving Matthew's body to be found by police.

Following the death of Anton Arcane, Swamp Thing is left with the living but soulless body of his friend Abby Cable. Knowing that her soul has been condemned to hell, he swears that he would follow her if he could. Suddenly, he realizes that he may be able to do just that, by casting his consciousness into The Green.

He traverses The Green, and finds himself tempted to simply let himself be lost within it. Fortunately, he regains his drive, and moves beyond The Green, and beyond life itself, into a new plane. He finds himself in a strange place, which seems to be empty and constantly changing. A woman appears, wondering where she is, and looking for her son. Before he can say anything, the boy appears, and leads his mother into a bright light, leaving Swamp Thing alone.

Moments later, a voice catches his attention. It is the voice of Boston Brand, also known as Deadman. He explains that Swamp Thing has found his way to the Region of the Just Dead, a place where those who have just died end up before passing on. Swamp Thing inquires after Abby's soul, and Deadman admits that having died the day before, it is likely she has already passed on into the lights.

Deadman can go no further, but they are suddenly startled by the appearance of the Phantom Stranger. The Stranger leads Swamp Thing through the light to a green place that seems like paradise. He explains that it is an aspect of Heaven, one of an infinite number. This aspect belongs, as it turns out, to Alec Holland. Alec thanks Swamp Thing for finally burying his body, and allowing him to pass on to Heaven. He lives there with his wife Linda, and they are discussing reincarnation. Alec invites Swamp Thing to meet Linda, but he declines.

Having explored the two nicer options, the Stranger and Swamp Thing are left with no choice by to go to Hell, and seek out Abby. Before they can gain entry, however, they must ask permission from The Spectre. The Spectre refuses permission, claiming that Abby's consignment to Hell is by the decree of God. The Phantom stranger argues that if she was unjustly condemned, then Hell has no reason. Contrarily, the Spectre responds that being able to return from death would similarly render life meaningless. The Stranger shrewdly asks what that means for Jim Corrigan - the man whose body the Spectre currently inhabits. Bested, the Spectre lets them pass.

At the gates of Hell, the Phantom Stranger states that he cannot enter with Swamp Thing. Fortunately, Etrigan appears, and offers his help since the Swamp Thing helped him defeat the Monkey King. However, he requires a fee: a flower that the Phantom Stranger plucked from the western slope of Heaven. The payment made, Etrigan leads Swamp Thing into hell.

As they wander through hell, they encounter some demons who are using General Sunderland as a slave. When he recognizes Swamp Thing as the one who killed him, the demons rip out his tongue to keep him quiet. Realizing that these demons will be of no help to them, Etrigan leads Swamp Thing deeper.

Next, they encounter Anton Arcane, condemned to have the eggs of insects hatching inside of him for eternity. He mocks Swamp Thing's attempt to retrieve Abby, warning that he won't want her once he sees her. Before Swamp Thing leaves, Arcane demands to know how many years he has been in hell. When Swamp Thing responds that it has only been one day, Arcane screams in horror.

Finally, Swamp Thing and Etrigan discover Abby's soul being tormented by a group of demons. Angrily, he attacks them, pushing them aside. The demons become angry, and Swamp Thing is forced to grab Abby and run. Desperately, Etrigan tries to open an escape route out of Hell, while they evade the demons' attacks. However, Arcane bites into Swamp Thing's ankle, gripping with his jaws. He complains that without Abby's soul still in hell, his revenge is moot, and he suffers without any satisfaction. With time running out, Etrigan loosens Arcane's grip with a kick and sends Abby and Swamp Thing through the exit.

Back in the swamp, Abby awakens with no memory of what happened to her. She is puzzled to see that Swamp Thing is crying.

REVIEW

Sophisticated horror. That is honest advertisement.

Alan Moore was known around this time for his revisionism of whatever was broken. It is strange that he ended up “fixing” Swamp Thing, as it wasn’t really broken (wasn’t a best-seller either). But with this, he made comic-book history.

But he is not alone, as usual, Moore is paired with amazing artists that put something of their own in the art. You can see it all over, culture and pop-culture references, shadows and reflections that tell a different story, sad gazes. This story has all of that.

There are a lot of horrible (in a good way) moments, and a lot of sad ones as well. The sequence where Swamp Thing meets Alec Holland and sees Linda in the distance. There are no thought balloons here, but it is evident that Swamp Thing still has false memories of loving her.

Moore pretty much closed most of the loose ends he received, showing the final fate of the villains souls. Poor Arcane thought he was fighting Alec Holland, that was a great moment.

I couldn’t recommend this story enough. There are many collected editions, but you can also find digital copies on Comixology (I would wait for a bundle sale around the time the tv show comes out).

I give this story a score of 10

[comicarthistory]

Swamp Thing #61 cover. 1987. Art by Steve Bissette.

[longerbox]

I certainly can’t think of a better way to end an epic tale of philosophical thought and human/vegetable coitus than “let the good times roll.”

[celestialmega]

The Saga of The Swamp Thing by Alan Moore, John Totleben, Steve Bissette and Rick Veitch.

[theblackestofsuns]

“Her New Home”

Swamp Thing #64 (September 1987)

Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, Tom Yeates, Rick Veitch, Alfredo Alcala and Tatjana Wood

DC Comics