Absolute Swamp Thing by Alan Moore Vol. 2 Hardcover – October 27, 2020

(In fairness, I received my two Moore ST volumes today, and review, for the most part, book design). In Volume II, only the box's cover art seemed less than fortunate - reddish/pink hues distract compared with volume I's gorgeous back cover).However - Could the early to mid-80s have been a finer time? I had Stern's Spiderman Hobgoblin arc - and, at DC, as Watchmen waited in the wings, and as "Whatever Happened to the Man from Tomorrow?" and "For the Man Who Has Everything" - better Superman stories are hard to find - cooled, still prior to Morrison's American debut with his fourth-wall breaking po-mo antics in "Animal Man," we always had Alan Moore's venerable, sui generis (why not Latin?) reinvention of "Swamp Thing," in those halcyon days prior to the lame, grim and gritty days when the industry believed that Moore and Gibbons's magnum opus succeeded due, in some part, to its sexual content or its often 'off the page' violence (indeed of a more graphic nature).The great James 'Starman / JSA, Golden Age' Robinson has pointed out, the industry took the wrong message from Watchmen... instead of seeing Watchmen's complexity, its depth, as making it a game-changer in comics history - one, indeed, proceeded by Swamp Thing, Moore's elegiac, even romantic book that didn't lack for mindblowing SF - the industry opted for a dark that can feel adolescent rather than mature.Moore's save is considerable. As the title neared cancelation, it proved a perfect vehicle for Moore and his great art team... Steve Bissette, John Totleben, an initially uncredited Rick Veitch, who will helm the series later, letterer John Costanza, who makes individual voices breathe, and colorist Tatjana Wood, who got more out of pulp paper than anyone this side of Richmond Lewis in Batman: Year One. Of course, the absence of Ms. Wood in these II volumes (pardon, having received them both today after oft-reading them) I am excited and review - the book design here) may, indeed, engender controversy - a concern I had, until I received the books, and showed my son. I concede, for this book design, the move to colorist Steve 'Miracleman' Oliff - simply works.Above all, the book, as presented here, is as raw, as vital, living, and organic as it ever was. In fact, these two absolute editions particularly impress with their higher-end production values, better than those on other fine absolute editions. Is the interior cover thread? Whatever the coating, it mimics moss with its tackiness. These production values represent less of a reinterpretation and more of a refining. The additions of Moore's promotional material (Volume 1) "This is the place" - a downright literary flexing of verbal muscle - is better than nice. The full script in volume II - look at Moore's novelistic description... truly he had the right art team in place... make both volumes shine., so now we have The Anatomy Lesson and American Gothic - once more. I am eager to revisit Moore's fine, romantic coda in Volume III.

I am doing it 1 or 2 issues at a time to draw it out. I don't remember the coloring on the originals, but I am pretty sure that most were on newsprint and nowhere near as smooth as the coloring is in this book. It has a unique moss-like texture on the book cover front and back! This was a great purchase!

Not much to add that hasn't been said about this masterpiece. So I'll stick with reviewing this absolute edition. The Layout is perfect! Love the case cover and especially the back picture of Swamp Thing holding the Earth in his arms. The felt like mossy cover of the actual book is perfect. Some people complain about the new coloring, but I think it looks incredible.

A perfect match all-around with Volume 1! The slip cover box is beautiful on the back. They used the same felt material on the book itself as they did on volume 1 as well. This is such a beautiful collection. Haven’t gotten to flip through it and look at the recolored pages, but I suspect that it’s the same great quality. Very happy with this collection so far!

This is by far the best omnibus/absolute I have in my collection. The cool cover, amazing artwork & still relevant stories are just a few things that make this so good. Packaging was done very well, no damages. Highly recommend!

I've bought these stories multiple times. Single issues, trades, hardcover trades...etc. NOTHING compares to these oversized beauties. I've seen details in the artwork I've never seen before. Bucket list books for the shelf. I hope they continue to reprint these in this format.

Every thing about the deluxe is .....top top notch!

The ABSOLUTE line of DC Comics continue to impress. Easily worth it.