Saga of the Swamp Thing #20: Moore’s prose is so pretty, although it feels wrong to say given the subject matter. He just seems to strive for a literary poeticism that most comics writers don’t or can’t do. It’s really immersive; are all these comics this good? #SwampedThing

Hell of a beginning. “Plump, warm summer rain that covers the sidewalk in leopard spots.” Coincidentally, I’m reading this in Washington, D.C., as summer rain beats on my roof and windows.

This succinct and effective recap is a stark contrast from the multiple page recaps earlier issues in previous team’s run served up. It’s all you need, really well done.

How to Ace a Job Interview in One Simple Step, by Jason Woodrue.

This is a prime example of what I’m talking about with Moore’s prose.

Another page (there was one last issue as well) where the colors do so much work for the story. I swear I felt a tinge of heat when I got to the red, and I felt it go away again when we moved to the cooler blue.

So this is the drastic reimagining Len Wein eluded to in his forward (noting in turn that he thought it was so much better than he and Wrightson’s original ideas).

This is a great moment of Moore expertly commanding the pace, speeding up with the amount of prose (or lack thereof) to keep the suspense heightened as the reader speeds through to see what happens next.

Finally, got-damn that is an outstanding circular story structure. Also, just realized I missed my chance to call Moore’s Swamp Thing prose “flowery” at the start of this thread. Damn.

And here’s the landing page for any curious what the deal with all this is... https://www.comicsbookcase.com/updates/swamp-thing-alan-moore-reading-project