Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site decwrl.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!whuxlm!harpo!decvax!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-pen!kallis
From: kallis@pen.DEC
Newsgroups: net.comics
Subject: Saga of the Swamp Thing #40
Message-ID: <2771@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 19-Jun-85 09:31:38 EDT
Article-I.D.: decwrl.2771
Posted: Wed Jun 19 09:31:38 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 21-Jun-85 01:28:41 EDT
Sender: daemon@decwrl.UUCP
Organization: DEC Engineering Network
Lines: 32


	While I normally domn't review comics publicly, I'll gladly make an
exception in this case.  SOST#40 was special in many ways.
	I won''t say it's "daring" to build the whole plot on the menstrual
cycle, but it's certainly innovative; I was pleasantly surprised that 
somebody would do it, and do it that well.
	The basic story was interesting, but disappointing in that the
situation started out in the hopeless rage of the Red Lodge and ended
the same way; that the woman didn't realize that she had the power to
throw off the restricting aspcts of the Red Lodge (and that she didn't
"off" her inufferable husband, who deserved what he didn't get); that
the wwerewolf aspect wasn't focused more.  
	But the most disappointing aspect of the story was that the Samp
Thing was effectively extraneous.  In SOST#39, he played a central role
in resolving a problem; in SOST#40, he was merely a spectator.  With a
little more work, Swampy could be driven further into the background
until he becomes little more than a master of ceremonies for a tale ...
	This last thought is particularly unsettling because in the letter
column of the issue, the editors characterize the magazine as "a horror
comic"; funny, I've never thought of it that way, even though elements
of the stories are indeed flavored that way (it's more background against
which Swampy's growth and development are the foreground: would you call
"Rites of Spring" a horror story?).  If the editors get the idea of "horror
comic" fully into their minds, they could change the comic's flavor and
direction -- and not for the better.
	The one really good thing is that the written/visual script is ex-
tremely tight.  The kitchen knives shown in the first panel turn out to
be far more than background, for instance.  There's hardly a wasted word
or panel.  On that point alone, I think the comic's worth doing more than
reading: it should be studied.  It deserves it.

Steve Kallis, Jr.