Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Decent Comics: "The Leviathan Conspiracy" by Wein and Redondo

Dig it, Groove-opiles! "The Leviathan Conspiracy" in Swamp Thing #13 (August 1974) was writer/co-creator Len Wein's final ST script of the Groovy Age. Wein went out, imho, on a high note, tying up many loose ends, giving us a properly downbeat ending, and still taking time to script a rather iconic scene for artist Nestor Redondo to illustrate (page 18, natch, and, of course, the cover). Enjoy!





















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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 21, 2017 at 1:36 AM

    Hadn't actually read this one before, Groove, so thanks for posting. Much appreciated.

    Nestor Redondo did some great work - that last page in particular is stunning, so you (almost) don't miss Wrightson on Wein's call back to the original short.
    Although, of course, in retrospect ST "remembering the man he used to be" doesn't quite work as intended...
    (Mind you, for all I know of DC continuity these days, he may well currently be Alec Holland again)

    -sean

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    Replies
    1. Kevin LakeFebruary 21, 2017 at 8:34 AM

      The way DC works these days I would not be surprised if ST was secretly a gay Green Lantern.

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  2. Neil A. HansenFebruary 21, 2017 at 11:39 AM

    Only an accomplished illustrator like Nestor Redondo could have retained Berni Wrightson's vision of the Swamp Thing.

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  3. AnonymousMarch 7, 2017 at 5:36 PM

    Nestor Redondo "drew rings around" Wrightson (in Berni's words), but "never truly had a handle on the character" (also Berni's words). True. Nestor never really stayed 'on model' with the Swamp Thing. As Berni Wrightson drew him, the Swamp thing was missing his left ear entirely, he had a small 'knot' on his head that was rather like the sagittal crest of a gorilla, and the 'fin' that extended from his nasal cavity was larger and more pronounced on the right side, extending down to the side of his chin. I loved these asymmetries in Wrightson's original design. Redondo seemed to have missed them, and editor Joe Orlando didn't seem to correct him on them either. But even Wrightson slightly modified his design with issues 8, 9, and 10: the cut in the right side of the aforesaid fin was no longer there in these later issues. No one else - not even Berni - has drawn the Swamp Thing the way he looked in the original 10 issues.

    Regards,

    Chris A.

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