{"id":18021,"date":"2012-02-10T07:08:03","date_gmt":"2012-02-10T12:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/?p=18021"},"modified":"2012-09-10T22:10:53","modified_gmt":"2012-09-11T02:10:53","slug":"history-of-the-comic-book-film-swamp-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/2012\/02\/10\/history-of-the-comic-book-film-swamp-things\/","title":{"rendered":"HISTORY OF THE COMIC BOOK FILM: Swamp Things"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a multi-part series, Comic Book Film Editor William Gatevackes will be tracing the history of comic book movies from the earliest days of the film serials to today\u2019s big blockbusters and beyond. Along with the history lesson, Bill will be covering some of the most prominent comic book films over the years and why they were so special. This time, the comic book muck monsters, Swamp Thing <\/strong>and Man-Thing<\/strong>, hit the big screen two decades apart. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

While Man-Thing, <\/strong>who made his debut in Marvel Comics\u2019 Savage Tales #1<\/strong>, cover dated May 1971, came before Swamp Thing, <\/strong>who debuted in DC Comics\u2019 House of Secrets #92<\/strong> cover dated July 1971, in the comics, the latter would beat the former to movie screens by more than twenty years, and even then Man-Thing <\/strong>would only be released internationally. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"The comic book origins of the two are remarkably similar. Both were working on secret formulas in laboratories located in swamps. \u00a0<\/strong>Both are attacked by foes looking to gain the formula for themselves. Both are exposed to the chemicals, become grievously injured, and end up coming to rest in the swamp where the formula and mystical forces work to combine the men\u2019s bodies with plant matter, creating a new lifeform. <\/span><\/p>\n

Due to the close proximity of release dates of their first appearances, it would be easy to write of the similarities as coincidence. However, Swamp Thing<\/strong>\u2019s co-creator, Len Wein, was roommates with Man-Thing\u2019s <\/strong>co-creator, Gerry Conway. Wein even wrote the second Man-Thing <\/strong>story that would have been in Savage Tales #2<\/strong> if the series wasn\u2019t cancelled.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether it was subliminal influence or direct copying, it didn\u2019t matter. Both characters bore more than a passing similarity to a Golden Age character called The Heap (which debuted in 1942) and each character went off into quite different directions after they first appeared\u2014Swamp Thing <\/strong>becoming a sentient being searching for revenge and a cure for his condition, Man-Thing <\/strong>becoming an essentially mindless force of nature wreaking havoc on all evil men who crossed its path. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Swamp Thing <\/strong>had more success in the comic book world, starring in a number of well-received series over the years. The first, written by Wein and drawn by co-creator Bernie Wrightson for the first ten issues, established the revenge\/looking for a cure with a horror tinge to it. That series ended in 1976, but it certainly was fresh in the minds of Hollywood filmmakers, who decided to make a film of it in the early 1980s.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The film, Swamp Thing<\/strong>, was written and directed by horror master Wes Craven, who was then known for The Hills Have Eyes <\/strong>and The Last House on the Left<\/strong> and was two years away from creating another of his seminal works, Nightmare on Elm Street<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n