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I think this book has the most impact if you’ve started a little earlier in the series. The Wein/Wrightson issues are essential of course, but even the Pasko run (while floundering a bit toward the end of the overlong Antichrist arc) helps to build up to what comes next. At the end of his run, Martin Pasko reintroduces Abby and Matt Cable, now married and bonded together only by their shared paranoia and extraordinary experiences. Matt is now a guilt-ridden alcoholic with dangerous visions, which is putting a huge strain on the relationship. In addition to this, Arcane makes his terrifying return as a grotesque insectoid monster. These important (re)introductions to the series (not to mention Totleben and Bissette coming on board as the creative team at this time) were instigated in Pasko’s time and really gave Moore something to work with when he took over as writer. But it was Moore’s unique vision for the character that will forever see his name associated with this comic series.

Over the previous decade or so, Swamp Thing has grudgingly endured all of the horrors thrown at him, from the most evil and bigoted members of human society to malevolent supernatural beasts, all in the hope that one day he will be afforded enough time and solitude to be able to work out how to become human again. With #21, Moore tells Swampy that he was never a human, merely a “ghost dressed in weeds�. This issue instantly became a fan favourite, not only because of the cataclysmic repercussions for the character and the series that would necessarily follow, but because it was beautifully written and well-paced.

After an initial outburst of anger, and then a slump into depression, the next few issues see Swamp Thing trying to get a handle on his new identity while battling his polar opposite. His nemesis here is Woodrue, who gets a taste of the plant consciousness that Swampy is now a part of and decides to willingly reject all that is human about him, and to rid the Earth of humans in the process. With numerous other DC superheroes unable to intervene, and physical violence unable to stop Woodrue, Swampy must reason with him and argue for the interdependence of human and vegetable life.

The next arc in the book takes the reader back to supernatural horror, with a monster being accidentally summoned via a Ouija board and Swampy having to team up with the rhyming demon Etrigan to stop it. This arc sits pretty safely within the horror genre, with Moore here perhaps placating the regular Swampy readership, but his sense of what is truly terrifying is far more realistic, and therefore effective, than that of his predecessors. For example, a monster terrorises a psychiatric centre for Autistic children, appearing to them as their greatest fear and feeding off of their reactions. While earlier writers may have used this as an excuse for more vampire and werewolf battles, here a girl is visited by an apparition of her drunken slobbering father entering her bedroom, slurring “Mo-mee needunt kno-o-ow�. This breed of horror is a taste of what Moore explores further in the later ‘American Gothic� arc, where Swamp Thing battles supernatural personifications of the ills of American society.

This particular edition of Book 1 sees Moore first issue (#20) reprinted for the first time. While not exactly the low point of the collection, it does require a bit of background knowledge of the characters to be able to appreciate it. Moore here is tying up the loose ends of the Pasko run: Arcane is confirmed as dead, Liz and Dennis decide they have had enough and also depart, while Swamp Thing is captured in order to finally wipe the series clean of the Sunderland/government conspiracy subplot. Not only these major story elements are tied up, but “ALL of ‘em� every damned one�: Dallas Brandon, who was briefly introduced in a few panels in #16, is just as swiftly wiped out of existence here, unwittingly sacrificing himself for Liz and Dennis. For me, #20 is not just a gap filler before ‘The Anatomy Lesson�; it is quite a tense and climactic issue, and also examines further the lies within Abby and Matt’s relationship, and shows that Matt is now able to control his powers.

The book ends with Matt seemingly resurrected after a horrific car crash, and I doubt that many readers (even those who enjoyed this only marginally) would not want to continue onwards with the series. While the Monkey King arc is not my favourite, every story in this collection is immensely readable, with beautiful and horrifying passages throughout. I would give this my highest recommendation purely for the presence of ‘The Anatomy Lesson�, and I have not even gone into what Bissette and Totleben add to this series yet, so this is an easy 5 stars.