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Writers & Artists of



ALAN MOORE
There's hardly enough room to explain the impact Moore has had on comic books. His SWAMP THING revolutionized the concept of what comics could be and inspired the creation of DC's Vertigo line, including HELLBLAZER and SANDMAN. He worked with SWAMP THING artist John Totleben on MIRACLEMAN, which deconstructed the superhero archetype. Moore's Hugo Award-winning novel WATCHMEN is often regarded to the greatest comic book work ever. It sparked a trend of grim deconstructionist imitators in the comics industry, which he tried to counter with his humorous retro-style series called 1963 and his America's Best Comics line. Moore's THE KILLING JOKE is the definitive story on Batman's relationship with the Joker. Although several of his books have been turned into films (V FOR VENDETTA, FROM HELL, LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN), he declines to take credit in the films, since they don't do justice to his ingenious writings. An outspoken social critic, Moore is also a musician, poet and student of the occult. He doesn't maintain a blog and hasn't left his town of Northampton, England for years.



RICK VEITCH
Following a long stint as penciller for SWAMP THING, including the official first appearance of John Constantine (and assisting with the art even back in #21), Rick Veitch scripted #62 and Annual 3 before taking over as regular writer for the series as of #65.

Veitch has created a number of original series (BRAT PACK, THE ONE, ARMY @ LOVE) and the graphic novel CAN'T GET NO.
It's a real shame that Veitch was unable to complete his fascinating "Swamp Thing lost in time" storyline, especially since it was almost done. Veitch had planned for Swamp Thing to meet Jesus Christ, but the publisher wouldn't allow it, for fear of offending readers. Veitch quit over this disagreement.

His blog: www.rickveitch.com.

Marsimport.com has a nice summary of his career.



STEVE BISSETTE
While he is primarily known for his pencilling on SWAMP THING, Steve Bissette was the writer for issue #59 ("Reunion" with the Patchwork Man) and #78 ("To Sow One's Seed in the Wind")
Bisette also wrote SWAMP THING ANNUAL #4 ("Threads") which guest-starred Batman and the backup story ("Traiteur").

Bissette also wrote a proposal for a spinoff series.
There is a collection of his work and related items at the Henderson State University Library.

Bissette was a member of Joe Kubert Art School's founding class, where he met John Totleben and other future comics creators whom he would work with. Bissette's school roommate, Larry Loc, claims that he is the visual model for the Chester Williams character.

Steve and John collaborated on a cover for THE COMICS JOURNAL issue (#?) in which the SWAMP THING creative team was interviewed. Says Steve:

"We did the cover for TCJ in barter for back issues and Fantagraphics books, but our intention was to convince our editor Karen Berger and the-powers-that-be to let John and I begin doing painted covers for SWAMP THING. It worked: once Karen saw this painting, John was in -- but I never was. Despite numerous overtures, Karen and DC never gave me a shot at painting a cover for the series, which was a determinative factor in my final decision to leave the series, except for the occasional guest-scripting spot."

He teamed up with John Totleben one last time to illustrate Neil Gaiman's "lost" Swamp Thing story (about the earlier plant elemental Jack-in-the-Green, who was first seen in #47) that was finally produced and printed in the "Neil Gaiman's Midnight Days" trade book. That's Steve saying "goodbye" at the end.

(Look for Bissette as a cop in issue #31 and his corpse in issue #70!) (View video clip of Bissette and Moore on the Metamorphosis episode(March 1992) of TVOntario's Prisoners of Gravity)

Bissette is an expert on classic underground and horror films. Some of his in depth essays can be found at his current blog: http://srbissette.com. (Not to be confused with his discontinued pre-2009 blog which is archived at srbissette.blogspot.com.



JOHN TOTLEBEN
An alumnus of Joe Kubert Art School, where he met Bissette and Veitch, John was the inker for most of Alan Moore stories. Totleben did a number of SWAMP THING covers as well. He also worked with Alan Moore on the acclaimed MIRACLEMAN series. With Bissette, he co-created and edited the anothology magazine Taboo, which showcased the original run of Moore's FROM HELL series.



ALFREDO ALCALA

An amazing, self-taught inker/artist, Alcala was able to work so quickly that many editors could not believe that he was only one person. Alcala passed away in 2000. Read an eulogy by Mark Evanier at www.povonline.com/cols/COL290.htm.



TOM YEATES

"T.Yeates", as he often signs his name, drew the first 13 issue arc of SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING, when the charcater was relaunched in 1982. Later, Tom inked several issues at the start of Veitch's run as writer, and a few towards the end. Like most SWAMP THING artists, Tom got his start with Joe Kubert, who had him draw back up stories in SGT ROCK. He is well known for his work on Tarzan and Zorro comic strips.



TATJANA WOOD

This German-born colorist was the only team member of the Moore/Veitch years to have worked on the original 1972 SWAMP THING series. She was married to the late legendary comics artist Wally Wood. She is a professional dressmaker and former theater costumer, and makes tapestries as a hobby.



JAMIE DELANO

Delano wrote the first 40 issues of John Constantine, HELLBLAZER, which spun off from SWAMP THING. He worked closely with Rick Veitch in a storyline which wove between the two series up until HELLBLAZER #10 and SWAMP THING issue #77, ("Infernal Triangles", which Delano also wrote.)

Delano also wrote one of the introductions for the trade paperback collection SWAMP THING: LOVE AND DEATH.

Delano was slated to take over as writer, along with Neil Gaiman, on SWAMP THING after Rick Veitch, but given the hard feelings over Veitch's quitting over the "Jesus Issue", they declined.



NEIL GAIMAN

Award-winning SANDMAN author Neil Gaiman wrote a few SWAMP THING stories as well, which are detailed at this link, including the BLACK ORCHID mini-series. His comics are very influenced by Moore's work.




DAVE McKEAN

McKean painted the art for the BLACK ORCHID mini-series and did the cover for SWAMP THING #71 and HELLBLAZER #10 (which crossed over with SWAMP THING). McKean is frequent collaborator with author Neil Gaiman.




DOUG WHEELER
Doug Wheeler was hired to take over as writer as of issue #88 after Rick Veitch quit (as stated above).

In the published version, Wheeler finished the censored time-travel storyline, without including Jesus.



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