1:1 The key word here is "moon".

1:3 In background, meats highlight the story's bloody theme. On the package, "for freedom" highlights the irony in this panel's narrative.

2:3 Compare the x-rated posters with the 2:1 douche poster's attitude toward women.

2:5 Dogs barking emphasize the feral anger in this page's narrative. The savage dog imagery also appears in Moore's WATCHMEN #6.

2:6 The splotches form a face.

6:2 "That time of the month" " is a slang term for the menstruation period.

6:5 Joannie is judged here by her physical attractiveness, as is Phoebe in 7:4

8:1 Link from 7:4 "shifts & twists"/ST growing

9:5 PMS = Pre-Menstrual Syndrome

9:9 Link to 10:1 "spit it out"/"huk"

16:3 Letter: "Ladies! You may be a winner!"

17:6 "Clothing?taken?and destroyed" echoes Phoebe's actions in this panel.

19:6 Again, meat advertisements highlight the story's bloody theme.

21:4 "Good news for housewives"?

24 Pat Brosseau is a professional comic book letterer.

COMMENT: In 2001, DC Comics collected/reprinted ST #35-42 in a book also titled "Swamp Thing: The Curse". (Cover art by Simon Bisley shown at right)

Comments: The title phrase "The Curse" is a slang term women sometimes use to refer to their menstrual cycle. Phoebe (pronounced FEE bee) is another name for Artemis or Diana, the virgin goddess of the hunt and the moon.

COMMENT: This issue is reprinted in black and white as ESSENTIAL VERTIGO: SWAMP THING #21.

Comment: On the letters page, there is a letter from a pagan calling himself "Robin Goodfellow". This is one of the names of the wood-sprite Puck, from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream.

Comment: This issue sure generated a lot of heated mail, which is printed in upcoming issues, including a rare response from Alan Moore in #56. Artist Steve Bissette wrote in Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman that he had once proposed a similarly themed story to HEAVY METAL magazine.