Comic Book Resources

I don't really understand what's happening in this scene.

I tried to elaborate a bit more for ya, Jakub!

Yeah, I'm a bit confused as to why this is on the list. I just don't know enough about her or her husband at all to understand why this is such a cool moment. It SEEMS dramatic, but I'm too detached from any of it to care. Even with the elaboration before the pages.

Abby Cable is the niece of the evil sorceror Anton Arcane, who had seemingly been killed off awhile back.

Well, Abby's husband Matthew was seemingly killed in a card accident, but he managed to survive, but he wasn't acting the same way. Something was...different about him.

"Just say uncle."

Christ, it's hardly the new math, people.

ewww...

I have to confess I hadn't read more than the occasional issue of Swamp Thing, so when you say Abby's Husband Matt was killed in a card accident, is that a typo, or should we really be pointing the finger at Gambit?

It's a car accident, but I like the idea of a card accident.

In a comic where someone get impaled by a swordfish anything could happen. (and that's got to be a potential moment there Brian - or more specifically the prediction of that event)

That moment's already on the list, DanCJ.

And I knew a guy who took an ace of spades in the chest back in 'Nam. They sent him home in four Ziploc bags....

Oh shit, incest!

Abby realizes husband Matt Cable is actually her own father, Anton Arcane. Who's also had sex with her, 'cause he's an evil, demented old perv.

And her house guests are all dead people. One of them was a female spree killer. I'm guessing the others were just as nasty.

This is one creepy comic.

My bad, Arcane is her uncle, not her father, hence the "punchline."

Still incest, though...

[...] but I can’t resist another example to illustrate my point. Today’s example of a Great Comicbook Moment is from Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing.  It’s supposed to be a great moment because we care about the characters and they are in [...]

Just makes you feel all sorts of itchy all-over and go right into the shower with a scouring brush.

heh heh heh

That Moore guy sure knew how to get in under your skin, eh?

Cool art by the Bissette/Totleban team.

Yeah, this issue was intensely creepy, and the art only further solidifies that, as you can almost get a sense of decay on everything, particularly when Abby is figuring everything out. Her worldview begins to fall apart, and the art reflects that superbly.

"Shut your fucking face, unclefucker..."

wasn't this the exact moment that made the Comics Code people go 'what the FUCK?' and pull their approval? I'm sure I read an interview with Alan Moore where he talked about them freaking out about the zombies and then going back and reading it very carefully and realising it was about incest.

For anyone that is not getting it:

She had sex with the animated near-corpse of drunk husband, who was possessed by her Uncle who is a giant insect, and has been using a wire brush to scrub off the feeling of being filled with thousands of bugs by the taint of necrophilia and incest.

Interesting thing about the comic code on Moore's run on SotST, was that starting with # 31, the comic code was no longer on the cover. (# 29 didn't have one either)

The series became too "sophisticated" and "adult" for the regular market, and I believe it was only sold through the direct market.

I read this when it first came out. I knew whose "signature [was] scrawled in acid," and whose "NAME slam[med] into her mind," and what their relationship was, and MAN was that a creepy moment.

She had sex with the animated near-corpse of drunk husband, who was possessed by her Uncle who is a giant insect, and has been using a wire brush to scrub off the feeling of being filled with thousands of bugs by the taint of necrophilia and incest.

Patrick Joseph.... Yes, that would do it. A bit of a double whammy. And one of comics most genuinely creepy moments ever. Thanks for the reminder Brian... I think.

Add to that the subtle word/visual play between 'insect' and 'incest' and this comes off even creepier. The comic never mentions the word but the constant visuals of insects hammer away at you until the "Say Uncle" line. Brrrrrr.

Absolutely flippin' terrifying.

That moment's already on the list, DanCJ.

Ah good. I must have forgotten that had been done.

Still makes me shudder all these years later ...

Doesn't that "photo" of the spree killer woman in the article look like Barbra Steele in "Black Sunday"?
spectreguy(who loved that movie)

that moment proved that Alan knew how to do swamp thing for the look of pure terror on Abbys face when she figures out Anton has taken over Matt and he knows she has figured out the truth and is in for a bad fate. shows that swamp thing was perfect for the genius of Alan

interesting to note that Abby's husband Matt went on to become Matthew the Raven in Sandman

Some of those images are fucking crazy. I know the moment is when everything comes to a head, but my moment is that first page with the insects crawling over the woman and the image of the house put in the center. I just love how creative people get with imagery.

That's Moore, Bissette, and Totleben carrying away the body on page 15.

@Ken: Holy shit! I never realized that until this moment! Of course, I've only read the first volume of Moore's Swamp Thing and the original Len Wein run, and both of those were things I read after the last time I read Sandman, so it never really clicked.

One of my favorite moments from the run. Great choice.

More Moore Swamp Thing!

Awesome creepy damn moment. -shiver- Oh anf FYI this is still listed as New Frontier #2 (part 2) on the archives list.