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Bernie Wrightson cvr/art; Origin of Swamp Thing; 1st app. Lt. Matt Cable, Alec & Linda Holland; COMIC BOOK IMPACT rating of 8 (CBI)
House of Secrets #92 has achieved a place in the annals of comics hall of fame for containing the first appearance of the Swamp Thing. Something about the tragic figure, drawn by the legendary Bernie Wrightson, left an impression on readers, as the character would be given his own solo series and then continue on to go on mystical adventures and achieve an almost godlike status. The first series of Swamp Thing featured the tale of Alec Holland who was transformed into the bog beast when his laboratory was sabotaged in an explosion, the experiment he was working on fused with his body to turn him into the Swamp Thing. The character would go on to be transformed by wunderkind Alan Moore into an interstellar being who could traverse the cosmos in ethereal form, and was a member of the Parlaiment of Trees who defended The Green, and could manipulate any vegetation to his will. But the initial attraction to the original series began here in issue #1, the intricate, lush, and foreboding artwork by Bernie Wrightson launched a loyal readership to his forlorn hero, as well as placing Wrightson into the top tier of comic artists of the era. Swamp Thing has been the headliner in several comic book series, starred in two feature films, and was the subject of a TV series, the character has had staying power, and his Alan Moore era adventures are fertile ground for another series or movie franchise, so this issue has been a popular collector’s item--and will remain so in the foreseeable future.


Artist Information

Starting out as an amateur, a meeting with Frank Frazetta at a comic convention in 1967 inspired Bernie Wrightson to pursue his dream of becoming a comic book artist, he began working for DC after contributing work samples to Dick Giordano, in the Silver Age he would illustrate short stories in horror anthologies, in one of those tales he invented the Swamp Thing, who would be granted his own title, which Bernie drew the first ten issues of, then he moved over to Warren, known for their macabre content, and grew his fan base, at one point he was living in the same building as Al Milgrom, Howard Chaykin and Walt Simonson. He left comics to form an artist's collective known as 'The Studio' where he would concentrate on posters and lithographs, portfolios and the like, his adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is commonly regarded as his finest achievement. His pen and ink and brush work on this black and white collection is elegant and emotionally resonant. He also collaborated with Stephen King on adapting his work like Creepshow. In later years he did spot work on comics, while continuing his poster work, notably illustrating the popular Batman: The Cult series. He passed away in 2017 after a long battle with brain cancer.