5 Ways Saga of the Swamp Thing Vol. 1 Reinvents It's Protagonist By Theodore Kemna

5 Ways Saga of the Swamp Thing Vol. 1 Reinvents It's Protagonist
By Theodore Kemna

      I recently reread the first volume of Saga of the Swamp Thing by Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, and John Totleben. This book, which collects the first eight issues of Alan Moore's forty-five issue run, was originally published by DC Comics between January and August of 1984. It follows the writer and artists' reinvention of the Swamp Thing, who before this was a man trapped in a plant-monster's body after being transformed in a lab accident, into a wholly new idea and, in many ways, character. This post will go into detail about five ways this was done within the story.

The book's cover

• Revelations about the Past: The most significant method used in the reinvention of The Swamp Thing was through new revelations of his past. As somewhat referenced in the introduction to this post, before this story Swamp Thing's origins were that he was a scientist named Alec Holland who, after his lab was sabotaged, blew up and fell into a swamp. His body was then mixed with the chemicals of the lab and the plants of the swamp, transforming him into the Swamp Thing. For over ten years this was the status quo for the character, until this story. In issue/chapter two of this volume, titled "The Anatomy Lesson," a new revelation of these events is introduces. Swamp Thing is captured and frozen in a secret laboratory to be studied. While he is there, he is cut open and inside his body no organs are found, but in their place are plants attempting to replicate the function of organs. This leads the head researcher, Dr. Jason Woodrue, to come to a conclusion about the nature of the Swamp Thing in the form of a revelation about his origins. When Alec Holland exploded and fell into the swamp, he did not fuse with the plants, he died. But, due to the chemicals involved, the plants of the swamp grew around the corpse, recreating it to the best of their abilities, all the way down to its consciousness, and rose from the waters as Swamp Thing. This may seem like a minor revelation, but it completely alters what Swamp Thing is, and through that reinvents him. This is put best by the previously stated character Jason Woodrue, when he says "We thought that the Swamp Thing was Alec Holland, somehow transformed into a plant. It wasn't. It was a plant that thought it was Alec Holland!"
• Altering of Motives: The next way the Swamp Thing is reinvented in this story is by means of altering his motives. This spins out of "Revelations about the Past" but I believe is separate enough to qualify for its own section. Before this issue, because it was established that Swamp Thing was Alec Holland, his core motive was to turn back into Alec Holland's body, but with the revelations about his past focused on in the last part, this changed. He could never go back into the body of Alec Holland because he was never in it to begin with. This introduces an existential element to the character, where he does not know what drives him any longer, and for the rest of the book and on through the later volumes forces him to embark on a search for a purpose, which is a far off departure from what had been present before. 
• Changing of Abilities: Another way this story serves to reinvent the Swamp Thing is by changing his abilities. The nonhuman abilities of the Swamp Thing at the beginning of the story and before were only durability and super-strength, both given to him by his plant body. They are expanded to include chlorokinesis (control over all plant life) in this story through the revelations of his past and the introduction of the source of his life, an elemental energy known as "The Green," which inhabits all plant life and can be harnessed for control over it. This allows the boundaries and limits of the Swamp Thing's capabilities to be vastly changed for later stories and makes him able to overcome obstacles he previously could not.
• Acceptance of New Reality: Now, this method may seem less like a way of reinvention than the other three so far, but it isn't. By the end of the story, the Swamp Thing learns to accept his new reality rather than fighting it, which expresses a change in the character. The reason this is part of the reinvention is because it is a solidification of the new version of the Swamp Thing created in this story. It tells the reader that the writer won't be going back to the one that was before, and that this new version is permanent and here to stay, which is an important part of any new reinvention. 
• Visual Expressions of Change: The final method of reinvention is through the art. The Swamp Thing's appearance is changed from the beginning to the end as an expression of his change from a sci-fi monster of a man to a new kind of plant elemental. The original appeared much more human-like with minimal plant parts whereas by the end he is much more of a plant, as shown below. 

Swamp Thing Before

Swamp Thing After