Saga of the Swamp Thing #21: "The Anatomy Lesson"
This is the comic where most readers began their appreciation of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing (and, likely, Swamp Thing in general). The original trade paperback collection, published in 1987, started with this issue instead of Moore's actual first issue on the title, #20. "The Anatomy Lesson" is related to us through flashback, narrated by Dr. Jason Woodrue, The Floronic Man. Brought in to examine Swamp Thing and discover what animated him, it's a brilliant bit of work by Moore, Bissette, Totleben, et al.
But that's for my next post. This one is about the scene transitions utilized by Moore and his artistic collaborators. Since this issue is recounted from open to close by Woodrue, it was a bit challenging to find transitions, since, unlike the previous issue, this chapter follows a single, straight narrative thread. But there are a few scene transitions to be gleaned if one looks closely enough, and Moore does not disappoint with his intentionality, in this regard.
Transition pp. 1-2:
Page 1 sets the stage for the story Dr. Woodrue is about to tell, sharing the end, as he imagines it, before we've even got the beginning. In the final panel of this page, an old man is banging on a window and the image is almost fully red from the blood Woodrue imagines coating the glass, with the caption, "Blood in extraordinary quantities."
Page 2 opens close in on Woodrue's eyes hanging over the entire page, his eyes blood red.
Moore utilizes mirroring, as he does in many of his transitions, with the blood red of the window on page 1 matching the blood red eyes of Woodrue on page 2.
The scene from pages 2 through page 5 is basically an interview by Sunderland of Dr. Woodrue. He wants Woodrue to examine the corpse of Swamp Thing and figure out what animated him. It is also imperative for Sunderland to know that Dr. Woodrue is who he claims to be -- The Floronic Man. So, Woodrue uses a spray to dissolve his artificial skin and reveal the woody, mossy visage beneath.
Transition pp. 5-6:
The final panel of page 5, on the bottom right of the page, is a closeup of Sunderland asking Woodrue, "When can you start?" in reference to his impending examination of the corpse of Swamp Thing.
Page 6 returns to the present and Woodrue's apartment, where a caption box shares his thought, "I started the next day."
In this transition, Moore mirrors the dialogue of "start"ing rather than mirroring the imagery, as he did on pages 1-2.
The scene from pages 6 through 9 involves Woodrue performing an autopsy on Swamp Thing's corpse. He pulls out vegetable growths that look like human organs but do not, and could not, perform the same functions as in the human body. It's fascinating and puzzling, and in six weeks Woodrue has the answer.
Transition pp. 9-10:
At the bottom of page 9, we see a green shoot sprouting from the chest of the gray body of the Swamp Thing, as Woodrue thinks (in the final caption), "...and something strong and soft and green, thrusting through the dead and petrified grayness."
At the top of page 10, we see Dr. Woodrue coming to Sunderland's office to explain his discovery. Woodrue is wearing a green overcoat or lab coat.
Again, this transition utilizes mirroring, in this case mirroring the green shoot emanating from Swamp Thing with the green coat of Woodrue.
This scene, from pages 10 to 13, is the moment where Woodrue explains exactly what happened to Alec Holland, when he raced into the swamps to die, and how it was that Swamp Thing emerged. Woodrue is excited, the ramifications are astounding . . . and Sunderland does not care. He has his answer, though he does not understand it, and Woodrue is done. Sunderland will find someone else to continue the work.
Transition pp. 13-14:
At the bottom of page 13, we get a close up of Sunderland's teeth, his creased face, and the trail of smoke wafting from his nostril, as he tells Woodrue, "We'll sort out the termination papers when I get back."
Page 14 opens on a closeup of Woodrue in his true guise of the Floronic Man while, in a caption over the panel, he thinks, "...and that's how the old man fired me."
More mirroring, as we get Sunderland discussing "termination papers" while Woodrue defines it more colloquially, "firing." But this mirroring of dialogue is not the same as the previous transition in this vein, as Moore uses synonymous phrases rather than directly using the same word, as before.
The scene from page 14 through to the end of the issue is a recounting (or imagining, on the part of Woodrue) of Sunderland discovering the ramifications of what he, Woodrue, discovered, and the terminal climax that must come from such a revelation. For the Swamp Thing is not dead. But he does understand. And his humanity is lost. And Sunderland will pay. . .
Transition p. 23:
Panel 3, in the top row of panels on this final page, ends the scene with Swamp Thing (and Sunderland) discovering the truth of his being. It has a closeup on the dead eye of Sunderland, with a tiny Swamp Thing walking away in the far background. Over this panel is a caption stating what Swamp Thing would do once Sunderland was taken care of -- he would, in Woodrue's mind, go "back to the bayou," where he came from.
Panel 4 has the caption, "Back home..." continuing this idea and is overlaid on an image of the Floronic Man standing at the window of his apartment, his own home during this experience.
Moore gets a bit more inventive with the mirroring in this transition, mirroring the captions stating that Swamp Thing would go "back home" with the image of Woodrue standing in his current, but temporary, home.
For more thoughts on the actual narrative, along with insights into some of the added depth provided by Moore, Bissette, Totleben, et al. for this issue, check out my next post, which should be up in a day or so.
Thanks!
chris
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