Walking Corpses & Conscious Plants: Possibilist Ecologies in ...

Bingham 101
Chapter III:
Speaking out for the Silent: How seeds of social growth germinate and stem
from the portrayal of bodily transformations in Saga of the Swamp Thing
In the preceding chapter, I've mentioned that the high sales volume of serial
comics warrants an examination of their content as a potential measure for identifying the
interests of the reading public. Specifically, I've focused upon how works belonging to
the horror genre catalog fears of social unrest which are especially relevant to democratic
populations currently immersed in or in jeopardy of facing severe conflict. Since the
sales of the monthly series Saga of the Swamp Thing rose from attracting 17,000 readers
an issue in 1984 to a staggering 100,000 per new release in 1988, its upshot in popularity
reflects a particular social significance (Millidge Pg. 16, Panel 3). When violent acts are
performed upon the bodies of fictional characters in graphic narratives like The Walking
Dead and Saga of the Swamp Thing, the content becomes poignantly affective and can
work to expose potential dangers and provoke thought. For example, in the previous
chapter I argued the conditions outlined by Robert Kirkman in The Walking Dead suggest
an uncertainty surrounding the human body that seems directly related to the terrorist
attacks of September 11 th , 2001. Similarly, as a series which experienced an exponential
increase in readership over a relatively short period of time, Saga of the Swamp Thing can
be read as a work which provides commentary upon the political climate which existed
when it was produced. The armed forces of the United States had invaded Grenada in
1983 and were engaged in conflicts in multiple regions in Central America as well as the
Middle East during the remainder of the decade. Considering these looming
circumstances, the presence of horror impinging upon the escapist science fiction fantasy
seems to coincide with fears of global crisis and mortality.