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

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Bingham 12 his protagonist through the fusion of science and the natural world, Moore's text deals directly with the re-shaping of consciousness concurrently with environment. Moreover, because this transformation occurs as a result of the interference of the military-industrial complex, Saga of the Swamp Thing implicates ideology in the perpetration of violence. Comparing these two narratives will reveal parallel attitudes and intersecting concerns about the ability of socially constructed institutions to protect the citizens they've been designed to serve. What is unique about Moore's view is that it complicates the perception of a simple dualistic relationship between those who enact violence and those who are subject to it by indicating the influence of social climate and environment. Wrapped up within these considerations is the problematic motif of accurately representing the body. Spatially the body becomes representative of not only the singular person to whom it belongs, but also as a component in defining community as a whole. Take, for example, the way in which citizens make up the political body of a nation: this particular ecological relationship can determine how population reflects representation and demonstrates how sexuality and reproduction are wrapped up within the economy of survival. In my final chapter, I look into the significance of Moore's treatment of community and exploitation in the first issue of his collaboration with artists Bissette and Totleben, Saga of the Swamp Thing #21, “The Anatomy Lesson.” This issue deals with inconsistency between one's body and identity as a result of violent interference. When a malicious act of sabotage causes scientist Alec Holland's lab to explode, his remains fuse with the swamp in Huoma, Louisiana where he was working. It is from this turbulent explosion that Swamp Thing is formed. His existence is a point of confusion and its resolution poses questions about how the fusion of identity to environment can challenge
Bingham 13 the validity of singularly contained subjectivity. Mainly what this issue contends with is rectifying the false belief that Swamp Thing was once human. Instead the narrative systematically proves that the true Alec Holland perished during the explosion and Swamp Thing is an entirely different entity. The creature's misconception of identity sets the stage for questions regarding the embodiment of consciousness. In reviving a mainstream character that was developed during a time of growing environmental awareness, Moore and the rest of the creative team involved with producing Saga of the Swamp Thing raise important questions about the Earth as a habitat, an ecosystem, and human dependence upon its natural resources. By engaging the work, readers fluctuate between states of consciousness; they literally trace the roots of consciousness down to the organic and bounce back and forth between futuristic science fiction concepts like universal awareness and bodily transformation. The allegory of the Earth's vegetation existing as an interconnected network with selfawareness imagined in the narrative is a cautioning tale when compared to our own notion of actuality. Embodying this consciousness forces readers to interact with it differently, as it seemingly inverts power relations and transforms the way characters interact with nature and one another. Considering how this work differs from the treatment of bodily transformation in The Walking Dead can be valuable in understanding counter-culture attitudes and mainstream concerns with respect to historical moments and our present understanding of how they have influenced the time we call now.
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Page 3 and 4: Bingham 3 I owe an extreme debt of
Page 5 and 6: Bingham 5 Introduction My project e
Page 7 and 8: Bingham 7 personal growth through t
Page 9 and 10: Bingham 9 beliefs. Seeing a possibl
Page 11: Bingham 11 zombie exceeds death as
Page 15 and 16: Bingham 15 Chapter I: The History o
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Page 19 and 20: Bingham 19 instructional profession
Page 21 and 22: Bingham 21 Another artist who worke
Page 23 and 24: Bingham 23 action into panels (Cohn
Page 25 and 26: Bingham 25 sponsorship. He designed
Page 27 and 28: Bingham 27 Charles Moulton. Marston
Page 29 and 30: Bingham 29 Frederick Wertham prompt
Page 31 and 32: Bingham 31 “graphic novel” was
Page 33 and 34: Bingham 33 what is or isn't a graph
Page 35 and 36: Bingham 35 Works Cited Benton, Mike
Page 37 and 38: Bingham 37 Chapter II: Transfusion
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Bingham 65 with yourself? Not me. I
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Bingham 74 Works Cited Berger, Arth
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Bingham 76 APPENDIX A Fig. 1. Openi
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Bingham 101 Chapter III: Speaking o
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Bingham 113 General Avery Carlton S
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Bingham 119 authority. This subtle,
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Bingham 123 affect. Apart from this
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Bingham 125 acts of fictional chara
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Bingham 129 experience. The creator
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Bingham 135 If we read each charact
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Bingham 137 able to issue an urgent
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1 According to comics historian Rob
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Bingham 140 - Interview by David Ro
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