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

1
According to comics historian Robert C. Harvey, “The cover dates on comic books are not equivalent to the months of
publication. Because of the vagaries of newsstand sales, comic books are cover-dated a month or more after their
scheduled publication date. Any given issue of a periodical is presumed to be outdated by the time the next issue
appears, so retailers customarily dispose of “last month's” issue of a comic book or magazine when “this month's” issue
arrives. But if this month's issue late in arriving (or never arrives—always a possibility in the early days of comic book
publishing), last month's issue will stay on the stand until the month of its cover-date is past. Thus, cover-dating a comic
book a month or more after its actual date of publication provides a way of giving it a longer newsstand life. For
example, if a comic book is published in January but cover-dated March (a typical interval between dates), it can stay on
the newsstand for as long as three months, during which time it is more likely to sell out than if it were cover-dated
February and removed from the stands at the end of that month. (275-276).
Harvey, Robert C. The Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History. Jackson: University Press
of Mississippi, 1996. pp. 275-276.
2
An interesting anecdote about Len Wein and Alan Moore's first conversation:
“I wish I could remember at this late date exactly what it was that prompted me to call Alan when I was looking for
a new writer to take over Swamp Thing. I know I had been a fan of Alan's work on 2000 A.D. and so he seemed an
interesting choice as writer, assuming, of course, he was available and so inclined. I got his phone number somehow,
made the international phone call, and Alan answered on the third ring. I introduced myself, told Alan I had an offer to
make him, and he hung up on me.
When I called back, assuming the connection had been broken accidentally, I introduced myself again. Alan's
reply: “No, who is this really?” And he started going through a list of his mates, trying to figure out who had put me up
to this and why. It took me quite awhile to convince Alan I was indeed me, and that I was interested in offering him
work in the states, on my own precious baby. It took a lot of cajoling and convincing to talk Alan into taking on the
assignment, but I'm glad he did. The changes he made on Swamp Thing helped to revolutionize the art form, his
language was pure music. Under Alan, the graphic narrative suddenly grew up. And the comic book industry has never
been the same since.”
Wein, Len. “Random Thoughts: April 2003.” Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary
Gentleman. Ed. Gary Spencer Millidge and smoky man. London: Abiogenesis Press, 2003. pp. 37.
3
In this issue, Sunderland's title and first name are not supplied. His last name is only mentioned twice: first on panel 5
of page 26 (pg. 14 in the original publication) and second in reference to his company's resources in panel 4 of page 29
(pg. 17 originally).