The Saga of Swamp Thing #21

Tom Yeates's cover for this February 1984 issue sets an immediately unsettling tone: a terrified man in a blue suit backs against a dimly lit doorway as the massive, looming form of Swamp Thing fills the darkness behind him — all hunched menace and dripping green vegetation. The contrast between the ordinary, well-dressed figure and the creature's overwhelming presence gives the image a genuinely creepy intimacy. With Alan Moore taking the writing reins alongside artists Steve Bissette and John Totleben, The Saga of the Swamp Thing #21 signals something distinctly different is stirring in the swamp.