A totally immersive experience for me, this book was just as great the second time around. I really admire Moore as a writer, and the mixture of surreal and horror with a dab of hilariousness was just perfect - and at least hints at the wide range that Moore is capable of. The way that Moore plays with reality really appeals to me and thus I find it within myself to forgive the fact that Abby is almost completely inactive.

Because yes, I still do believe that the using the torture of women as the center pillar of your plot is at the very best a cheap cliche. My only defense is that unlike Frank Miller's Daredevil, Moore's Swamp Thing is literally willing to go to hell and back for the love of his life and never hold an ounce of resentment because unlike Miller Moore doesn't seem to think that women are the worst thing that can ever happen to a man.

Unfortunately liking women can almost make people even more likely to use violence against women to shocking effect. While I am certainly not proposing that one can never write about violence against women, it's certainly a very real thing that needs to be addressed. But sometimes it can feel like people are willing to take fictional violence against women much more seriously then the real thing - which is almost never believed.

Which is why I will never tell anyone they need to appreciate Moore despite his use of violence against women. I, personally, can justify it to myself (minus a few particularly low points), but there's a lot of other things I really enjoy about Moore.

The art in this volume continues to be pretty spectacular, especially now that I've gotten used to it. The page layouts always seem fairly easy to follow along with but are never boring. The lines are all extremely moody and immersive.