Great list, Mike.

It was in the second TPB collection, don't remember the exact issue, but when Cable-possessed-by-Arcane says "Just say uncle" to Abby, I had to actually set the book down for a moment and take it in. And then flip back to the beginning of the issue, where she's cleaning herself with a wire brush on the kitchen floor.

No work of fiction has ever given me a chill to equal that one.
Chaz Ervin | 10.31.05 - 6:14 am | #

I found the whole dream-monkey-demon sequence (in some of Moore's first issues) very creepy, with all the kids seeing their worst nightmares -- or what they imagine those fears to be. Like the girl who doesn't really know what cancer is, but is scared to death of it. Or the hulking monstrosity the other little girl faces who says "Mommee needn't know..." Those issues were the first time a comic actually scared me.
Scott | Email | Homepage | 10.31.05 - 6:53 am | #

Oh, and the scene where Abby scrapes her skin raw to get rid of the "filth". Creepy.
Scott | Email | Homepage | 10.31.05 - 6:55 am | #

Ditto on the dream monkey(monkeys are all either scary or funny there is no in between).

I also thought the Moore-Underwater Vampire town was super scary along with the one where plants start turning on people increasing oxygen levels and stuff. Very cool, very scary.
Bryan Boles | Email | Homepage | 10.31.05 - 7:11 am | #

Wow. I can see why you like Swamp Thing so much.

Too bad its a DC title...

--m4
mojo_iv | Email | 10.31.05 - 8:13 am | #

The issue where Swamp Thing temporarily became chalk was pretty darn scary to me!
Bully | Email | Homepage | 10.31.05 - 10:54 am | #

"Too bad its a DC title..."

I assume this comment is about Marvel/DC brand loyalty, and I will never, ever understand this no matter how much I see it. Will someone kill your dog if you pick up a good comic with the wrong publisher label on the cover? Do you only read novels published by Pantheon, not that fucking Random House? Do you only see movies distributed by 20th Century Fox, not those pig fuckers at Sony?

If you like comics, denying yourself great comics out of anything but lack of money is nonsensical. And even then there are libraries.

If I've assumed wrong, then I have no idea what the hell you're talking about.
Cole Odell | Email | Homepage | 10.31.05 - 11:49 am | #

Cole - Don't worry, I've known Mojo for years...we've been razzing each other about Marvel versus DC forever.
Mikester | Homepage | 10.31.05 - 12:37 pm | #

How about the OTHER one with slave zombies? An actor believing himself to be a slave owner takes his co-star, straps him to a post and begins to skin him. I was so horrified, and then even more so when all we see is a black panel and the words "so, shall we begin?".

I felt like such an idiot when Abby figures out he's just using a prop knife.
2nd biggest Swamp Thing fan | 10.31.05 - 2:07 pm | #

Great list Mike! The fly (Arcane) entering Matt Cables mouth was a DISTURBING IMAGE for the time in which it came out. I just read the second trade of the current series, and thought that the return (yet again) of Arcane was handled fairly well. Most disgusting was the scene in which Arcane finally gets some. Sick stuff that...
RAY VAN BUSKIRK | Email | Homepage | 10.31.05 - 4:16 pm | #

Mmmm. I was surprised you didn't throw in the issue Millar did with Curt Swan. I remember that being quite disturbing, in a blacker-than-black comedy kind of way.
Tim O'Neil | Email | Homepage | 11.01.05 - 5:55 am | #

After I read this blog post, these scenes haunted me all day and long into the night. Thanks tons, Mike! :P

I'm tempted to read the actual comics now because they sound like fantastic writing, but I am also a huuuuge wuss and will probably cry afterwards.
Kitty | Email | Homepage | 11.01.05 - 8:33 am | #

That scene of Judith's transformation into the bird may be the most disturbing one I've ever read in a comic. "Just say uncle" is creepier, but the gradual dismantling of Judith's body lingered with me a lot longer.

It's more ominous than scary, but I always liked Jason Blood's arrival in Houma.
Marc | Email | Homepage | 11.01.05 - 8:50 am | #

RE: Boles' comment:

Yeah, even the Justice League couldn't do anything!
Stavner | Email | 11.01.05 - 3:20 pm | #

Oh, no -- I wasn't razzing you. DC sucks!

--m4
mojo_iv | Email | 11.02.05 - 11:47 am | #

"Just Say Uncle" is one of the creepiest moments in comics.

I've just reread a ton of Swamp Thing comics, from the first issue to Alan's last, and it's a damn tasty run. Yes, indeed.
Ray Cornwall | Email | 11.03.05 - 1:11 pm | #

Surprised no one mentioned this one...

#21 - The Anatomy Lesson. When the Swamp Thing goes to confront the CEO (forget his name) who has held him captive and tested on. ST has just found out the truth of his existence and the guy asks him if he's read the report and then, with that wonderful, timid, terrified look on his face asks, "Did you like it?"

ST's reaction was perfect and terrible. The following sequence, narrated by Woodrue, the scentist who experimented on him, was brilliant.

It was the first time, at age 13, that I was floored by a comic (I read it in a Best of DC digest). Suddenly, I realized that so much more could be done with comic books.
Craig Welsh | Homepage | 11.03.05 - 8:00 pm | #

The "Mommeeennneeeddnnnttnnooo" creature from the Monkey King story is still the single scariest thing I've ever seen in a comic book in 40 years of reading. When I first read it, I couldn't make out what the thing was saying. When I figured it out, I was horrified. I was creeped out for days.
The Mutt | Email | 01.23.07 - 4:20 pm | #