EYES ON GARBAGE MAN
When the world is a dumpster fire, there’s only one man for the job: Garbage Man!
Ambitious lawyer, Richard Morse, uncovers the illegal operations of a pharmaceutical giant and is abducted and experimented on by the Corporation’s scientists. Morse’s body is destroyed in a lab explosion, but his chemically charged remains to merge with the soil and refuse to change him into the revenge-minded monster/hero, Garbage Man.
THE CREATIVE TEAM
The stories in the “Garbage Man Trade Paperback” were written and illustrated by Aaron Lopresti, inked by Matt Ryan, lettered by Jared K. Fletcher, colored by John Kalisz, and Dave McCaig, and edited by Joey Cavaliery and Chris Conroy. The Cover Art was done by Aaron Lopresti.
THE BOOK
Garbage Man is a 100+ page-Trade Paperback printed in color with a soft cover, numbered with a perfect bound. The book includes a title page, a pin-up page with an image of the Garbage Man, a send title page including the creative team members’ names, a 100+ page containing the main story, and a 7-page pin-up gallery including its intro page.
This volume collects the Garbage Man stories featured in Weird Worlds Volume 2 #1–#6 (2011) and My Greatest Adventure #1–#6 (2011-2012) which were published by DC Comics. This compilation of stories was republished by Dark Horse Books in 2021.
Garbage Man is a combination of Swamp Thing and Sludge. Garbage Man was originally a replacement for Swamp Thing at DC Comics. As DC had regained Swamp Thing from the Vertigo division, there was no need for Garbage Man. DC returned the copyright & trademark to the Garbage Man character to Aaron Lopresti. However, for the reprint, Lopresti couldn’t use the DC characters that he’d incorporated in the original stories.
THE STORIES
The Garbage Man paperback includes the following stories:
REBORN IDENTITY
In the first story, we learn how Richard became the Garbage Man, a result of an involuntary human experiment at a research facility.
TOXIC REVENGER
The Garbage Man wants revenge and returns to the research facility. In his quest for revenge, he learns that he is not the only victim.
MONSTER HUNT
We learn a little bit about Richard’s past. In the meantime, Garbage encounters a few hunters and a powerful beast.
MONSTER SMASH
Garbage man is fighting the beast and learning about his abilities.
PREACHER COMFORTS
Garbage Man hops on a train and meets a preacher. Meanwhile, members of the nightclub are investigating the destruction of the research facility.
THE MOSS IS ALWAYS GREENER
Garbage Man encounters the Mossy Man who he thinks wants to do harm but is surprisingly defended by a little kid.
CROSSED ROADS
In “Crossed Roads” we learn more about Richard’s past and we learn that the preacher contacted Miss Collins.
BEAUTY AND THE BAD
In “Beaty and the Bad” the Garbage Man gets the courage to meet Sam. Right after that, he meets the Night Club.
DREAM MONSTER
In ‘Dream Monster” the Garbage Man is fighting underground monsters.
DEATH’S DOOR
The origin of the underground monsters is dealt with. Sam starts to dig deeper into the research facility’s records.
THE TRUTH HURTS
The Garbage Man and Sam set up a trap to get more information, but something goes wrong. The Night Club appears and helps the duo. They go to the top guy and showed him that they have records to prove his guilt.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I heard about the Swamp Thing but never watched the movies or read any of the comics. So, in this case, I don’t really have a point of reference that I think allows me to enjoy the stories better. It is better to read The Garbage Man before The Wraith of God. The Wraith of God epilogue will make more sense.
The story has action scenes, but they aren’t as intense as those in The Wraith of God. It’s slower with more emotional scenes and the exposition of the avarice of corporations and individuals which makes room for corruption and the complete disregard of human life. Like the Frankenstein story, it is a reminder that humans can turn into ugly monsters (on the inside) influenced by their environment, and peer pressure.
People used to say “Never judge a book by its cover” but the social media era flipped that on its head. Now all everyone does is judge the book by its cover. Social Media encourages people to use photo filters and create photo ops with perfect background settings that we used to see in magazines back in the day. Nowadays almost everybody has become the perfect model. However, that person that looks too perfect on the outside may have an unbearable horrible character, and that other person that struggles and may look imperfect a.k.a “authentic” may have a great personality and a wonderful soul.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Garbage Man paperback tells the struggles of Richard More in his new avatar, The Garbage Man. He is trying to remember who he was and accepting that he can’t aspire to the things he did when he was human. It is a struggle for him to come to the realization that he is not human anymore. It’s the start of his journey into accepting his new avatar and accepting the fact that he also can be a hero by helping people if he chooses to.
It is an interesting sci-fi horror series with good art. Copies of the Garbage Man were available on The Wraith of God crowdfunding campaign but there was a single Garbage Man crowdfunding campaign earlier for the reprinting that is now closed. But don’t worry the paperback can be found in many online bookstores including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Check my notes on the crowdfunding experience with the Wraith of God Crowdfunding campaign. Interested in more titles? Check more GRAPHIC NOVELS in the “EYES ON” series wherein I documented my experience with crowdfunding campaigns and shared my notes on the products I received.
My notes are all set. Let me know what you think.
See you on the next page!
