Moore does a few things here. He skips ahead a few weeks, so we don’t get to see Alec return to the swamp. In fact, we don’t even get to understand what puts him in his initial condition this issue until the end of it. It’s not so much a layered narrative as Moore trying to linearly and visually show Alec’s mental response to discovering he’s not who he thought he was.
The loop the end creates, like the recurrences of the title in story proper, is pretty neat.
Moore splits the issue between Alec (in his dreamworld), Abby (as she discovers Alec’s new state) and Jason Woodrue. Woodrue isn’t exactly the issue’s protagonist, but he’s close. Moore spends the time establishing him so, when Woodrue has a breakdown, the transition resonates.
Bissette’s amazing composition, along with Tatjana Wood’s colors, make the whole issue dreamlike, not just Alec’s actual dreams.
CREDITS
Swamped; writer, Alan Moore; penciller, Stephen R. Bissette; inker, John Totleben; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, Todd Klein; editor, Len Wein; publisher, DC Comics.
The real deal here aside from Moore’s contributions is what is done with the Bissette art and Wood’s colors being printed on the highly restrictive medium of mud on shit and a meager 64 color palette. Truly an accomplishment of Herculean proportions.