Swamp Thing v3: The Green Kingdom TPB

Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire are widely credited with killing two successful comics with this Rotworld crossover. As a fan of desperate alternate futures, I was hopeful for the collection. Part of my itch was scratched, as the team of heroes facing down Anton Arcane in a rot-controlled world is pretty good. Swamp Thing, Man-Bat Batgirl, Steel, Beast Boy, Black Orchid, Poison Ivy, Deadman, Frankenstein, and that plant Green Lantern is a nice, varied crew of leads. This collection only spends a lot of time with four of those people, but I like the concept.

I also think Anton Arcane is a great example of a boss villain. With his legions of turned heroes and the sheer repulsiveness of his underlings, this is a desperate story from page 1. He’s a good smack-talker too, clearly relishing in rubbing in his victories over all his foes. I mean, Swamp Thing and Abby Arcane are already “his” arch nemesis anyway, but he sure likes coming after Animal Man and friends too!

Honestly, I couldn’t really see a way for the heroes to come out on top and have a world worth saving. So the writers dodge the issue in the conclusion, but they kind of had to. There wasn’t really any other way to deal with the level of insanity they’d established.

There are clearly a lot of chapters missing from this trade. I would have liked to have seen more of the surviving heroes and a bit more of the Rotworld than I saw in this trade. Of course, I understand there may have been too much once all the crossovers and tie-ins are tallied, but for now, I’m interested in seeing more.

Yanick Paquette’s pages are beautiful, as always. His majestically antlered Swamp Thing is striking, and giving him big plant wings just helps even more. The aged Parliament of Trees is impressive, as are their guardians Poison Ivy and Deadman. I will say I wasn’t overly impressed with the Rotlords or whatever they were called. Shimmery ghost faces aren’t dramatic enough to be responsible for the deus ex machina that overturns this whole story.

This FAIR comic is fine for what it is, but I also see how the book lost steam afterwards. When the entire run has been leading up to one fight against one boss, why would the readers stick around after that’s done?

Animal Man: The Hunt TPB

Wow. Vertigo lives! It lives in the DCnU in this title. Jeff Lemire is writing one sick, depressing story. Luckily, he’s got a plucky leading man and his family to center the story on, so even in the face of gore and horror; we’ve got clear heroes to cheer for.

Even better, Lemire never contradicts any of Buddy Baker’s past (that I know of), making this yet another example of a DCnU story that could have been told in the old continuity. I appreciate that the only tie-in other than an off-handed Justice League reference, is to Swamp Thing. Swampie never appears in this collection, but a lot of characters spend time talking about him. I know from reading the first six issues of that series that Alec Holland is in no way the savior the Bakers seem to hope he is. Too bad. I look forward to reading that meeting!

The Rot is so disgusting. Honestly, there almost aren’t words to explain how repulsive the bads are in this story. The three main hunters chasing the Bakers are gory, maggoty, drippy, and a bunch of other foul adjectives. There are some funny moments, like when the one hunter’s head briefly expands like a balloon, but hoo boy, this is revolting. Heck, the hunters are born bursting out of the distended stomachs of hippos in the San Diego zoo, so you know it’s going to be nasty.

Plot wise, we don’t know much more in issue five than we did in issue one, although we did see some great undead pet heroics. I’m also puzzled why the third hunter went along with Buddy’s wife and son, what was he hoping to gain? Even more, why did he leave Buddy’s cop friend alive for a bit, then just eat him? Getting his food to go?

Travel Foreman must have had some bones and sinew in his portfolio. If he didn’t, he certainly does now. The revulsion I felt while reading this book is directly tied to his detailed artwork, so he deserves all the credit for that. I often read comics while eating lunch, but I didn’t even want this on the same table as my food! (How’s that for a pull quote, DC?)

Good