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?

Swamp Thing v2: Family Tree TPB

Gosh, this book just feels so Vertigo-y, doesn’t it? The absolutely horrific violence that gave the first few issues their charm continues here.

The opening Rot story is actually resolved and wrapped up in the first few issues of this collection. Swamp Thing and Abby Arcane get a nice win, one that makes it finally seem like Alec Holland has a chance against the overwhelming odds he’s facing. (Both this title and Animal Man portray the Rot as a foe WAY outside the range of their leads.)

Scott Snyder uses the early conclusion to great effect, reintroducing classic Swamp Thing villain Anton Arcane. He’s a natural, disgusting fit for the narrative. His monologue over a dying human (and directly to the reader) gives him a high level of villainy instantly. Only two or three issues in, and I’m anxious to see him get taken out by Swampy. It is hard to earn that level of hate this quickly. 

There is a lot of Parliament of Trees stuff, including the idea that Alex Holland was destined to be a champion long before the accident that left him at the bottom of a swamp. Was Arcane always that intimately involved in that origin? The fate of Holland’s wife in this collection is even more horrific and tragic than I had remembered.

Yanick Paquette again handles the bulk of the artwork, and he’s a great fit for the title. His majestic, antler-bearing Swamp Thing looks like a vegetable god, as he should. This is the most imposing Swampy has ever looked to me. He continues to outdo himself with the Rot, too. This book practically stinks. There is so much wet viscera and rotting flesh, sensitive readers might want to pass.

If you’re after a mature super-hero comic that proudly walks the path of early Vertigo, this is a GOOD comic for you. 

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

Swamp Thing #7

Good timing, Scott Snyder! I was just about to drop this comic, and not really looking forward to reading this issue, when suddenly the plot lurches forward again. It feels like the book had been nothing more than some scary atmosphere for a few issues, entertaining, but hardly must-read stuff. This issue moves things along as both Alec Holland and Abigail Arcane are transformed into the avatars of the primal forces they represent (the Green and the Rot, respectively).

I'm not a huge Swamp Thing fan, so I'm sticking around for the story, here, I have not real loyalty to the character. Waiting six issues for the main character to show up was tough enough, so I am a tad worried about the pacing.

Yanick Paquette does a fantastic job with this issue, filling the book with gore and detail. He takes the time to include a stork eating a frog in the swamp next to Alec's protective leaves, a dedication to detail that is quite impressive. He also creates some absolutely horrific Rot monsters. Baby-headed, bird-zombies. Enormous meat and bone constructs wearing dead people as jewelry. This is really disgusting stuff. I don't know how this is only rated "Teen-plus" because it may very well give me a nightmare.

I'm aware this is a horror book, but at this point I'm starting to worry about Paquette's sanity!

Good

Swamp Thing #5

What an absolutely horrific comic. If the cover wasn’t a good enough clue (my seven-year-old daughter spotted it on the rack and asked “Ewww, what is that?”), this is one violent comic. I’m amused that we’re this far into the series and Alec Holland still isn’t Swamp Thing. He at least manifests the ability to quick-grow some plants to take on the Rot, which gives him an easy win over Abigail Arcane’s freaking brother. I’m not even complaining, it’s just an observation that Scott Snyder has somehow crafted a brilliant series about a guy who likes plants.

Snyder does deliver on all that chemistry for Alex and Abby, at least.

Oh my lord, Yanick Paquette’s art. I don’t know if it is the horrifying triple-heads on the pig-beast and the cow-monster, or the slaughterhouse gore dripping off them. Maybe it’s the awful almost-pig and almost-cow sounds they make while snuffling around trying to kill our protagonists? Either way, this would make one hell of a TV show or horror film. That image of the piggy sniffing around for Alec in the store won’t soon leave me.

Excellent

Swamp Thing #4

Who would have thought that this random pick-up in the new 52 would end up one of the last comics standing on my DC sublist? Scott Snyder has impressed the heck out of me the way he’s writing a Vertigo title in the mainstream DCU. Best of all, he’s done it while repeatedly referencing that yes, Alec Holland and Swamp Thing have a past. See DC, it’s not a bad thing for your characters to actually have done things before, there are still good stories out there!

We’ve seen the “legacy” deal many times before; I’m not blown away that there have been previous Swamp Things out to protect the Green from the Rot. However, I’m absolutely tickled by the idea that before humans were the dominant species, we had Swamp Mudskippers and Swamp Dinosaurs. That’s a level of madness I can truly appreciate (especially when rendered so well by Yanick Paquette on that cover!)

Marco Rudy does his best, and it really doesn’t fall that short from Paquette’s work. The closing shot of the Rot’s next round of creatures is truly disturbing, lending a real chill to the close of the issue. His work on Alec Holland and Abigail Arcane is strong too, and I’m shocked how good he is drawing tumors blasting out of people’s mouths. You’d think that skill would take longer to refine.

Good

Swamp Thing #2

I must be getting old or something, cause I get a lot more bothered by innocent bystander death in my super-hero comics than I used to. Seeing a ton of zombies is one thing, but seeing all the residents of Alec Holland's hotel with their necks snapped while attacking him? That's just upsetting. I know Scott Snyder is going for that, and this is part of DC's Dark line, so I'm sure there's a body count requirement, but still...

This second issue follows up nicely on the potential of issue one. Most of the book is driven by a Swamp Thing from the past. This Swampy has a similar origin to Alec Holland, but he spends most of the issue explaining the differences between them. I like that Snyder is full-on addressing that this is NOT Alan Moore's Swamp Thing. In fact, this is basically the origin and first appearance of the "real" Swamp Thing, a warrior of the green with a core of the red. In all those old ST appearances, it was just the green running off a copy of Alec Holland's mind.

This book remembers its history, as a big character returns in a new fashion here. Could be mighty interesting.

And I can't mention Yanick Paquette's art without bringing up all the callbacks to previous artists. Bissette motors is pretty prominently stamped on a motorcycle, and Holland is staying at Totleben's Motel. Heh. I do worry that Paquette's widescreen shots might not work so well in a digital format, the fuzzy black borders on those double-splash pages might be hard to read on a tablet. I'm lucky I'm still getting this in floppy!

Good

Swamp Thing #1

Wow. I picked this up as a whim since I heard it was selling out everywhere. It's a solid little issue, and Scott Snyder does an amazing job combining Alan Moore's madness with the normal DCU. I never thought it could make sense seeing Swamp Thing's entire past smooshed together like this, but seeing metal-pantsed Superman chatting with Alex Holland just... worked.

The new villain is horrific, and he'd fit right in to a Vertigo series. His flunkies with their twisted heads are horrific (and would have fit into Chuck Dixon's Bludhaven, back in the day). I think the flies as carriers for this new evil beastie are even worse, how can anyone stop a fly from crawling into your ear? And in a world where we actually see Superman, Batman, and Aquaman, could this creature take over a real hero? Spooky thought!

And I totally get the criticism that Swamp Thing is only on one page of this issue, but I'm ok with it. Alec Holland is a pretty likeable guy, and I'm getting a real David Banner/Hulk feel from him. This book reads like a pilot for a TV show.

Yanick Paquette's art always seemed super-hero-y to me, but he does a tremendous job with the horror elements of this book. The plants that constantly surround Holland have a sense of menace even as they sit there looking pretty. This is a neat book with a ton of potential. I think I will end up following this one digitally.

Excellent