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