The toughest of the relaunch titles hits as a true classic returns to the stage.
What They Say:
One of the world’s most iconic characters has returned to the heart of the DC Universe, and every step he takes will shake the foundations of the Earth! Alec Holland has his life back, but the Green has plans for it. A monstrous evil is rising in the desert, and it’ll take a monster of another kind to defend life as we know it!
The Review:
Back when Swamp Thing was proving to DC Comics that they could do serious and mature books and not just superhero books in the 80’s, I admit to missing it in its first run but devoured the works in back issues only to get hooked even more with Rick Veitch after Alan Moore moved on. Subsequent writers brought curious takes on the character, but they were trapped by something going so strong that they couldn’t equal it, though they tried in their own way rather than really forging their own path. Even worse though was that fans wanted more of what they had and weren’t going to get it without Alan Moore, so the title was stuck. That’s not to say it didn’t have some good stories, and generally some fantastic artwork, but it was caught in a real problem. Swamp Thing has been used here and there since but never really had much noteworthy presence in any significant way.
Bringing the character back into his own title in 2011 is in my mind the riskiest of ventures. It gives the fans a chance at nostalgia that were around back in the day like myself but also a new audience that knows of the stories or the legends of it at this point a chance to find their own mark with it. And if you go solely by this first issue, Scott Snyder is going to have a very solid run. So much so that this is the first book of the relaunch that has me completely head over heels intrigued by it. With this launch, Snyder has opted to do what he can to keep most of what’s come before but also bringing back Alec Holland, who knows that he was dead but now has the memories of what Swamp Thing did all those years during that time. Holland’s only come back to life some six weeks ago and while he’s tried to go back to his old life, he couldn’t do it. Instead, he’s just doing construction work in Louisiana through which we get a great little story about wood rot that is surprisingly engaging.
While Holland is going through this, an event has started in the world that we see at the beginning of the book where there are various sudden die-offs happening around the world of various species. There’s a curious one though where a series of dinosaur bones end up being blown away in the midst of it and that turns into the dark, deadly and decidedly creepy subplot that introduces a new villain that will come to the fore in the series. Where the focus is here though is on Holland himself and after the event happens, it’s the arrival of Superman in Louisiana to talk to him about it that things really have some detail. The sequence is key to show that Swamp Thing is very much in the mainstream DC Universe but is still able to do things that feels very much in the vein of what’s come before. I can understand the awkwardness some see in the sequence, but it worked very well to reinforce Superman’s position in the world, Holland’s desire to stay out of it all as well as how he’s been coping with coming back to life. It’s fleshed out in a few other areas well, which leads to a very interesting ending page.
Digital Notes:
This digital edition from Comixology of Swamp Thing contains only the first printing cover with no extras included.
In Summary:
The story here is thoroughly engaging from start to finish and it really drew me in quickly. Snyder manages to introduce Holland to a new audience, tie him to the original works that have defined him for decades as well as cementing him within the mainstream universe. The book touches on a lot of things and hints at others, providing clues for the older fans that are in the know while teasing those new to it. And what makes it even more engaging is the beautiful artwork by Yanick Paquette who has completely captured the character and his world from the cover alone and then conveys it in just about every panel thereafter. This is definitely a dark horse favorite of mine of the relaunch so far since it has such a vested and unique history to it. Similar to Batgirl, it’s a character and title that took many chances over the years and defined itself because of it so going back and doing anything that may change it makes people hesitant. But if this first issue is the barometer to go by, we’re in for one hell of a treat.
Grade: A-
If you like Moore’s/Veitch’s Swamp Thing run, you love them even more after reading the online annotations. There’s tons of hidden references revealed that may come into play in the new series. http://www.tinyurl.com/readswampthing