Written by Charles Soule
Art by Jesus Saiz
Published by DC Comics
It seems like forever since I’ve read and reviewed an issue of Swamp Thing. When we last saw Alec Holland, he was sent to paradise by the Parliament of Trees after his status as Avatar was taken away from him at the hands of the Seeder. Never content of what’s given to him, Alec is trying to find a way back to Earth and for only one reason: he has to stop Seeder from killing any other living, non-plant creature on the planet.
It’s become a running joke on Twitter that Charles Soule is going to write every book for every company soon. The man seriously does write a mind-boggling amount of material, but the quality of his work is ALWAYS there. I think he really understands Alec Holland as a character and he couldn’t write him any more perfectly. It seems like Alec always underestimates himself at every turn, but then has a single moment of clarity in which he seizes and saves the day! There’s a really intriguing twist at the end of this issue that could very well give us the most exciting and most powerful iteration of this character written to date! It’s definitely worth keeping an eye on for anyone that’s even remotely interested in the character!
When people talk about the best art in comics I rarely hear this series brought into the conversation. Maybe it’s because it’s not a huge book for sales, but people overlooking this book couldn’t be more wrong. Just one glimpse at the cover and you can tell that the art is absolutely stunning. Month after month we discover new things Alec is capable of and Jesus Saiz is the perfect person to show us what the Swamp Thing can do. He even gets the opportunity to show off a couple of powers never before seen in the Swamp Thing universe; it’s really powerful stuff both physically and emotionally! There are also a couple of great moments with the Seeder. The first time we see him in this issue he’s sitting on a throne made of the carcasses of dead creatures, though we don’t really know what species they are; it’s some seriously twisted stuff!
Swamp Thing is one of the most consistently amazing titles month after month. The end of this book left my mouth hanging open a bit and I mean that in the best way. This series just keeps getting better and better largely in part to Soule’s work writing it. With the twist at the end it will be really interesting to see what he has planned next for everyone’s favorite Avatar; I just hope the wait doesn’t feel as long as this one did! Either way, this series continues to deliver and justify why it’s at the very top of my read pile every month it’s released. It’s filled to the brim with action, horror, and raw emotion that’s rarely seen in a book; especially when that book has almost NO human characters in it! For that reason, I can’t give Swamp Thing anything other than…
5 out of 5 nerds
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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