We typically wait until a series is at least at its third issue to give it the ‘Don’t Miss This’ tag. However, due to the creative team handling both the ‘Future State’ and now the ‘Infinite Frontier’ versions of Swamp Thing, it felt like the four issues released across those two titles more than represented an incredibly strong and unique take on one of DC’s classic characters.
Who Is This By?
Both series are written by Ram V (“Justice League Dark,” “These Savage Shores”), illustrated by Mike Perkins (“Lois Lane,” “The Stand: Captain Trips”), and lettered by Aditya Bidkiar (“Department of Truth,” “John Constantine: Hellblazer”). The ‘Future State’ series was colored by June Chung (“Batman,” “Justice League Dark”), with the ‘Infinite Frontier’ maxiseries is colored by Mike Spicer (“Action Comics,” “The Silencer”).
What’s It All About?
Again, it is a little difficult to stitch these two series together into one clean narrative, but V and Perkins have taken each series, thus far into areas that are unlike any Swamp Thing story I’ve read before. The character has often been a place for innovation and trying new things, best exemplified by the Alan Moore “Saga of the Swamp Thing” era, where the character’s origin and state of being were totally changed. After a few years of relatively status quo Swampy stories, V and Perkins have decided to shake things up a bit.
In the ‘Future State’ title, we see a lonely Swamp Thing that has taken to creating companions around him, trying to trick himself into having a family and support system. It’s a heartbreaking move for a character who is never really a bundle of joy, and Perkins does the best work of his career on the pages that show the physiology of his new creations.
In “The Swamp Thing,” the story is not about Alec Holland, or a creature that thinks it is Alec Holland, at all. Levi Kamei appears to be the new avatar of the Green, and he is pulled from his life, through dreams, into the desert of Arizona. Reeling from the death of his father, Levi is floundering and unsure of his place in the world, which is compounded by his night-time transformations.
What Makes It So Great?
V and Perkins have really crafted a pair of stories that are undeniably in the tradition of other Swamp Thing tales, but are presenting them in totally new ways. In “Future State: Swamp Thing,” there was an undercurrent of longing and desire for connection that, for once, wasn’t romantic in nature. This wasn’t Alec pining for Abby Arcane, but rather wanting to feel like he wasn’t alone in the world.
That same sense of loneliness populates “The Swamp Thing,” but is expressed totally differently. Levi has lost his estranged father, is stuck in a weird space with someone he cares about, and is trying to put his life back together. We meet a Sheriff who is estranged from his son and lost his wife, who has nothing but his job for which to live. These characters have seen what the world can be like in good times, but are struggling to find those good times in their current situations.
And then there’s the Pale Wanderer, who I hesitate to call an avatar of the Rot, but certainly feels in that tradition. He claims to be an ‘idea,’ and feels that Levi is similarly eternal and ephemeral, but recognizes that they represent different viewpoints. This is a story of grief, change, and looking for a place in the world, and it is beautifully illustrated by Perkins, who takes all of those notes, along with Spicer and Bidikar, and crafts something that feels both bleak and beautiful.
Perkins draws Swamp Thing a little looser, in terms of his corporeal form being malleable than we’ve seen before. He is a creature in flux, and Perkins captures that beautifully. At times, such as in the double page spread above, his layouts reflect the work that Yanick Paquette was doing in the New 52 “Swamp Thing” series, but Perkins is doing work that is far darker and disturbing than anything Paquette did during his run.
How Can You Read It?
The completed “Future State: Swamp Thing” run of 2-issues is available in print and digital. “The Swamp Thing” saw its second issue come out yesterday, and it will run through the end of the year, monthly, from DC Comics.
