[Header artwork by Yanick Paquette]
To mark Earth Day on Friday, we asked you to name your favorite plant-based DC or Marvel character. Coming in at number one, unsurprisingly, with 36.6 percent of the vote was Swamp Thing himself: created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson in 1971, Swamp Thing, the reanimated corpse of Dr. Alec Holland, has starred in some of the best horror comics of all time, penned by the likes of Alan Moore, Rick Veitch, Scott Snyder, and Ram V — not bad for a character called “Swamp Thing.”
In second place with 19.5 percent was Swamp Thing’s DC cohort, Poison Ivy. Created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Sheldon Moldoff in 1966, Dr. Pamela Isley has become one of Batman’s enduring and iconic foes, as well as one of DC’s most complex antiheroes, and Harley Quinn’s primary love interest — no doubt her bisexuality has made her an even more important character to fans and creators alike.
In third place with 12.2 percent was Marvel’s Groot, the Flora colossi member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Groot is such a gentle giant, that it’s hard to believe he was originally introduced as a B-movie-esque monster by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby in the pages of “Tales to Astonish” in 1960. As well as his prominent recent appearances in movies, cartoons, and video games, Groot starred in an eponymous 2015 miniseries by writer Jeff Loveness and artist Brian Kesinger, the final issue of which may well be one of the most beautiful comics I have ever read.
Check back on Friday for our next Reader Poll!
