Written by Scott Snyder
llustrated by Yanick PaquetteThe forces of decay are summoning their servants, and the Green alone cannot protect Alec Holland — but one woman can! Alec may not know her, but he should! And only he can help her before the darkness finds its key to spreading across the world unchecked. But unfortunately for Alec’s mysterious benefactor, that “key” is part of the family…
Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette’s Swamp Thing has been one of the most critically lauded books of the New 52. And while I have enjoyed the book, I wasn’t as on board as everyone else seemed to be. The first two issues, especially #2, were so heavy on exposition that it didn’t feel like I was reading a comic; it felt more like a beautifully illustrated text book. It wasn’t that I wasn’t enjoying them, I simply felt like I wanted more action and less monologues.
So, would issue #3 be the less sedentary story I was craving, or would #3 be the last issue I will buy? Click the jump to find out!
Swamp Thing #3 is the rare single issue that is so well done that it makes the issues before it better. Snyder, Paquette, along with Victor Ibanez helping out, give the story some forward momentum while continuing to create one of the most identifiable moods in all of comics. The bigger story is starting to show itself, as well as show connections to other spheres of the DCnU, and the art continues to be some of the best coming out month after month.
Speaking of that art, Victor Ibanez does a great job with the William-centric pages in the book. His style is very compatible with Paquette’s work, and he manages to capture both the innocence of William and the borderline smugness of Dr. Durock without turning either into a caricature. The scenes of William in the hospital begin as heartbreaking and end as terrifying, with the art perfectly moving from well-lit and peaceful to dark and ominous as our understanding of William grows. Ibanez does this subtly, with each panel revealing a little bit more, until we are left with the final page, with its stark, cold image of William in the wild.
Paquette’s pages continue to be some of the most creatively laid out in all of comics. His fractured pages suggest vines and branches, and each panel approaches the characters from vastly different vantage points, using close-up shots, silhouettes, and cinematic angles to show the, sometimes stagnant, characters in an exciting manner. I can’t wait to see his work when he is given some more complex scenes to illustrate.
Snyder continues to be the creepiest writer of children working today (which is a high complement, because there is no shortage of creepy kids in comicdom). William, another red-headed child whose illness clouds how he interacts with others (sound familiar, Detective Comics fans?), transforms over the course of the issue from sympathetic sick kid to something completely different by issue’s end. The scenes in the hospital show even terminally ill children as capable of being cruel and terrified of the different. Despite being a border-line “super hero” comic, every corner of this issue suggests that this is a horror book, through and through. Horror manifests itself as the supernatural, intolerance, nightmares, the failure to protect the ones you love, and even as amnesia. You cannot escape the fear and dread that emanates from these pages.
This issue is a vast improvement over issue #2, which read as a beginner’s guide to Swamp Thing, told in monologue form. However, as I said earlier, this issue elevates the last two to higher places, in part because now that we understand how this world works better than we could without that huge information dump in issue #2. For just about any other superhero book, I couldn’t imagine it going three issues without any real action from the title character, however, because of the dense mythology at play (one of the few books that didn’t simplify much post-relaunch), the first two issues were needed to catch up new Swamp Thing readers up. Now that we are, more or less, up to speed, I expect the book to become something much different in a few months.
Continued belowMy only real issue with the book is tied into the fact that we are entering issue #4 and Alec Holland still is not Swamp Thing. Again, I know that this is not necessary for a good story, but I think that this hurts the book in some ways. I know there aren’t many spinner rack comic fans anymore, but I can imagine a kid picking up this issue because of the awesome cover, and opening it up to find exactly one panel featuring Swamp Thing, and that is a flashback. I know that every issue can’t be a great launching point, but I really believe that every single comic is one fan’s first issue, and this book needs a little more Swamp Thing in it. I know that is coming, but I can’t help but wish it happened a little earlier.
What is also coming down the horizon is a joint story, known as “Deadworld,” between Swamp Thing and Animal Man. Both Jeff Lemire and Scott Snyder, in our totally dope interviews with them from NYCC (especially the Snyder one – that interviewer is something else, am i right?), have hinted at this collaboration and this issue shows us how those two worlds might easily meet, and how the shared villain makes total sense to both books. As these are two of the best books DC is putting out, the crossover, tentatively scheduled to happen next year, is set to be epic.
Overall, I can’t believe how well this book is progressing, and how excited I am to see where it is going in coming months. The real winners of the DCnU are books like Swamp Thing, where people (like me) who never have read Swamp Thing monthly before are not only reading it, but are enthusiastically supporting the book and recommending it to others. People will read Superman no matter who writes it, but what Swamp Thing has shown us is that, given the right creative team and the proper marketing, even a mossy, messy story can enthrall readers and become a hit. And if that final page of William, looking not unlike James Gordon, Jr, doesn’t give you chills, then you need to check your pulse.
Final Verdict: 9.0 – BUY!
