Monday, September 12, 2011

The New 52 Review: Swamp Thing #1



I'm not your typical fanboy. I don't get up in arms about continuity. I just want awesome comics. So I'm open minded about things which I think is exactly what DC Comics wants, so let's give them a shot. How does the new Swamp Thing stand up?

I love the Alan Moore Swamp Thing. But that's been and gone, and I'm interested in seeing where else the character can go. The big news is that Swamp Thing is back in the DC Universe, although the appearance of Superman in this issue feels a little shoehorned just to emphasize the point.

We meet Alec Holland, developing memories of a Swamp Thing. Superman drops in on him to see what's going on and talk about it all. The dialogue here is very good and supplies a lot of depth to the narrative without feeling like it's all exposition. Meanwhile, there's the Swamp Thing side of things and here it's a story of some archeologists who run into a neck-snapping foe. It's not the best origin story but where writer Scott Snyder succeeds is by mixing the Alec Holland story with a side story This side story brings some much needed horror overtones to the comic.

It appears that Swamp Thing and Alec will be two separate characters, at least for a little while, and it's an interesting way to look at the character. If the darker tone is maintained this will be a fun book.

The artwork is again excellent. DC are delivering the goods art wise on a lot of these new issues and it's good to see. I'm definitely excited for the next one in this series,

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