Well, That Looks Green. And, Moist.: Swamp Thing #1 Review

Strange things are afoot – and not just at the Circle K. No, all over the world birds fall dead from the sky; bats plummet from cave ceilings; and, fish take a break from fornicating in the ocean to, well, die.

See? Look:

It's a bird. It's a plane. It's a...nope.

Superman is concerned. He seeks out Alec Holland, formerly known as Swamp Thing, at least to the rest of us. He thinks because of Alec’s former connection with Big Green he may have some insight into what is going on. Alas, Alec is of the opinion he just magically woke up in a swamp one day after being dead with all Swamp Thing’s memories. Ok, stranger things have happened: the amazing success of Lady Gaga, for example. And the popularity of Peeps. But, I digress. Alec doesn’t want to help. Alec would rather be all Greta Garboand have some “me” time while he tries to make sense of what seems to have happened to him. It appears to include first-hand knowledge that Mother Nature is, in fact, an asshole:

Great. As if I already didn't have enough reasons for not leaving the house without a flame thrower.

Scott Snyder has crafted an intriguing beginning to his Swamp Thing relaunch. Despite not being a Vertigo book anymore, the story retains a dark enough edge to keep long time fans engaged. Snyder, when interviewed by Newsarama, has said that:

Jeff Lemire and Jon Vankin and everybody else working in the “DCU Dark” have all talked with me about these elemental forces. We’ve come to the same place about what the “Green” is and what the “Red” is and these different elements, and how they should function in the stories and what they are.

One of the disturbing things in this book is that, as living things are dropping dead for no apparent reason, the dead are reanimating. If you’ve read Animal Man #1, you may notice a similar story beat. I wonder if, down the road there will be some sort of tie in or crossover. Because we haven’t had a crossover event at DC in at least a week and I think I’m going into event withdrawal.

Finally, pick the book up if only to see Yanick Paquette’s art. He’s got some of the most verdant and yet grotesque depictions of plant life I’ve seen outside of a Flemish still life or Troll. Go buy this book!