Swamp Thing #4

Cover by Yanick Paquette, Nathan Fairbairn

Swamp Thing #4 (December 7, 2011)

Writer: Scott Snyder

Penciller: Marco Rudy

Colorist: David Baron

Inker: Sean Parsons, Michael Lacombe

Letterer: Travis Lanham

Swamp Thing #4 is mostly concerned with exposition: a brisk history of the Green, the Parliament of Trees and previous Swamp Thing incarnations was the focal point of this issue. And I loved every second of it.

Rather than feeling like dull filler, Swamp Thing #4 was still very gripping and disturbing. Again, I adore the eerie and mythological atmosphere so I’m content learning more about this universe than just having action scene after action scene.

Swamp Thing #3

Cover by Victor Ibanez, Yanick Paquette

Swamp Thing #3 (November 2, 2011)

Writer: Scott Snyder

Penciller: Victor Ibanez, Yanick Paquette

Colorist: Nathan Fairbairn

Letterer: John J. Hill

Remember how I said that Swamp Thing #2 was actually pretty scary?

Well, Swamp Thing #3 upped the ante from scary to straight up disturbing. I am pretty sure that I was making a hardcore cringing face while reading this issue. Things have gotten pretty grim really quickly.

The reader has been introduced to the main villain, though Snyder successfully introduced this character as sympathetic and most likely unaware of his evil powers. Snyder also further established the dichotomy between the Green and the Rot, the two forces at play here in the Swamp Thing universe. Again, we’re dealing with classic narrative tropes: good/bad, light/dark, alive/dead, green/rot. Snyder, however, managed to make this tension feel new and intriguing by placing it within the context of the natural world.

Swamp Thing #2

Cover by Yanick Paquette, Nathan Fairbairn

Swamp Thing #2 (October 5, 2011)

Writer: Scott Snyder

Penciller: Yanick Paquette

Colorist: Nathan Fairbairn

Letterer: John J. Hill

Thus far, in my admittedly limited exploration of the New 52, my favorite find has definitely been Swamp Thing. I was not expecting it but the latest issue has thoroughly impressed me and made me a genuine fan. I plan on picking up on some of the older Alan Moore Swamp Things soon but right now, I’m really happy with Snyder’s rendition of this character.

For one thing, this issue is very mythic. And if there is one thing I love, it’s myths (mostly Greek and Norse but I’m not one to discriminate). I adore how Snyder managed to bring these very vast, mythic ideas into this comic and make Swamp Thing so much more than simply a dude who turned into a swampy, toxic monster thing. That’s what he used to be right? Toxic? Comic books have taught me to assume that all once-human-now-monster creatures are created because of a toxic spill or radiation.

Swamp Thing #1

Cover by Yanick Paquette, Nathan Fairbairn

Swamp Thing #1 (September 7, 2011)

Writer: Scott Snyder

Penciller: Yanick Paquette

Colorist: Nathan Fairbairn

Letterer: John J. Hill

For some reason, I have foggy memories of my dad talking about Swamp Thing a lot when I was a very young child. I don’t know why, because he never read the comics and if he saw the 1982 film, it never made an impression of him because he hasn’t mentioned it in recent memory.

I think we used to watch the 1990s television series together. At the very least, I recall seeing the commercials for it on the Sci Fi Channel and being intrigued by it, probably because I had managed, based only on my dad and the commercials, to equate Swamp Thing as a sort of Frankenstein’s monster and therefore felt incredibly sorry for poor Swamp Thing. When I heard this character was going to be included in the DC re-launch, the little part of me that is still a six-year-old Frankenstein and SciFi Channel fan woke up and got excited.