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Review: Swamp Thing #1

SWAMP THING #1

Written by Scott Snyder

Art by Yanick Paquette

Swamp Thing starts out with a befuddled Clark Kent, Batman and Aquaman helplessly watching birds, bats and fish dying around them in one of the prettiest, busiest panels I’ve seen in a long time. This sets up the need for Dr. Alec Holland, aka Swamp Thing, to reenter the realm of super-heroism to fight a new brand of eco-terrorism. Or something like that…I was more caught up in the very grounded struggles of a genius who can’t let go of his past and move into his future, even with the cajoling of Superman.

My sole exposure to Swamp Thing as a franchise was the weird 80’s movie and weirder TV show, so I went into this book skeptical at best. What blossomed before me was a fully realized, definitely interesting character study. True, we’ve seen the reluctant scientist-turned-grotesque-hero a bunch lately through the Hulk and all of its entities, but even Bruce Banner’s reintroduction into mainstream pop culture was not as accessible or emotionally grounded as the 22 pages of general excellence that Swamp Thing #1 offers. Artistically, we’re not breaking uncharted territory here – in fact, Superman looks a little stupid, in my opinion – but what may lack in artistic style, is definitely made up in story and character development.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

The book lays everything you need to know out.

VERDICT

Buy it! – The good character work harkens to great pieces like Lost and The Stand and worth reading for that alone.

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