SWAMP THING VOL. 3: ROTWORLD- THE GREEN KINGDOM (DC, 2013; Softcover)
Collects
Swamp
Thing
Nos. 12-18 and Animal
Man
Nos. 12, 17 (cover dates October, 2012- May, 2013)
Writers:
Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire
Artists:
Yanick Paquette, Steve Pugh, Marco Rudy, Andrew Belanger, Dan Green,
Andy Owens, Timothy Green II, and Joseph Silver
Colorists:
Lovern Kindzierski, Val Staples, Nathan Fairbairn, Lee Loughridge,
and Tony Avina
The
New 52 version of Swamp Thing remains a gruesome re-imagining
and redefining of the Swamp Thing mythos, and for my money, it works.
While some of these concepts (i.e. Swamp Thing being the avatar of
The Green) were laid out in Alan Moore's 1980s run, this run is
turned on its head with Abigail Arcane being a part of The Rot. Her
father, Anton Arcane, is the avatar of The Rot, ramping up his status
as the Swamp thing's arch nemesis.
The
first issue in this book is the Animal Man Rotworld Prologue
issue, #12. As the third volume in this series and the first issue
that I can recall ever encountering Animal Man in, it serves as a
piss poor introduction to the character. No context or explanation of
any kind is given, as if readers are expected to know who he is and
what he does. Mind you, I am a hardcore comic fan who reads upward of
1,000 comic books a year, and I was lost with the introduction of
this character within the confines of this series. Assuming that fans
know who every character is detrimental to the mythological
mainstream buyers that allegedly scoop up New 52 books. Animal Man is
the champion of The Red, something not laid out until the second
Animal Man issue (#17) collected later in this book.
Animal
Man and Swamp Thing form a tenuous balancing act with The Rot, a sort
of natural check and balance that Anton Arcane is trying to upset.
Animal Man and Swamp Thing journey to The Rot, with Swamp Thing
leaving a vine grown from his body acting a tether to our world.
While in the realm of The Rot, the vine gets cut by Anton Arcane,
leaving them stranded and searching for a way back home.
When
Swamp Thing comes to, he finds that The Rot has taken over the world
in his absence, even co-opting every superhero into twisted
Rot-version of themselves. This all seems tired and tedious, as it
has happened so many times across so many series over the years. Some
of these versions, like Batman and Man-Bat, play an important role,
while others just seem to be added scenery to give this crossover
some sort of universe-shaking merit. I tend to roll my eyes at this
sort of thing.
Those complaints aside, this was a fairly enjoyable read with absolutely gorgeous artwork and coloring. This series can be downright gruesome, with the Horror elements ramped up and the more philosophical nature of the Alan Moore run taking a backseat to more visceral imagery. If you can take this series as it's own thing then you will enjoy it. I am suffering from crossover and event fatigue, but this one was thankfully contained to two titles. I have discovered that Animal Man is the other side of the coin to this series, but I won't be checking it out. I have too many irons in the fire as it is.
Junk
Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.
The
OCD zone- Some of the caption boxes are swallowed by the gutter,
albeit slightly. I would think that DC would take the gutter spacing
on their collected editions into consideration when doing page
layouts in their periodical comic books, since nearly everything is
compiled into a hardcover or trade paperback several months after the
completion of every arc.
DVD-style
Extras included in this book: Cover sketches
and designs (1 page).
Swamp
Thing #12 and Animal
Man
#12 combined covers
by Yanick Paquette, Steve Pugh, and Nathan Fairbairn (2 pages).
Swamp
Thing
#17 and Animal
Man
#17 combined covers
by Yanick Paquette, Steve Pugh, and Nathan Fairbairn (2 pages).
Character
sketches by Yanick Paquette (1 page).
Paper
rating: 4.5 out of 5. DC now uses better paper in their collected
editions of modern material than Marvel does. This has a nice weight
glossy coated stock which is optimal for material with computer
coloring.
Binding
rating: 4 out of 5. Perfect bound trade paperback.
Cardstock
cover coating rating: 5 out of 5. Nice weight cardstock cover
with a thick lamination. My copy had a manufacturing defect,
an air bubble trapped in the finish. DC now uses the same weight
cardstock cover that Marvel used to use, making DC's trade paperbacks
of modern material superior to Marvel's.
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