Review- SWAMP THING VOL. 7: SEASON'S END

SWAMP THING VOL. 7: SEASON'S END (DC, First Printing, 2016; Softcover)

Collects Swamp Thing #35-40, Swamp Thing Annual #3, and Swamp Thing: Futures End #1 (cover dates November, 2014- May, 2015)

Writer: Charles Soule

Artists: Jesus Saiz, Javier Pina, Ryan Browne, David Bullock, Carmen Carnero, and Yanick Pacquette

Colorists: Matt Hollingsworth, June Chung, Nathan Fairbarn, Jose Villarrubia, and Matthew Wilson

This is the end of the road for The New 52 incarnation of the Swamp Thing. While bits and pieces of this run have flown in the face of the continuity established before, this is by and large faithful to the original Len Wein run filtered through Alan Moore's run.

Alan Moore introduced the concept of the Swamp Thing as part the avatar of The Green. Over the course of this series we have been introduced to The Red (the animal kingdom), The Rot (decay), and The Grey (mushrooms and fungi). Now we meet the kingdom of The Machine, initially comprised of A Calculus, B Calculus, C Calculus, and their apparent leader among supposed equals, Omega Calculus.

SPOILERS from here on out. You have been warned!

The Machine decide that they should acquire an avatar after being soundly defeated by the Swamp Thing. The Machine are constantly learning and evolving, so they choose Lady Weeds to become their avatar. The Machine renames her the even more ridiculously named Machine Queen, and The Calculus becomes the Rithm. The Rithm seeks to manage all life on Earth in order to make it run more efficiently. So all of the various kingdoms form alliances and wage war against one another. I won't go into the outcome, as even spoiler tags won't make me ruin the whole thing for you.

This has been an enjoyable series but I am not picking up the Rebirth Swamp Thing series. I love Len Wein's writing and would like to see what he has cooked up all of these years later but I just can't get into Kelley Jones' artwork. I am content to walk away from the character for now. The ending of this series could be read as an end of the character...just like Alan Moore's run.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

The OCD zone-

Paper stock: Glossy coated stock.

Binding: Perfect bound trade paperback.

Cardstock cover notes: Thick laminated cardstock.

Review- SWAMP THING VOL. 6: THE SUREEN

SWAMP THING VOL. 6: THE SUREEN (DC, First Printing, 2015; Softcover)

Collects Swamp Thing #28-34 and 12 pages from Aquaman #31 (cover dates April- October, 2014)

Writers: Charles Soule with Jeff Parker

Artists: Jesus Saiz and Javier Pina with Paul Pelletier and Sean Parsons

Colorists: Matthew Wilson with Rain Beredo

Wow, this flies in the face of modern comic book logic. Rather than have one arc stretched beyond it's logical conclusion to pad out a trade paperback, this book has several arcs under one roof. Lots of reading here, with the amount of story crammed into issue nearing pre-decompression levels. I like it.

Swamp Thing has killed The Parliament Of Trees, becoming the sole member of The Green. He is all and all is he...except for the two that he spared and made human, The Wolf and The Lady Weeds. These two are the last people he should have around him, but Swamp Thing, who is all plants, cannot see this forest for the trees.

The Sureen, a cult that serve The Green, arrive at the Swamp Thing's makeshift headquarters in a rotting plantation house. They offer him gifts, such as the ability to jump into a human being and be human again for a little while. They ask for a gift first, though: the hallucinogenic fruit produced by his body (as seen in the Alan Moore run). Like The Wolf and The Lady Weeds, not everything here is quite what it seems. Lots of political commentary about GMOs and Monsanto follow, and I always enjoy contemporary issues given wafer thin metaphors. Comics should be timely and timeless.

Capucine's origin is revealed and she gets plenty of “screen time” with a good dose of character development to boot. There is a lot of story crammed between these two covers, a real bang for your buck feeling going on here. Many times I read a modern book and it feels like a lot of empty calories, totally unsatisfying. This book was like a five course meal with an extra slice of cake after dessert.

The Aquaman issue is presented here in abridged form, with only the pages pertaining to Swamp Thing presented here. Since it is not advertised as collecting the entire issue I find this approach to be acceptable, especially when you consider that DC has already given you seven issues of Swamp Thing in this book at a MSRP of $16.99.

While the continuity for The New 52 is different than the Swamp Thing that I knew before, it is not so radically different from Alan Moore's reinterpretation that it feels alien or wrong to me. I will stick around with this title as long as it's good. Or has it been cancelled already? It's hard to keep all of these cancellations and reboots straight anymore.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.25 out of 5.

The OCD zone- I like how DC lists the creators for each issue at the “chapter break” page after the cover for the respective issue. This is something that tends to bother me about modern comics and their collected edition counterparts, since creator credits tend to be on a text recap page in the beginning of each issue which is omitted from the trades. While all collected editions list the creators in the table of contents it is not an issue to me unless there are multiple creative teams. Marvel always lists the issue number along with the cover in these books (since it has been industry standard for modern material since the early 2000s), something DC does not do. If they put the issue number along with the credits they would beat Marvel in this regard, at least pertaining to books with multiple creative times like this one has.

Paper stock: Glossy coated stock.

Binding: Perfect bound trade paperback.

Cardstock cover notes: Thick waxlike lamination. 

Review- SWAMP THING VOL. 5: THE KILLING FIELD

SWAMP THING VOL. 5: THE KILLING FIELD (DC, 2014; Softcover)

Collects Swamp Thing #24-27 and Swamp Thing Annual #2 (cover dates December, 2013- March, 2014)

Writer: Charles Soule

Artists: Jesus Saiz, Javier Pina, Andrei Bressan, and Kano

Colorists: Matthew Wilson and Kano

The battle to be the Avatar of The Green is on. The Swamp Thing once again takes on Seeder, although his identity is revealed to be SPOILERS!!! SPOILERS!!! TURN BACK NOW!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!! Jason Woodrue, a/k/a The Floronic Man from Alan Moore's infamous run. This is yet another New 52 continuity clusterf*ck that will have to be dealt with if the forthcoming Convergence crossover yanks this rebooted continuity into the pre- and/or post- Crisis continuities. My God DC sucks.

If this reboot wasn't so preoccupied trying to continually discard what went on before and just focused on moving the character forward then this story would have been a lot cooler. Instead, we have a decent story with decent artwork that won't matter in a few months.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.75 out of 5.

The OCD zone-

Paper stock: Fair weight coated stock with a slight sheen.

Binding: Perfect bound trade paperback.

Cardstock cover notes: Thick waxlike lamination. 

Review- SWAMP THING BY BRIAN K. VAUGHN VOL. 2 TP

SWAMP THING BY BRIAN K. VAUGHN VOL. 2 (Vertigo/ DC, 2014; Softcover)

Collects Swamp Thing #10-20 and Vertigo Secret Files & Origins: Swamp Thing #1 (cover dates November, 2000- December, 2001)

Writer: Brian K. Vaughn

Artists: Giuseppe Camuncoli and others

Brian K. Vaughn is one of the best writers working in comics today. Kudos to DC for cashing in on his recent success with Saga by finally releasing his run on this title across two books. Vaughn's writing is both political and personal, with his beliefs and convictions channeled through the characters in the story. Think of him as the 21^st century version of Steve Gerber or Don McGregor. Pure craft. My only gripe is that the Swamp Thing is a walk on role in only a handful of issues in this series. The real star is his Emo-tinged daughter Tefe. Vaughn is such a good writer that he can make you interested in something that wasn't what you wanted in the first place.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

The OCD zone

Paper stock: Thick glossy coated stock.

Binding: Perfect bound trade paperback.

Cardstock cover notes: Thick waxlike lamination.

Review- SWAMP THING VOL. 4: SEEDER

SWAMP THING VOL. 4: SEEDER (DC, 2014; Softcover)

Collects Swamp Thing Nos. 19-23, 23.1 (cover dates June- November, 2013)

Writer: Charles Soule

Artists: Kano, Jesus Saiz, Alvardo Lopez, and David Lapham

Colorist: Matthew Wilson

So the Swamp Thing is now Alec Holland, or Alec Holland is the Swamp Thing, and now there is no Alec Holland or only the Swamp Thing or something like that. Heck if I can make heads or tails of DC's “continuity” these days. Let's just say that The Green communicating Swamp Thing from Alan Moore's run is sort of almost here and go forward.

Swamp Thing encounters Superman for the first time while locking horns with the Scarecrow. You may be asking yourself, Hey wait a minute, hasn't Swamp Thing met Superman a hundred times before or something?, and the answer would be yes. You see, this is the “New 52” the reboot that does and does not contradict DC's already nonsensical, incoherent continuity. DC fans always say Who gives one whit about continuity so long as you get a good story? These same people collect variants and think that 3D covers are cool.

Swamp Thing's main foe this time out is Seeder, a guy who can somehow tap into The Green and create unnatural plant life. While he does things with what seem like the best of intentions, things go wrong each and every time that he uses his power because he is upsetting the balance. We also get treated to a new rebooted yet stale and tired feeling John Constantine. I will admit that I have never been a fan of him, not even when Alan Moore introduced him. He was a plot device and nothing more. Nowadays he is a fan favorite. Go figure.

I still enjoyed this, in spite of all of these gripes. The artwork makes the continuity clusterfuck much easier to handle, and the writing is solid in spite of said rebooted/ret-conned continuity. I still have a soft spot for Swamp Thing and will continue reading so long as the quality is there...just don't ask me which of the 52,000,000 Earths this is.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

Buy SWAMP THING VOL. 4: SEEDER TP at InStockTrades!

The OCD zone- Nothing unusual to report here, folks.

DVD-style Extras included in this book: Seeder designs by Kano. (1 page)

Capucine designs by Jesus Saiz. (2 pages)

Issue #20 pencils by Kano. (2 pages)

Issue #21 pencils by Jesus Saiz. (1 page)

Cover sketches by Guillem March. (2 pages)

Paper rating: 4.5 out of 5. Decent weight glossy coated stock.

Binding rating: 4 out of 5. Perfect bound trade paperback.

Cardstock cover coating rating: 5 out of 5. Nice thick waxlike lamination. 

SWAMP THING BY BRIAN K. VAUGHN VOL. 1

SWAMP THING BY BRIAN K. VAUGHN VOL. 1 (Vertigo/ DC, 2014; Softcover)

Collects Swamp Thing Nos. 1-9, the Swamp Thing “handbook” pages from Vertigo Secret Files & Origins, and the Swamp Thing story from Vertigo: Winter's Edge No. 3 (cover dates January, 2000- January, 2001)

Writer: Brian K. Vaughn

Artists: Roger Peterson, Joe Rubinstein, Rick Magyar, Cliff Chiang, Rodney Ramos, Mark Lipka, Steve Lieber, Paul Pope, and Guy Davis

Colorist: Alex Sinclair

Brian K. Vaughn is a fan favorite these days, with Saga basically being a license for Image to print money. DC was smart in releasing this previously uncollected run in trade paperback to cash in on the success of that series. Before his brilliant Y: The Last Man, before Ex Machina, Vaughn did this radically different Swamp Thing series for DC's Mature Readers imprint, Vertigo.

Those looking for the further adventures of the Swamp Thing (Alec Holland) and Abigail Arcane Holland will be disappointed. While they are in this series, they only occasionally appear, with the main focus being on their daughter Tefe Holland. Tefe is the human child of Alec and Abigail who can tap into The Green. She is seeking out purpose in this world, so she sets out to find The Tree of Knowledge.

Like all so-called Mature Readers series, there are themes not appropriate for all ages, such as sexual violence and swearing. These things could have undermined the craft and value of Vaughn's writing, but he pulls it off and makes it seem like a part of the story and not sensationalist or fanboy* pandering trash.

*Term used in the original pejorative.

While Vaughn's writing is the star of the show, writing alone doesn't make comics great. You have to have great artwork, too. Roger Peterson is serviceable if unremarkable. His art is just decent enough to keep this from sinking but isn't much to my liking. Your mileage may vary. Having said that, I am on board for Volume 2, out now.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

Buy SWAMP THING BY BRIAN K. VAUGHN VOL. 1 TP at InStockTrades!

The OCD zone- Nothing unusual to report.

DVD-style Extras included in this book: None.

Paper rating: 4.5 out of 5. Good weight glossy coated stock, worlds better than the recycled toilet paper that DC used to pass off in their Vertigo trades.

Binding rating: 4 out of 5. Perfect bound trade paperback.

Cardstock cover coating rating: 5 out of 5. Nice thick waxlike lamination, should hold up well over time with repeated reading. 

Review- SWAMP THING VOL. 3: ROTWORLD- THE GREEN KINGDOM

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.

Buy SWAMP THING VOL. 3: ROTWORLD- THE GREEN KINGDOM TP at InStockTrades!

Review- SWAMP THING VOL. 2: FAMILY TREE

SWAMP THING VOL. 2: FAMILY TREE (DC, 2013; Softcover)

Collects Swamp Thing Nos. 0, 8-11 and Swamp Thing Annual No. 1 (cover dates June- December, 2012)

Writers: Scott Snyder with Scott Tuft

Artists: Yanick Paquette, Marco Rudy, Francesco Francavilla, Kano, and others

Colorists: Nathan Fairbarn, Val Staples, and others

I am really digging this re-imagining/ reboot of the Swamp Thing. In this version, the Parliament of Trees are in an age old war against The Rot. The Swamp Thing has always been their champion, and this time it ended up being Alec Holland. Anton Arcane, an adversary from the original series, seems to have been given a much larger role as The Rot's main weapon against the “green”, or the Swamp Thing. Things come to a head when The Rot turn Abigail Arcane into Sethe and pit her against the Swamp Thing.

Issue 0 is the umpteenth take on the character's origin. Kano's brilliant artwork make things very easy on the eyes. The artwork and coloring is passed off baton-like, often within the same issue. There is a remarkably consistent appearance and quality maintained in spite of this. 

DC really needs to think through how they collect their comic books into trade paperbacks. A shining example of this is in Annual No. 1, which takes place after the Rotworld crossover slated to be collected in volume 3. A plotline is revealed here, with the death of (SPOILER) Abigail Arcane (END SPOILER). Those of us who follow this book via collected editions will be disappointed to have the rug ripped out from under us. The story in the Annual features a horrid ret-con/ re-imagining of how Alec Holland and Abigail Arcane first met. It's a weak spot in an otherwise stellar book.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.25 out of 5.

The OCD zone- DC has upped the quality of their trade paperbacks. I'm happy.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. This book has wonderful, thick coated stock paper which is perfect for modern material with computer coloring.

Binding rating: 4 out of 5. Glued binding is par for the course for softcovers. Calm down.

Cardstock cover coating rating: 5 out of 5. Thick, waxlike coating on the cardstock cover will help to ensure a lifetime of reading enjoyment.

Buy SWAMP THING VOL. 2: FAMILY TREE TPB at InStockTrades!

Review- SWAMP THING VOL. 1: RAISE THEM BONES

SWAMP THING VOL. 1: RAISE THEM BONES (DC, 2012; Softcover)

Collects Swamp Thing Nos. 1-7 (cover dates November, 2011- May, 2012)

Writer: Scott Snyder

Artists: Yanick Pacquette and Marco Rudy with Michale Lacombe and Sean P. Parsons

Everything that you know is a lie...only it's not. Everything that came before was wrong...and this is right. Such things are known to comic book fans as ret-cons, short for retroactive continuity, where a new writer comes in and changes some established continuity for the sake of where they're going with their story. Scott Snyder has set the Swamp Thing mythos entirely on it's head in much the same way that Alan Moore did when he came in and brushed aside Len Wein's established continuity. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, so I don't want to hear people bemoaning that their sacred cow (Alan Moore) has once again been disrespected by DC.

Alec Holland/ Swamp Thing and Abigail Arcane are once again the focal point of the series, with Abigail's little brother William being the avatar of The Rot. The Rot in the antithesis of both The Parliament of Trees' The Green and the animals' The Red. While The Green and The Red are a check and balance system, The Rot undermines them both. 

The writing and artwork are perfect. There isn't a word or a panel or even a brushstroke that I would change. These are genuinely creepy stories, which is something that was missing for the bulk of Alan Moore's run. Moore went for a more cerebral trip with the character, which was great, but this brings the character back to his more macabre roots. I have now read 2/52 of The New 52, and unlike Demon Knights, this one is a winner that I will follow until the end. 

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- DC has really upped the quality of their trade paperbacks. The coated paper stock is much thicker than they used to offer on their collections of modern material. The cover has a super thick coating which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. The glue seems solid. (Glued binding seldom gets a 5-star rating here at Junk Food For Thought.)

Paper rating: 5 out of 5.

Binding rating: 4 out of 5.

Cardstock cover rating: 5 out of 5.

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