
I really like the direction new writer Charles Soule is taking Swamp Thing in, and the second issue of Soule's first arc cements the new status quo for the avatar of the green.
After a run-in with Scarecrow in Metropolis, Swamp Thing is trapped in a nightmare where he is reliving all of the terrible things that have happened to him and everything he lost because of it. While he’s stuck in his own head, the green is freaking out, and all of Metropolis is besieged by crazed plant life. Superman has to get the situation under control, and he has some harsh words for Swamp Thing when he returns to the land of the conscious,
The art team of Kano (pencils), Alvaro Lopez (inks) and Matthew Wilson (colors) get to run wild with the nightmarish visions of this issue, but they also do a great job of capturing the emotional struggle of Swamp Thing as he realizes what Alec Holland’s life could have been without the green.
I also like that Soule is drawing a parallel between Swamp Thing and Superman--the fact that both wield almost incalculable amounts of power, and how difficult it is to stay connected to humanity because of it. Soule does a nice job of bringing us into the Swamp Thing’s struggle as well as tying the book more closely to the rest of the DCU.
These first couple issues of Soule’s run are a great jumping on point if you haven’t checked out Swamp Thing yet. I’m very excited to see where this book is heading next.
4 out of 5 Laser-Eyed Weed Killers