There’s a cute little reference to Ultraman and Owlman on the news at the beginning of the issue. Alec’s travels bring him to Earth-Three (or something like it) but he doesn’t run afoul of the supervillains. Instead, he finds himself with the Arcanes. Only, Anton’s the good one and Abby’s the bad one. There’s a…

It’s a good, but far from profound, issue. Much like Moore and Veitch, Millar has sent Swamp Thing on a multi-issue themed adventure. Not through time or space, but through genre fiction. Here he appears in a supernatural noir world, aiding a private detective on a case involving a devolving man. The detective’s actually the…

Millar opens the issue with an homage to Time’s Arrow… telling the story of a woman drowning in the swamp in reverse. He rewinds her final day (starting with the autopsy) until she meets up with Alec. An indeterminate period of time has passed since the previous issue. Alec’s back in the swamp, sort of…

And here Millar writes his best issue so far. It’s probably the best Swamp Thing since some time during Veitch’s run–and not just because Millar gives Alec a moment where he can appreciate life in the swamp again (something big during the Moore and Veitch runs). The issue’s about a few things. There’s all the…

Did Sargon die in a Swamp Thing issue? I can’t remember. I think maybe he did. If so, Millar’s reaching way back to bring forward new plot elements–though it’s not essential for Sargon’s character to be Sargon, it just needed to be a magician with a niece. Speaking of the niece, Millar spends about half…

Hester and DeMulder draw Lady Jane for a scene. It’s interesting to see her show up–Millar uses the scene to establish she has some idea what’s going on with Swamp Thing–it’s also nice to see how well the artists visualize the character. The protagonist this issue is Sargon the Sorcerer’s niece, who travels to Germany…

Millar doesn’t keep up with the unpleasantness. This issue is far less intense than the previous, even though Alec’s on the run in Amsterdam with Nelson (the big game hunter) after him. It’s an action issue, with interludes to the mystical stuff and a downright disturbing cameo from the Spectre at the beginning–fairly sure Millar…

Millar goes for as disturbing as possible. There’s no humor in it, no smiles, it’s just Alec trapped in a decaying human form in Amsterdam, surrounded by perversions, desperate to escape. Meanwhile, there’s the big game hunter, who’s a caricature, out to get him. But the big game hunter is the only caricature–the rest of…

And now Millar’s changed his approach. Alec’s not really the protagonist anymore; for his half of the comic–Colonel Strong, the monster hunter, gets the other–Alec’s just the biggest name in a disaster movie. Millar sets up a lot of little characters, quite well too, before putting everyone in a bad situation. While that bad situation…

Now solo on the book, Millar’s approach is to make Alex the lead. He’s cut off from the Green and, for whatever reason, Millar’s not bringing back the supporting cast from before Collins purged them. And then there’s the new power–Alec can form himself human bodies now. He’s hanging out in New York dressed as…