Category: Swamp Thing
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The issue opens with a couple surprise guest stars, who provide a little commentary on the events. Mostly they inform the reader of things going on in Hellblazer, for those who aren’t reading both series. For such a momental issue, not much happens. Not much in a good way, however. Veitch includes a little scene…
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Veitch goes on a nutty little tour of the DC Universe–then the universe–with this issue. The art’s fantastic. I love how Veitch, ably assisted by Alcala, manages to be psychedelic while his artwork is still concerned with being grounded in reality. It looks amazing and deserves a bigger size. He beautifully utilizes effect and arrangement.…
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Veitch’s Swamp Thing run should be called “the convenience of communication problems. Alec discovers, but without context, something Constantine saw in his investigations many issues ago and it’s going to have a big impact. Shame Constantine didn’t just tell him. And, wait, Constantine told Abby something but she didn’t realize the full implication. Why didn’t…
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Veitch has his pacing problems back, but his creative side also gets the better of him. Alec fights a giant monster in his astral form. Veitch juxtaposes these already boring fight panels alongside the activities of the supporting cast. The Parliament, apparently, has finally got its act together and Chester’s in line to be the…
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Veitch has two big problems with this “Search for the new Swamp Thing” arc. They’re connected too, so it’s a domino effect. As Constantine observes at the end of the issue, all these prospective Swamp Things are complete asshats. They’re bad guys. This one’s a lousy husband and father and corporate scumbag. It doesn’t make…
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All of Veitch’s planning the last few issues comes to fruition. There’s not a lot of payoff, however, because Veitch decides to be a little too creative in his writing. He follows a prospective new Swamp Thing through his day while Constantine is trying to coordinate events neatly. As for Alec and Abby? She gets…
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Veitch is still working on his bridge. While Alec heads home for some private time with Abby, Constantine tries to figure out what’s going on with the plants. He meets a bunch of his friends, piecing together various pieces of information. The writing of these scenes is fine. Veitch makes each friend distinct, gives Constantine…
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Veitch deals with a big thing–the birth of a new Swamp Thing–rather quietly. The issue sails by, most of the pages dedicated to the mindless new Swamp Thing. Veitch used it for comic relief while Alec (eventually) rebels against the Parliament. But these are all bridging actions. Nothing much happens this issue. Abby goes back…
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So in twenty-four pages, Veitch manages to track three narrators and four protagonists. Alec gets the least amount of page time, as he’s tied into one of the other narrators (well, sort of). Veitch mostly splits the issue between a fundamentalist terrorist, Abby and Liz and Chester. Alec’s busy consulting the Parliament, where Veitch brings…
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There’s some more humor with Constantine, some more romance for Alec and Abby and yet another trip to the Parliament of Trees. Well, there’s also the Sprout–that being the soul of the next plant elemental–possessing Solomon Grundy to see if he’s a good fit. Alec then gets into a fight with Grundy, who doesn’t like…
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Veitch sure does write a lot. This issue is packed–and not just because Veitch has excerpts from a superhero psychology book as narration. Abby goes for an awesome trip when Alec discovers how to free her soul. There’s a process to the procedure and Veitch carefully goes through it. Under Veitch’s pen, Swamp Thing is…
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This issue, even for an annual, has way too many hands in the art pot. Besides Veitch, who pencils some in addition to writing the script, there’s Shawn McManus, Jim Fern and Stan Woch. Tom Yeates gets the unpleasant task of inking the hodgepodge. He fails at marrying them together. Just guessing, Woch does the…
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Rich Veitch takes over writing and the result is fine. It’s a good comic, it’s a Swamp Thing comic. Veitch doesn’t try to mimic Alan Moore, which is good; Abby trips on a tuber while Alec goes for a swim in the Green to check in after his outer space adventure. The art gets, occasionally,…
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One could, if so inclined, sit and try to figure out who drew what–Alcala’s such a unifying inker on Swamp Thing, it’s hard to tell Bissette and Veitch apart. Yeates I could easily identify, just because of the startling photorealism. For his last issue, Moore avoids sentimentality. His plotting is gradual, relaxed. Much of the…
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Veitch fills in as writer for Swamp Thing’s adventure with Metron and all the New Gods stuff. He does fairly well, but it’s an easy issue. Most of it is from Metron’s perspective and writing an egotistical know-it-all probably isn’t too hard. But the issue is easy because it’s a fill-in. Veitch spends most of…
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I don’t get teary-eyed at a lot of comics. The format really isn’t conducive to it–the writers and artists can’t really control the reader’s pace, which is important for being so emotional the reader has to react. But Moore and Veitch manage it here and in only a couple pages. Oh, Moore had been laying…
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Veitch fills in as writer for Swamp Thing’s adventure with Metron and all the New Gods stuff. He does fairly well, but it’s an easy issue. Most of it is from Metron’s perspective and writing an egotistical know-it-all probably isn’t too hard. But the issue is easy because it’s a fill-in. Veitch spends most of…
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Poor Adam Strange… Moore closes the issue making a joke about him. I get the reasoning–it’s a heavy issue–and it does give Strange a momentary spotlight, which he surely desires–but it’s odd. This issue is partially about high sci-fi ideas–a planet where the plant life became sentient instead of the animals and what Swamp Thing’s…
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Ushering in its new format status (better paper), Moore and Totleben do something quite different for Swamp Thing. Forget the comic deviating away from Swampy’s perspective… Moore’s now just using it to experiment with the (comics, not new) format. It is a prose issue, the story boxes against Totleben’s mixed media prints. DC really should…
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Stephen R. Bissette comes back to Swamp Thing to script a fill-in. Well, maybe not a fill-in. I mean, I’m sure Moore was busy with something else, but the story itself isn’t disposable. It’s just an Abby issue when the series has become, for a while anyway, about Swamp Thing. The issue serves a couple…
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While Moore is taking Swamp Thing on a trip through the post-Crisis DC Universe, he’s also reduced Swampy back to a supporting role. This issue is all about Adam Strange and the troubles on Rann. Swamp Thing’s just stopping over. And though it might be nice to see the titular character be the protagonist of…
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Moore does eventually make this issue more of the traditional team-up. He also gives Swamp Thing some significant more page time, as he tries to figure out what’s up with the Rann’s ecosystem. It’s actually a somewhat tense scene, as it’s unclear if Swamp Thing can help. The issue opens with a lot of political…
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While Moore is taking Swamp Thing on a trip through the post-Crisis DC Universe, he’s also reduced Swampy back to a supporting role. This issue is all about Adam Strange and the troubles on Rann. Swamp Thing’s just stopping over. And though it might be nice to see the titular character be the protagonist of…
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Moore overwrites Swamp Thing’s first person narration quite a bit. The more obvious ties to the color blue–he’s stuck on an all-blue planet–aren’t as bothersome as a reference to tenement housing. It’s not in the character. There’s nothing to suggest he’d have that thought. Otherwise, it’s fine. Wordy, but fine. There’s no other way for…
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The issue’s not in the pay-off. The pay-off is great, sure, but the issue is often disconnected from it. Moore’s writing Swamp Thing’s memorial–complete with guest spots from the Phantom Stranger and Constantine and, especially, a slightly mischievous and pervy Boston Brand. But it’s not a recap of the series to date, even though most…
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The issue’s not in the pay-off. The pay-off is great, sure, but the issue is often disconnected from it. Moore’s writing Swamp Thing’s memorial–complete with guest spots from the Phantom Stranger and Constantine and, especially, a slightly mischievous and pervy Boston Brand. But it’s not a recap of the series to date, even though most…
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Reading this issue, I wonder if Moore knew how he was going to bring Liz and Dennis back. He exited them from the series right after he took over. He certainly foreshadowed it. Interestingly, after doing a few issues “for the fans”–a Batman guest appearance, lots of action–he’s hostile to the traditional comic book reader…
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Sure, Moore’s got an over-sized issue, but he still fits in an amazing amount of content. In this issue, in addition to the Swamp Thing stuff, there’s pretty much an issue of Batman. Moore continues to show how well he writes that character. But there’s also the pacing of it–Gotham is changing and Moore tells…
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Moore brings Swamp Thing fully into the regular DC Universe here, sporting not just Gotham’s finest but also a Lex Luthor cameo. It’s wordless and only one panel, but Veitch and Alcala’s Lex is definitive for the comics. He’s bald and clearly disturbed. Sadly, their Batman panel (closing the issue) isn’t good. Odd jaw on…
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From the first page, it’s clear Veitch and Alcala’s take on Swamp Thing is going to be a little different. Veitch is far less lyrical about Swampy’s appearance. He now looks like a mix of Wrightson and Bissette. This issue kicks off the “Abby in Gotham” arc and Moore moves really fast through her side…
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