This issue’s pretty trippy. I think, in the final estimation (this issue’s his last), I like what Hoffman did for this Quest for the Elementals arc. He changed up his style, moved Swamp Thing away from horror to the psychedelic. Maybe he realized mushrooms can be scary, but they can be trippy. As for Wheeler […]
MoreAbby’s story comes to its predictable cliffhanger. Wheeler foreshadowed it way too early and then spends the rest of the issue building it into a cliffhanger for the whole issue. He never brings Abby and Tefé back to the others, so now Alec’s got to go on a rescue mission. There’s also a reasonably good […]
MoreDidn’t Wheeler just do an issue where Alec’s in trouble in one place and Abby and Tefé are in trouble in another? It’s apparently just how he structures Swamp Thing. This issue Abby and the baby are stuck at the Parliament, where she may or may not have unintentionally fallen into the Grey’s clutches. Meanwhile, […]
MoreI still can’t decide about Hoffman’s art. When he does the scenes of Alec interacting with the other plant people, it really does seem like he’s going for a particular style. When he’s drawing Abby, he can’t manage perspective or proportions. It’s all very confusing. The issue itself is rather lame. Wheeler isn’t writing any […]
MoreWhat is the deal with Hoffman’s art? If his style–which occasionally reminds of sixties and earlier comics–is unintentional, he’s incompetent. But if he’s intentionally doing this issue’s war comic scene like Swamp Thing is an old war comic, it’s fantastic. And Hoffman’s Swamp Thing looks a lot like the Wes Craven movie costume. And if […]
MoreThis issue, establishing even more asinine backstory, really shows Wheeler’s problem. He’s interested in making his mark on Swamp Thing, not making his mark with Swamp Thing. He’s trying to wow with details instead of actions. This issue, Alec and Abby learn the Parliament contrived his birth as plant elemental in order to guarantee he’d […]
MoreWheeler answers a reasonable question–why such a long break in Earth Elementals before Alec Holland (the previous Swamp Thing was thirty years prior)–with a silly, contrived answer. The Parliament of Trees did try… only the evil fungus god got them. Or something along those lines. It’s a dumb, obvious plot point. Wheeler’s retconned a lot […]
MoreOkay, the shaman does have a name but only Alec uses it. The whole character’s a mistake, so why dwell. This issue has social commentary, a magic ceremony to encourage Tefé to regrow her body, Swamp Thing fighting monsters and a few other things. There’s even a new supporting cast member who Wheeler doesn’t take […]
MoreNot much of a hundredth issue celebration for Swamp Thing apparently. Unless you count Wheeler going back and retconning a lot of Moore and Veitch’s details about the Parliament of Trees and the new Earth Elemental storyline. And the time travel storyline. Lots of retconning. But Broderick can draw trees, so at least the trip […]
MoreWheeler writes an interesting scene between Alec and Constantine. Alec finally loses control with him and lifts him up, presumably to do him harm. It’s a bit of a shock, since Alec’s always restrained in his anger towards him. Sadly, Broderick’s art ruins the scene. Strangely, Broderick handles the other plant guy just fine. Wheeler […]
MoreThanks to guest penciller Tom Sutton–and a real understanding of the Arcane character–Wheeler brings his Tefé in Hell storyline to a successful close. Oh, and Pog. Can’t forgot Pog. Even though Sutton doesn’t draw him as well as Broderick (yes, I’m surprised too), the character really makes this finish work. Not even Sutton can make […]
MoreBesides Pog, about the only thing Broderick draws well this issue is Etrigan. Wheeler goes overboard into Hell’s politics as it accommodates new alien inhabitants–it’s really boring stuff and Broderick’s art is just too silly for it. Hell’s not horrifying, it looks like a toy commercial. It’s incredible Broderick couldn’t make bugs scary… scary bugs […]
MoreInteresting… Wheeler is able to sell the impossible here. He does another of his callbacks to Moore’s run–specifically the adorable alien, Pog–and makes it work. Even more interesting is how it comes after an issue of questionable plotting in regards to Swamp Thing mythology. Wheeler does a lot with the afterlife, with Arcane becoming a […]
MoreWheeler tries so hard and it just doesn’t go quite right. Some of the problems are with the art. Broderick gets more ambitious in his composition with conversations, but he can’t visualize the stranger parts of the story. The issue involves Chester and Liz picketing a toxic waste plant, Alec and Abby’s parenting troubles, little […]
MoreWheeler’s evening out. His ambition here is constrained–some kind of monster in a different wavelength of reality is the patron to a serial killer. It likes to hear jazz while people get murdered. Alec comes across some victims and investigates. There are some other plot contrivances–Abby in danger, Chester and Liz pop in–but the main […]
MoreGood grief, Wheeler’s just trying to wrap himself in Moore and Veitch’s runs now. He brings back one of Abby’s old jobs–along with an unlikable but nice woman who rehires here, which I think is from Veitch’s run–and also the kid terrorized by the monkey demon, one of Moore’s first stories. Not to mention Wheeler […]
MoreWheeler is getting rather predictable. As far as Abby and Alec go–you know, Swamp Thing’s main characters–he has no idea what he’s doing. But he’s ambitious and enthusiastic. And well-versed in Swamp Thing. He seems to have read a lot of it; he just can’t write it. This issue concerns the bayou reversing to how […]
MoreEw. I guess Broderick is getting a little better with the people, but now his Swamp Thing is an awkwardly shaped disaster. There’s no grace to the form, no majesty. Alec looks like a Mad Magazine caricature. As for Wheeler’s writing? Well, he’s doing the Three Wise Men, with Woodrue as one of them. Except […]
MoreAlcala’s not the best inker for Pat Broderick. Broderick takes over pencils this issue. Swamp Thing looks fine, so do the plants, but the people look wrong, like there’s not enough detail to them. Wheeler tries to put Alec on a psychedelic recap of his time travel adventures but it doesn’t work. The one panel […]
MoreThe issue’s beautiful to be sure–Tom Yeates drawing Alec’s adventures in a far flung past, before the continents have even shifted, meeting with the first three trees in the Parliament. At the same time, Abby is preparing to have the baby and Constantine is trying to get back. But Wheeler’s way too ambitious. His enthusiasm […]
MoreDoug Wheeler takes over the writing and does all right. He recaps the previous time travel adventures–this issue comes after an unexpected publishing delay–and sticks close to Alec. Wheeler basically rips off The Clan of the Cave Bear, with Alec hanging out with Neanderthals (guess what, they should have made it, not humans), while splitting […]
MoreWell, the Moebius story is pretty but I’m not sure it’s got much in the way of narrative. It’s a fine little diversion–I think it’s my first Moebius short story–but it’s got zero heft. No idea why they opened the issue with it. The Creep gets near its finish with more great art and a […]
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