Vampirella 2 (July 2014)

Vampirella #2 It would be so much easier to read Vampirella if her costume weren’t so atrocious. I mean, come on–Collins writes her as an espionage agent for the Vatican. She should have appropriate attire.

The comic’s strangely not terrible, with Collins writing her protagonist a lot better than the book seems to deserve. There’s a whole bunch of exposition and it goes on way too long, but every few pages, Collins writes a good moment for Vampirella and it’s an acceptable read. More nonsense, good moment, once again acceptable.

Another problem is Berkenkotter’s lack of imagination. He does a Max Schreck Nosferatu visual homage only it’s not done with any humor or acknowledgement of doing a visual homage. It’s supposed to be serious and instead it flops. If it’s going to be goofy and nostalgic, make it goofy and nostalgic.

Collins reveals her setup for the arc; it seems fine.

CREDITS

Writer, Nancy A. Collins; penciller, Patrick Berkenkotter; inker, Dennis Crisostomo; colorist, Jorge Sutil; letterer, Rob Steen; editors, Hannah Gorfinkel, Molly Mahan and Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

Vampirella 1 (June 2014)

Vampirella #1 It’s difficult to take Vampirella seriously with that costume. Even though writer Nancy A. Collins does come up with a decent plot and a couple good twists (and a lame soft cliffhanger), the costume hurts the comic quite a bit. It just says, “We aren’t that serious.”

Another big problem is how Collins paces out the narrative. There’s a prologue with a family in danger, then Vampirella coming to investigate and then an action sequence and then, finally, Collins taking the time to establish the character. Collins uses third person narration for it; while lamely presented in a text box, the narration itself is good.

Strangely, even though the comic doesn’t seem to have much promise–the art from Patrick Berkenkotter and Dennis Crisostomo is adequate if uninspired mainstream stuff (too slick to be scary)–the comic’s still compelling. Collins’s two good twists are excellent, making Vampirella a definite curiosity.

CREDITS

Swamp Thing 138 (December 1993)

16108 I’m not sure Collins’s version of adult relationships would even work in a kids cartoon. Odd place to start, but she really does expect after Abby running off with ponytail guy–willfully abandoning Tefé as a freak–Alec would all of a sudden make house with Lady Jane?

And then there’s Constantine pointing out if Abby really does care about her kid, she’s not really worth much. Except Collins wrote Abby’s adventures with her as the sympathetic protagonist.

Oh, and the hair. Alec gets rid of the grey Swamp Thing look and goes back to the normal one. But then for the finish he grows big long green rock star hair. It’s idiotic.

This issue’s Collins’s last one, thank goodness. Her run started so strong and then got so unbearably bad.

There’s nothing to recommend this issue–though Eaton’s better than usual–except how speedily it reads. It’s simply awful.

CREDITS

And in the End…; writer, Nancy A. Collins; penciller, Scot Eaton; inker, Kim DeMulder; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, Tim Harkins; editor, Stuart Moore; publisher, Vertigo.

Swamp Thing 137 (November 1993)

16107 Collins reveals Arcane’s master plan. After a hundred plus issues, dying multiple times, going to Hell, escaping Hell, going back to Hell, old Anton has exactly the same plan he had when he first appeared.

But the lack of ambition from penciller Braun actually helps out here. One can’t confuse Swamp Thing with a good comic anymore, not with Arcane dragging hostage Abby out like the Bride of Frankenstein at the end, not with Collins turning the guy Abby went out with once into the love of her life.

Not with Braun giving Constantine some slicked back nineties hair.

The comic’s a joke. Laughing helps one get through it. Collins has seven or eight characters to manage in the issue and she does awful with them. There’s not a single honest conversation; though she does get in a pointless origin of a villain.

Pointless sums it up in general, actually.

CREDITS

Dead Relatives; writer, Nancy A. Collins; penciller, Russell Braun; inker, Kim DeMulder; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterers, Tim Harkins and John Costanza; editor, Stuart Moore; publisher, Vertigo.

Swamp Thing 136 (October 1993)

16106 2 I assumed Collins would handle the return of Arcane, Alec’s embrace with Lady Jane and everything else this issue rather poorly. But she outdoes herself. It’s even worse than expected–possibly because Arcane reveals himself here, which seems somewhat early. But there are a lot of suspects for Collins’s worst move.

First, Alec and Lady Jane get busy. Alec thinks about how much better it is than with Abby. Meanwhile–a day or two after leaving her family–Abby’s going out on a date with some guy. Now, an implication could be neither wanted the romance (and Collins directly suggests it in a flashback) but just got thrown into it.

Then, you know, they had a kid. Except both ignore the kid to get busy with members of their own species and bad things happen.

Russell Braun’s pencils don’t help things either. All his figures are stunted.

It’s entirely dreadful.

CREDITS

Cross Pollination; writer, Nancy A. Collins; penciller, Russell Braun; inker, Kim DeMulder; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, John Costanza; editor, Stuart Moore; publisher, Vertigo.

Swamp Thing 135 (September 1993)

16105 Let’s see. Of all the lame turns in this issue, I think Tefé all of a sudden being old enough to form questions is the worst. She’s concerned about Alec, who has rooted in his sorrow at Abby’s leaving him.

Abby, meanwhile, has already found a new romantic interest thanks to Constantine. It’s all very contrived–and unclear how the new guy is a better choice for her than Chester, except maybe he’s taller. Collins is all of a sudden cheapening the relationship between Alec and Abby. It’s unclear why, especially since it’s requiring her to make big changes in the characters. Not just as how others wrote them, but how she herself did.

Oh, and Arcane is possessing Sunderland. It combines Swamp Thing’s two main villains, but removes half the personality. It’s a really lame move, like all the other ones this issue.

The comic’s become a train wreck.

CREDITS

Marital Problems; writer, Nancy A. Collins; penciller, Scot Eaton; inker, Kim DeMulder; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, John Costanza; editor, Stuart Moore; publisher, Vertigo.

Swamp Thing 134 (August 1993)

16104 1 What’s so funny about this issue is how Collins clearly thinks she’s telling it from Abby’s point of view. Besides the physiologically unlikely scene where Alec cries, most of the comic–the significant bits anyway–follows Abby. And Collins also does have Chester perv on her. Literally a moment after she has a big fight with Alec. No wonder Liz left him.

Oh, and Collins does touch on Abby abandoning Tefé. Alec mentions it and Abby tells him not to “throw it in her face” or something to that effect. But she never talks about it. If Collins were telling the story from Abby’s point of view, her decisions would make sense. They might not seem rational, but they would make sense from the character’s viewpoint.

But not here.

It’s a weak issue. Luckily, with Eaton’s hit or miss (mostly miss) art, it almost never reminds of good Swamp Thing.

CREDITS

She’s Leaving Houma; writer, Nancy A. Collins; penciller, Scot Eaton; inker, Kim DeMulder; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, John Costanza; editor, Stuart Moore; publisher, Vertigo.

Swamp Thing 133 (July 1993)

16103 Is Eaton trying visually infer romantic feelings between Chester and Abby? It’s the first such occurrence and I’m sure it’s unintentional, but it’s far more interesting than anything else this issue.

Except maybe the stuff with Tefé. When she gets tough towards the end of the issue, Collins writes the scene rather well. Otherwise, the issue’s a mess.

One character dies in front of a sheriff, who doesn’t even file a report, then Abby runs off in the middle of a huge tragedy. She abandons Tefé, which seems somewhat unlikely. Then there are all the scenes with the giant petal monster. They don’t work because it’s viciously killing a bunch of people instead of being a fun giant monster fight.

It’s not the worst issue Collins has written lately, but it’s far from good or even mediocre.

And Swamp Thing still rocking his inexplicable, dumb-looking, shaggy grey hair cut.

CREDITS

Daisy Chain; writer, Nancy A. Collins; penciller, Scot Eaton; inker, Kim DeMulder; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, John Costanza; editor, Stuart Moore; publisher, Vertigo.

Swamp Thing 132 (June 1993)

16102 1 Collins can’t write a fight issue, especially not one where she desperately needs one side to win to progress Swamp Thing. Or maybe it should have gone the other way. She’s got Alec fighting clone Alec. Regular Alec now looks grey with antlers, clone Alec is the traditional green Swamp Thing.

They fight for seventy-five percent of the comic, then Alec ends the fight in a page. He just didn’t know his elemental powers.

It’s really lame and not just because Collins has made Alec so unaware of himself he’s a painful protagonist. The other lame things involve a former Nazi gubernatorial candidate trying to take Tefé away (through the law). It’s both odd and inept, with Collins’s attempts at social commentary flopping.

The best part of the comic is how fast it reads. I am not entirely which of the many options I would pick for worst part.

CREDITS

Home Body; writer, Nancy A. Collins; penciller, Scot Eaton; inker, Kim DeMulder; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, John Costanza; editor, Stuart Moore; publisher, Vertigo.

Swamp Thing 131 (May 1993)

16101 I don’t remember Swamp Thing ever having a costume change before. Except for special occasions, like when he went through space or time. Collins and Eaton give Alec a costume change, complete with rock star hair and spikes… it’s awful and it’s dumb. Even though Alec can travel from place to place, he can’t grow his body in some other way.

More of Collins’s convenient power limitations for the character.

Most of the issue is spent getting Alec well again after the toxic waste. He meets some elves and they use magic to fix him up; he looks funny because of the elf magic. Collins’s pacing of the issue is atrocious. The introduction of a strange race reminds of the old Wein clockmaker children issue except Collins grossly misspends the issue’s time.

And these days, it’s always bad when Swamp Thing reminds of older issues. Collins’s stuff is never better.

CREDITS

Folk Remedy; writer, Nancy A. Collins; penciller, Scot Eaton; inker, Kim DeMulder; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, John Costanza; editor, Stuart Moore; publisher, Vertigo.