Swamp Thing (1985) #102

Swamp Thing 102

Okay, 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 enough time to introduce.

It’s a very hurried issue–and should be, it’s set against an approaching hurricane–and Wheeler’s got a good hard cliffhanger.

Sadly, Hoffman doesn’t have room to give it the appropriate space but it’s still effective.

Peter Gross inks Hoffman to mixed results. They remove Swamp Thing’s eyeballs, so Alec’s a lot less sympathetic. Their people feel very horror comic influenced, which would work better without some of Wheeler’s silly details. The fight’s boring; that failing probably has to do with the hurried pace.

It’s not bad, but far from good.

Swamp Thing 102 (December 1990)

16072 Okay, the shaman does have a name but only Alec uses it. The whole character’s a mistake, so why dwell.

It’s a very hurried issue–and should be, it’s set against an approaching hurricane–and Wheeler’s got a good hard cliffhanger.

Sadly, Hoffman doesn’t have room to give it the appropriate space but it’s still effective.

It’s not bad, but far from good.

CREDITS

And All the King’s Horses…; writer, Doug Wheeler; penciller, Mike Hoffman; inker, Peter Gross; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, John Costanza; editor, Stuart Moore; publisher, DC Comics.

The Unwritten (2009) #30

The Unwritten 30

Carey’s resolution is unexpected. It’s sort of celebratory and life affirming (and shows he and Gross could easily spin-off titles from Unwritten) but it also has the series’s first big fight scene in a while.

And it’s a comic book fight scene.

While all the detours into literature (Dickens, Moby-Dick), one doesn’t often think of Unwritten as being cousin to capes and tights comics. Carey apparently felt the need to remind everyone this issue and it’s cool to see a reluctant wizard battle a Golden Age hero.

It’s Marvel-style, of course, so the two heroes team up afterwards. Except it’s not to fight a villain, it’s to have a really touching scene together.

The Creature shows up again this issue as a deus ex machina but he also gets to meet Lizzie and Savoy. There’s even the implication he might hang out a bit.

An excellent issue.

The Unwritten 30 (December 2011)

And it’s a comic book fight scene.

It’s Marvel-style, of course, so the two heroes team up afterwards. Except it’s not to fight a villain, it’s to have a really touching scene together.

The Creature shows up again this issue as a deus ex machina but he also gets to meet Lizzie and Savoy. There’s even the implication he might hang out a bit.

An excellent issue.

The Unwritten 29 (November 2011)

Carey sort of sidesteps the maximum tragedy to keep the narrative more interesting. It requires him to bring in a new character and pretend he’s been there for an issue… it’s an unfortunate oversight in an issue already riddled with problems.

It’s still a good issue, of course. But the scenes are unbelievably repetitive. Tom’s dad and his girlfriend have the same conversation two or three times. Wilson’s big solution to the problem shows he doesn’t plan ahead well enough. Carey also loses all sense of time. The flashbacks might take place over a month or three days.

Carey is able to finish up with a great cliffhanger, but it feels predetermined. He has to contain and direct the story this issue, which cuts down on its energy.

Like I said, still a good issue. Gross and Locke’s flashback material continues to be good and Carey’s gently working the subplots.

The Unwritten 28 (October 2011)

Not a happy issue. Not one bit. Carey is forecasting an inevitable, devastating turn of events in his flashbacks. He’s really turning the screws too, as Tom’s dad meets a woman and, in an extreme Romeo and Juliet fashion, is going to have to kill her.

Besides the bad guys killing all the people Tom knows, which is often done without any personal touches to the scenes, it’s all this romance (set in the Depression). The art, from Gross and Locke, is fantastic. It exudes tragedy, keeping the inevitable event in the forefront of the reading experience.

There’s also some stuff with Savoy getting sick of Tom’s planning (Lizzie plays mediator). It too will come to a head, but it’s almost as though Carey’s distracting from it with the more potent flashback material.

It’s an excellent issue and Carey’s successful enough with the characters I’m dreading reading the next one.

The Unwritten 27 (September 2011)

Carey packs this issue. Maybe not with content–there’s a lot of conversation, then some extraneous stuff in a flashback (Vince Locke nicely inks Gross for those pages)–but with atmosphere. This kind of issue endears a series to the reader and Carey’s able to do it without forcing.

The issue also opens with a muted “Wire” reference, so it’s impossible not to love it.

For the majority of the issue, things are quiet. Carey’s resolution to the previous issue’s cliffhanger is to focus on a different event (smaller to the character, bigger to the world) and its repercussions. The actual cliffhanger gets a quiet resolution a little later.

This issue’s cliffhanger, however, is somewhat distant from Tommy and the gang. It will, undoubtedly, have big repercussions later, but for now it’s incredibly soft.

Carey and Gross’s deliberate pacing makes The Unwritten a special read. It’s always assured and deliberate.

The Unwritten 26 (August 2011)

Carey manages to be predictable and not. This issue closes off a two-parter and opens up something else… it’s not clear what yet, but definitely something. There’s a lot more action than I expect from Unwritten, maybe because it’s the regular action–guns, guys in body armor and ski masks. Gross handles it all fine.

There’s no big surprise moment, no big revelation. There are hints at future revelations and some little surprises, but Carey is certainly taking his time. He does resolve something from the previous issue, which surprised me a little. I thought he would have drug out the explanation a little longer.

Tom now commonly practices magic in the real world (and a tricky vampire) and that development changes up the norm a little. But Carey always manages to bring the triumvirate in, giving the characters their human moments.

It’s not rip-roaring, but quite good.

The Unwritten 25 (July 2011)

Creepy business abound this issue. Well, not really. It’s implied at the end. Along with some more backstory into Tommy’s childhood, which Mike Carey has a lot of fun teasing.

The issue opens with Lizzie and Savoy on a what appears to be a comical mission (and stays one until the end) before Tommy appears.

Carey does a talking heads recap–successfully catching up both the reader and the characters–and Peter Gross excels at the talking heads. I forgot how good Gross does with the regular stuff. Unwritten has a lot of fantastical visual elements (not this issue but in general) and Gross does a great job with them, but the regular stuff is somehow more profound. He’s the one who brings humanity to the cast.

Not a lot happens this issue, but Carey and Gross are so good at telling what does happen, it’s impossible to feel slighted.

The Unwritten 24 (June 2011)

Carey continues Pauly the foulmouthed bunny rabbit’s story, bringing him behind the scenes of fiction. Children’s fiction specifically. Carey visualizes it as an endless staircase with small doors into stories. Pauly escapes from the cellar through one of those doors.

It’s an interesting approach–all of the cast is, once again, pretty dumb (they’re cute little story-time animals after all) and Pauly quickly manipulates them all. Except the weasels. Once gets the feeling the weasels know what’s going on. Carey has a lot of Wind in the Willows references this issue… weasels included.

As usual with these done-in-ones, Carey could probably do a series around them so he has to bring a distinct voice. Here he uses Pauly’s… baby mama (a hippo) who recounts the tale. She’s a reliable narrator, but dumb. Makes for an interesting perspective.

The art is simultaneously precious and ominous. Al Davison does well over Gross’s layouts.

CREDITS

Stairway to Heaven; writers, Peter Gross and Mike Carey; pencillers, Gross and Al Davison; inker, Davison; colorist, Chris Chuckry; letterer, Todd Klein; editors, Joe Hughes and Pornsak Pichetshote; publisher, Vertigo.