Tag: Rebecca Guay

Swamp Thing 139 (January 1994)

16109Foreman relies heavily on dumb pop psychology to “cure” Alec, but Rebecca Guay on pencils and DeMulder on inks make up for some of it. Black Orchid and her sidekick guest star, traveling through Alec’s mind (literally… he’s turned it into a plant art installation in the swamp).

There’s some really bad dialogue and some strange ideas Foreman never really explores (why does Alec’s superego parrot Superman’s truth and justice ideals). It does read somewhat slow, but the art’s fantastic at the beginning so only the end is sludgy.

Literally nothing is resolved from the previous issue. Alec has just shut down, which probably wouldn’t be allowed since he’s got to protect the Green. Having a Black Orchid tie-in doesn’t fit the story at all. Foreman doesn’t dwell on the dumber leftovers of Collins’s run, however.

It’s not a good comic, but Guay’s great and Foreman’s ambitions aren’t trite.

CREDITS

The Mind Fields, Part Two; writer, Dick Foreman; penciller, Rebecca Guay; inker, Kim DeMulder; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, John Costanza; editor, Stuart Moore; publisher, Vertigo.

Black Orchid 5 (January 1994)

3506Oh, good grief. This issue ties in to Swamp Thing, with Black Orchid and Sherilyn the hooker with a heart of gold heading to Louisiana. Black Orchid, it turns out, is a Swamp Thing expert and thinks she can help him through his relationship troubles.

Foreman doesn’t even try to explain how Black Orchid knows so much about Swampy. Maybe she’s been reading the comics.

But until the lame walk through the swamp mind of Swamp Thing (he’s physically creating his thoughts out of plants), Foreman has Sherilyn narrating the issue. Except, however, when he opens it with his idiotic reporter guy.

The reporter falls victim to a laughing fit; a Joker cameo, unfortunately, does not materialize.

Thompson and Woch do okay in the swamp, but all the human scenes–Foreman centers on Sherilyn–are rather rough going. The artists being bored with the writing is never a good sign.

CREDITS

The Mind Fields, Part One; writer, Dick Foreman; pencillers, Jill Thompson and Rebecca Guay; inker, Stan Woch; colorists, George Freeman and Digital Chameleon; letterer, Clem Robins; editors, Julie Rottenberg and Lou Stathis; publisher, Vertigo.