Category Swamp Thing

Sep 6 2012

Swamp Thing 0

Alternating Currents: Swamp Thing 0, Drew and PeterToday, Drew and Peter are discussing Swamp Thing 0, originally released September 5, 2012. Swamp Thing 0 is part of the line-wide Zero Month.

Drew: One of the most interesting things to me about this zero month experiment is the diversity of types of stories we might get to see. Some titles have large, overshadowing histories that have only been teased. Others have managed to make revealing the origin of their hero a key element in the narrative at large. But what do you do if your title has followed the hero since before he was a hero? Scott Snyder has made clear through his previous work on Swamp Thing that he’s not afraid of telling an Alec Holland story (as opposed to a Swamp Thing story), but is that really necessary at this point in the narrative? Snyder manages to answer both questions in surprising ways, turning the focus to Anton Arcane’s history, and how it shockingly ties into Alec’s own past. Continue reading →

Aug 3 2012

Swamp Thing 12

 

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing Swamp Thing 12, originally released August 1st, 2012. This issue is part of the RotWorld crossover event. Click here for complete RotWorld coverage. Not caught up on Swamp Thing ? No problem! Get up to speed with our video Cram Session.  Also, we’ve got Animal Man 12 coverage, supplying commentary on the first half of this story.

Shelby: I love seeing heroes working together. I don’t mean like in Justice League, on an established team (also, they aren’t really working  together anyway); I’m talking about the almighty Crossover Event. Swamp Thing and Animal Man’s Rotworld isn’t a traditional comic crossover, with multiple books dealing with the same issue and borrowing characters. Snyder and Lemire have instead told the opposite sides of the same story, and now those two halves have finally come together so seamlessly I had to check the cover multiple times to remember which title I was reading.  

Continue reading →

Aug 2 2012

Cram Session: Swamp Thing 1-11

It can be hard to keep up with all the comics you love. But it’s damn near impossible to keep up with all the comics you’re interested in.

Retcon Punch got you covered.

Alec Holland is just about the most reluctant hero of the New 52. Dude didn’t even cape-up until the end of issue 7. But it’s been a great ride, and now all human and plant life hangs in the balance. Catch up here and prepare for the Rot World crossover with Animal Man.

Jul 11 2012

Swamp Thing 11

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Swamp Thing 11 originally released July 11th, 2012 (but mistakenly released a week early on Comixology.com)

Patrick: There’s a pivotal moment near the climax of Swamp Thing and Arcane’s fight where Alec realizes what he’s up against. He stares, deadpan, at his injured enemy and puts the pieces together: “every wound… becomes a mouth.” The Rot is consumption: and nothing can quash its appetite. That’s us — you, me, the comics industry, the entertainment industry, consumers. We relentlessly chew up narratives, characters, histories… christ, DC Comics alone puts over 60 titles on the sacrificial alter on a monthly basis. They reboot the line, they run cross-over events, they revive Watchmen, they do line-wide zero issues. But it’s basically never enough, the consumers always want more. And so the war between the Green, the Red and the Rot goes on forever, a conflict insatiable. Continue reading →

Jun 7 2012

Swamp Thing 10

Alternating Currents: Swamp Thing 10, Drew and ShelbyToday, Drew and Shelby are discussing Swamp Thing 10, originally released June 6th, 2012.

Drew: Maintaining a sense of tension in an ongoing story is an unenviable balancing act. If a writer plays things too subtly, the tension is lost, but if it’s laid on too thickly, it looses all meaning. After building to what seemed like a sure climax in issues 8 and 9, Scott Snyder brings things down to a simmer for the introduction of Anton Arcane, but a simmer that seems more primed to burst than anything in the previous four issues. That a quiet conversation in a swamp can feel more dangerous than whole armies of the undead is a testament to Snyder’s writing, which continues to feel somehow both inevitable and innovative. Continue reading →

May 8 2012

Swamp Thing 9

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing Swamp Thing 9, originally released May 2nd, 2012.

Shelby: I love non-traditional stories. While there is definitely comfort to be found in stories that go exactly as you imagine, it’s those twists that can turn a story on its ass that make things really interesting. And when those twists give the finger to time-honored and traditional story-telling tropes, that’s when I sit up and take notice. Swamp Thing is an awesome embodiment of the non-traditional. Our hero is a monster (unless you compare him to the villain), and in this issue after he rescues the damsel, she turns right around and rescues him back.

Continue reading →

Apr 5 2012

Swamp Thing 8

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Swamp Thing 8, originally released April 4th, 2012.

Drew: Swamp Thing is all about details. Plot-wise, this issue may be even lighter than the previous one — Swamp Thing brings the fight to Sethe’s doorstep, prompting Sethe to play his ace in the whole: a Rot-ified Abby Arcane — but the creative team continues to emphasize and elucidate themes in ways that are both exciting and rewarding. Both the narration and the art are packed with subtle detail that amplify, refract, and subvert the story in surprising ways. Continue reading →

Mar 12 2012

Swamp Thing 7

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Swamp Thing 7, originally released March 7th, 2012.

Patrick: Alec Holland dies after taking a chainsaw through the torso.  Spoiler, I guess. No, I didn’t just ruin a twist or anything – in fact, Alec suffers this wound at the end of the previous issue. As is so frequently the case for characters in superhero comics, the drama continues to play out past the point of death, into the cerebral nether-space between living and dying. It allows Alec to decide that he needs to embrace his destiny and become the Swamp Thing. It’s a regular stop for heroes nearing the end of the Heroes’ Journey (capital H, capital J), but Scott Snyder manages something subtly different, emotionally unique to this very specifically reluctant hero.  Continue reading →

Feb 2 2012

Swamp Thing 6

Today, Drew and Patrick are discussing Swamp Thing 6, originally released February 1st, 2012.
Drew: Patrick and I try to avoid talking about comics outside of these write-ups in order to keep the conversation on the blog and open to everyone, but when he was catching up on Swamp Thing for our initial, epic write-up on it, he sent me a message betraying how good he thought Scott Snyder’s writing was. This break of form is entirely justifiable, given that Snyder’s awesomeness on Batman and Swamp Thing aren’t so much opinions as hard fact, but it also reveals just how flashy Snyder’s writing is. It isn’t just good: it’s remarkably  good. Continue reading →

Jan 24 2012

Swamp Thing 1-5

Originally Published January 24, 2012

When fellow blogger Drew Baumgartner and I decided to drive head first into DC Comics’ New 52, we didn’t count on there being so many series that we’d like – never mind this many series that we loved.  To make up for lost time, here is a special Tuesday BONUS Edition of Patrick and Drew and the New 52.  I’m hosting the discussion of Swamp Thing while Drew is hosting the discussion of Batwoman.

Patrick: So frequently when we do these write-ups, I want to give my perception of the character before reading comics about them.  It’s sort of a way of communicating my base understanding to make sure the reader and I are on the same page, and it usually allows me to draw some parallel between what I expected of superheroes as a kid and what I expect of them now.  I have yet to determine if this approach is welcoming or narcissistic.  Certainly, it’s no more narcissistic than wasting a paragraph writing about my writing process Continue reading →