Swamp Thing #25 – Review

By: Charles Soule (story), Jesus Saiz (art), Matthew Wilson (colors)

The Story: Which of these would-be champions will go home with the title?

The Review: In last month’s annual, it was revealed that the Parliament may not have been entirely forthcoming with Alec when they said it was his destiny to become their avatar.  Obviously, this is not exactly something one wants to hear after having given up one’s life, body, and soulmate out of respect to destiny.  The most frustrating part of all this is that after having been thus misled, there’s very little Alec can do about it.

After sacrificing so much to get to this point, there’s nothing to fall back on even if Alec wanted out of a gig he was tricked into.  So even though at this point, he’d rather not be participating in a showdown to appease those who deceived him, he has to protect the only thing remaining to him: his title.  “The avatar.  The Swamp Thing.  Let this kid take that from you, and you really will have lost everything.”

Even though Alec goes into battle determined to win, with all the advantages being an incumbent avatar possesses, he’s undermined by the one thing that always does hamper his progress.  Despite his monstrous form, Alec’s mind remains very much that of your average man, with all the stubbornness, arrogance, and patronizing that means.  His overconfidence already cost him a duel with Seeder, yet true to his humanity, he fails to learn from experience and once again underestimates his opponent, at great cost.

But his struggles to overcome Seeder aren’t just about his flaws, but his virtues as well.  Call it his natural compassion, or an unwillingness to embrace the ruthlessness the Green demands and lose his humanity in the process, but Alec constantly tries to avoid a real confrontation.  Several times, he makes a display of power and exhorts Seeder to yield, but surrender is very much a human’s tactic, and Seeder is no longer interested in being human.

That, more than anything else, is what tips the Green’s favor towards Seeder.  Even though the Wolf initially reassures Alec, “It’s not necessarily about destroying your opponent…  It’s about demonstrating mastery to the Parliament,” the Green behaves otherwise.  Although Alec gains the definitive upper hand over Seeder, clearly showing the growth of his powers, the Green demands, “Kill him.  No failed challenger to the avatar can be suffered to live.”  His predecessor’s advice seems tailor-made for this very situation, yet it backfires when he puts it into action.  Instead of impressing the Parliament, Alec’s decision results in his forced early retirement—not a punishment, per se, but certainly not the reward he was looking for.

Soule’s character and plot developments are top-notch, but he also understands that Swamp Thing is a mainstream title now, which requires a little more action than you might otherwise expect a series of this kind to offer.  Seeder and Swamp Thing’s duel delivers on that point, displaying all sorts of creative and violent uses of their powers, some admittedly more questionable than others.  For example, how can the Green possibly enable Seeder to open portals to the moon?  It’s a great moment, for sure, but one that disturbs your careful suspension of disbelief.

Saiz’s art is outstanding for its ability to capture the supernatural material before him with all the attractive form you’ve come to expect from a mainstream title.  This is gorgeous, beautifully detailed work he’s putting in; every leaf, twig, and patch of moss is rendered with utter care.  He can draw one Swamp Thing doppelganger after another, all with different shapes and textures (in every natural color Wilson can come up with), each looking equally impressive.  But Saiz’s work is more than just looks; he’s very effective at hitting upon the driving emotion of a scene, like the desperation and horror as Seeder’s staff, still impaled in Alec’s body, comes to life, sprouts spider-like limbs, and drags him through a portal to certain death.

Conclusion: If you ask me, Swamp Thing hasn’t been this consistently good since its early issues with Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette.  For those turned away by Rotworld’s endless horror, now’s a good time to return to the fold.

Grade: A-

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: – I don’t know why, but there’s something about Alec’s petulant “Hmph” in response to the Wolf’s encouragements that’s so very, reassuringly human.