By: Charles Soule (story), Jesus Saiz (art), Matthew Wilson (colors)
The Story: Alec loses his mind, then loses his body.
The Review: Much as I’ve enjoyed Soule’s work on his ever-increasing swathe of titles—five others,* at the last count—I’d argue Swamp Thing enjoys the peak of his imaginative abilities. While every Soule title is essentially well-crafted and generally contain good ideas, or at least a good premise, you have to notice that Swamp Thing delivers a brand new concept nearly every month. This issue fleshes out a whopping three.
Technically, the Sureen were introduced last month, but we only get a real sense of who they are and what they do here. Basically, they’re a cult of assistants to the Green’s avatar, devoted to a somewhat creepy level. The big difference between them and Waylon Smithers is instead of love, they desire in return the “Spring Sacrament,” sort of a Green-high for humans, in which they hallucinate themselves sprouting tree limbs from their arms. (“Quelle decadence,” Capucine remarks at their sprawled forms.)
But their true gift to the avatars is the “Locum,” offering up their bodies for the avatar to possess for a while. Knot, leader of the Sureen, sells the advantages pretty hard: painless for the host, who lies dormant while occupied, with the Sureen guarding the avatar body “with our very lives.” Sounds like a pretty good deal—in fact, too good a deal, which means that Alec is in for a very big downside soon enough.
Actually, it’s surprising and a little disappointing how quickly the Locum turns on Alec. You’d think Soule would allow him to enjoy at least one unblemished sojourn in a human body before letting things go awry, but you have to move fast for what is apparently a three-part arc. Almost as soon Alec transfers himself into his chosen host, the Sureen fling off the robes; Knot peels off his Gandalf guise; and together they steal away the avatar body before Alec awakes, vomiting blood from his fresh human body as his house burns in the background.
But early on, there are hints that current group of Sureen may not be the same devotees other avatars knew. Upon their first arrival, Jonah remarks, “I thought you had vanished,” and Capucine warns, “They know a great deal about you, and you know little about them.” These big hints should make Alec more alert to danger than he is in the issue, especially when giving up his avatar body is concerned, but that’s his human fallibility at work. Anyway, the point is that Alec has confirmed a body-hopping ability, even if it doesn’t work out this go-round.
Meanwhile, our new supporting players make big strides in rooting themselves in the human world. Obviously, Wolf and Weeds were never going to stay in Alec’s home for long, and despite his insistence that “[t]hey don’t know this world. They’re strange—they’ll stand out,” the two ex-parliamentarians do just fine. In short order, they redefine themselves to modern archetypes, Wolf as corporate mogul and Weeds as punk enthusiast. Even Jonah, despite his priestly airs, shows a passive-aggressive side to Alec and a deep affection to Capucine that rather quickly borders on the romantic. It’s exactly this ability to make the secondary characters interesting on their own, outside of whatever Alec’s up to, that makes Soule so strong a writer.
It’s always great to see improvement from an artist and even more heartening to see it from an artist who was already gifted to start. As solid and beautiful as Saiz’s figures have always been, they tended to have a certain sameness in body types and faces. Such is no longer the case. Not only does each character look solidly distinct from each other, they convey a much wider, subtler range of expressions. Both Weeds and Wolf have predatory looks, but ones that fit into their personalities: Weeds’ is cold, restrained to the point of being emotionless; Wolf’s is the squinty eagerness of the biggest fish in the pond, ready to swallow the passing minnows.
Conclusion: Some great ideas are being played with here, though Soule doesn’t quite milk them for all they’re worth.
Grade: A-
– Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: * Superman/Wonder Woman, She-Hulk, Letter 44, Red Lanterns, Inhuman. Seriously, I don’t know when the man finds time to take a dump—unless he multitasks.
Grade
Conclusion