Swamp Thing #30 – Review

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

The Story: Time is running out for Alec, which means it’s the perfect time for a date.

The Review: For a long time, Alec was really the solo driver of this book, his isolation broken only by a troubled romance with Abigail Arcane and a brief partnership with Buddy Baker. But ever since Soule took over the series, he’s slowly added more permanent fixtures in the characters of Capucine, Lady Weeds, the Wolf, and Brother Jonah, all fully realized with motivations entirely separate from Alec. This isn’t just Alec’s show anymore; what we have here is an ensemble.

It’s pretty easy to tell whether a group of characters is a true ensemble or whether they’re just filler orbiting the star. Just remove the biggest name from the picture and see how the rest get on. True, Alec is only incapacitated for a few pages, but that’s enough for you to see how functional and entertaining his supporting players are without him.

What’s impressive is that these are all very strong personalities. When you look at Capucine, Weeds, Wolf, or Jonah, you don’t see a single slouch in the bunch. Even Jonah, the peacemaker, is assertive enough to place himself between the contentious Weeds and Capucine—a match-up you’re more than ready for—while Wolf seemingly goes with the flow as he simultaneously calculates the best moment to strike. This is a far cry from the days when Swamp Thing spent most of its time in Alec’s head.

But rather than stealing from Alec’s spotlight, his supporting players make him seem more than ever the heart of Swamp Thing. Certainly compared to his companions, Alec is less canny and sure of himself. Once returned to human form, he seems to founder, having none of the skills, knowledge, and plain confidence each of them possesses. Even his experience as a researcher proves useless in helping to help himself, a reminder that he’s still, for the most part, out of place in this supernatural world he’s caught up in. Aside from all this, he’s gullible, temperamental, and prone to crippling self-doubt and loathing. In short, he’s the most human character in this whole book, and that’s what makes him rather endearing, as Capucine grudgingly admits: “You are as foolish a man as you were a plant, Alec.”

It’s a pleasure to get this kind of character development when the plot is already thickening as it is. While Soule keeps the true identity of the antagonists under wraps for now, their goals are very clear, and quite ingenious. Through good, empirical science, they discover that the substance of Alec’s body “acts something like stem cells in animals. Any part of it is capable of transforming into any type of plant cell—known or unknown.” The funny thing is we already know that; we’ve seen Alec do it nearly every issue, yet not until this “Norren” and his criminal researchers point do we grasp what this could mean for mankind. Then again, it’s not like Norren is thinking of that either: “I hope the size of my bonus will be similarly difficult to comprehend.”

Meanwhile, Soule continues to expand the Swamp Thing mythos while imposing some sensible rules to keep the story from flying out of control. As the true last Sureen explains, there are some important limitations to using the Locum, and as the Sureen’s “colleague,” Miki, proves, the Locum isn’t necessarily a method used by the Green alone. For a fairly new concept, it’s amazing how quickly Soule redefines it to throw all your expectations out the window, and the implications for the story are pretty huge—like the potential return of Abby huge.

Saiz is not the most emotional of artists, but he may be the most sensual. Clearly, from the godlike torso of Alec’s host body to the perfect hourglass of Weeds’ inked-out figure, Saiz loves to draw attractive characters. More than that, he can’t seem to help adding a suggestive flair to their expression and body language, though what they’re suggesting is more danger than sex. Fitting, then, that Capucine and Vandal Savage’s foreplay leads to a spar that for both characters has all the intensity and pleasure of intercourse. Even within this erotic framework, Saiz shows admirable range, exposing the frightening side of seduction as much as its allure. That final page of Miki is completely sultry, her face nothing but beguiling, yet is contrasted with the horror of seeing fronds of fungi growing from her eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Beautiful and haunting, like much of Saiz’s work on this series has been.

Conclusion: Our hero may be more passive and morose than you’d like, but there’s more than enough activity going on around him to keep you highly intrigued.

Grade: A-

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: – I have yet to see a bad Vandal Savage intro, but Soule’s is pretty great. Capucine: “A strange, impossible man who should not exist, who often does terrible things, and who cannot be trusted. My friend.”

“Accurate in every respect.”

– Hm. Alec complimenting Weeds’ new tats—flirting or no?