Swamp Thing #16 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (story), Yanick Paquette (art), Nathan Fairbairn (colors)

The Story: Just because you’re going Green doesn’t mean some growth supplements can’t hurt.

The Review: I seem to be writing a lot of these commentaries on superhero as a genre lately, but you know what they say—so I won’t even bother saying it myself.  Anyway, something that sort of hit me as a revelation while reading this issue is the idea that superhero can be considered a sub-category of story within the adventure genre.  After all, isn’t the point of adventure simply to generate excitement and let characters tackle any number of physically stimulating challenges?

I think that’s why, ever since we started the Rotworld arc and Swamp Thing started rubbing shoulders with more superheroes, the pure horror of this series has faded and a much more adventurous spirit has come out of it.  This change will probably bother purists, since it takes the titular character away from his roots, placing him in a more mainstream arena.  I don’t belong to that particular group of fans, and even if I did, Snyder makes Swampy as adventure hero so much fun that it’s hard to resent him for it.

Part of what makes this issue really work is the fact that Snyder gets to bring in the superhero he writes best.  In that sense, it would’ve been too easy for this issue to become a Batman story, given the feats he retroactively manages to achieve.  Even infected by the Rot, the Dark Knight still manages to whip up the means to save humanity and make choices that leave us guessing as to what his real intentions are.

Thankfully, Snyder quickly takes Batman himself out of the spotlight,* allowing instead his spirit (and by that, I don’t mean a ghost or illusion or anything—really, truly his spirit) to linger through the issue.  From that, Alec seems to draw the inspiration and confidence to wage direct war on Arcane, using some extraordinarily awesome tactics.  Come on—a Bat-Bot that’s actually a “walking tank of weaponized bio-restorative formula,” an army of citizen Robins, and the use of Bane’s old Venom-pump to beef up Alec with the same formula?  Not even Rot-Superman stands a chance.

But the avatar of the Rot, as we’ve seen, is much deadlier foe than the mindless, spitting husk of what used to be the Man of Steel.  Even against his own he proves rather too formidable.  Snyder has made it questionable all along whether Abby really died back in the past, and the final page of this issue seems to settle the matter pretty definitively—and yet, you still can’t be sure, given the kind of characters and forces we’re dealing with.  That kind of ambiguity is good enough for suspense; I really don’t need to hear Alec waxing on, telling her in his mind to “hold on.”

Given the mixture of both horror and adventure in this issue, I’m so glad to see Paquette on deck to finish out the series, since he can deliver each in spades.  I don’t think anyone draws the Rot more credibly than he does; twisted and horrible as they appear, there’s also a logical realism to their look that doesn’t their deformities cheap and gratuitous.  Paquette also has the confidence to insert his own ideas into the story without Snyder’s scripting, like Alec’s army wearing a uniform of domino masks and t-shirts bearing, simply, the letter “R.”  Great touch.  And to bolster the enthusiastic energy of the issue, Fairbairn gives the colors brighter, punchier hues.

Conclusion: It’s not exactly the Swamp Thing we fell in love with at the beginning, but it’s no less lovable grown up and mellowed out.

Grade: A-

- Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: * Though it is kind of eerie to see his Rot-infested body still hissing and shambling around.

- I love that Bruce chose Babs to give the only Man-Bat serum to.  Besides being an unexpected, intriguing choice, it also sells the idea of letting her walk again.  It would’ve been pretty horrifying to see her succumb to the Rot as Oracle.  (On the other hand, there’s no reason the serum couldn’t allow her to walk again either—ah, the missed opportunities.)