Review: Swamp Thing 21

Swamp Thing 21
Charles Soule, Jesus Saiz

Spoiler alert! You have been warned!

If I was only allowed one word to describe this, the third issue of new Swamp Thing writer Charles Soule and the first issue of brand new and (hopefully) regular series artist Jesus Saiz, it would be this: Wow. But that wouldn’t be much of a review, now would it? So before I go into the specifics about what makes this such a great issue, just know this: Alec Holland is slowly but surely becoming my new favorite non-Batman family character in the DC Universe. And that’s saying something, because before the relaunch of the New 52, I had never read a single comic featuring the protector of the green.

Before we start off where last issue’s somewhat nebulous cliffhanger ending left us, we are treated with the prose of what will most assuredly be labeled that of a master in years to come. Part of the reason I am liking this “sleeper” hit so much is the fact that I am not only pleasantly surprised at how seamless the transition from Scott Snyder to Charles Soule has been, but the fact that I’m actually enjoying it more since the creative team switch. And Scott Snyder is hands down my current favorite writer in the industry. Beautiful prose, excellent characterization, and an almost metacognitive approach to the human (and elemental) brain is just part of what truly makes this not only a good read, but a smart one. But I digress.

This issue introduces us to a new character, who is equal amounts interesting as she is deadly. Capucine enlists Swamp Thing to help protect her, in some archaic hundreds-of-years’-old Latin-sounding pact, from those who seek to kill her and steal her immortality. But before they can even discuss what the hell that even means, two men foolishly shoot at her and her would-be protector, which immediately leads to their gruesome deaths. And this scene in particular is what makes this already great book that much more amazing. I have been a huge Jesus Saiz fan since his regular stint on Checkmate (that’s pre-New 52 for those of you keeping count). And instead of having a boring dialogue sequence where Soule simply tells us a story about burning of witches hundreds of years ago and their subsequent summoning of a previous Swamp Thing as their protector, he lets Saiz show us. We are treated with an excellent flashback sequence, a new threat, and a vision of things to come in the closing pages of this issue. And if that’s at all vague, I do not apologize. Trust me. You’ll want to read it, no, experience this comic for yourself. So go ahead. Drop everything and go buy it. Mark my words, Charles Soule is going to be our generation’s Alan Moore when it comes to the Saga of the Swamp Thing.

My Rating: 5/5