Plants and Animals

The DC re-launch has got me back into comic books lately. Not all of my choices are DC books, I've been reading Daredevil and Wolverine and the X-Men too, but with so many books starting fresh at #1, it was a good place to jump on. I have to say, for the most part, the books I've picked up have been awesome. My favorite is Batman by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. Serious story and amazing art. Two books I chose with a little hesitation, having never read them before; Animal Man and Swamp Thing. The previews for the books were intriguing, the art looked "different", and they were in the horror genre, not so much superhero. Yesterday after work I scooted over to the comic book store and picked up my weekly fix. Action Comics, Animal Man, and Swamp Thing.

One reason I got out of comics was the ridiculous cross over events that forced you to buy 5 different books to keep up with one character. I understand the business model, more books = more money, but I didn't like feeling like I was getting short changed if I didn't buy ALL of the connected issues. That being said, Animal Man and Swamp Thing are connected. I didn't/don't have a problem with this because each book still focuses on its own characters. The plots of each book are intertwined though, which makes the stories even more interesting.

This month was issue #5 for each book. It was also the conclusion of the first story arcs, which have been building up to a climax. The concept is pretty simple, animal and plant forces are facing ultimate destruction by "the Rot", a destructive force intent on corrupting everything. Through a series of twists and turns, it looked like Animal Man and Swamp Thing would be able to defeat the rot. Animal Man has actually become secondary to his daughter, who seemingly has MORE power than her father does. Swamp Thing has been almost non existent, as Dr. Alex Holland has been extremely resistant to the fact that he IS Swamp Thing. This month's issues have been even more horrific though as things reached a boiling point. Animal Man's daughter makes a naive mistake, spreading the Rot even more, while Swamp Thing makes his own stupid choice; brought on by none other than .....you guessed it, A WOMAN!

The imagery in each book is frightening. Travel Foreman's style takes some getting used to, but his sketchy, jerky style really lends itself to the nastiness that Animal Man and his family face. In Swamp Thing, Yanick Paquette has a cleaner, more flowing style, which allows him to play with panel layouts and textures in all of their gory detail. Finally, having Scott Snyder write anything seems to be a sure fire guarantee that the story will be good. If you haven't checked them out yet, do it. You're missing out.