Swamp Thing #16

I continually love this series with every issue it is my favourite series and I think more people should read it. The Rotworld crossover is excellent in Swamp Thing don’t know about Animal-man because I haven’t been reading it but I love Swamp Things story and I hoped as this was the final part of his own story in Rotworld it would go out with a bang.

Plot

Barbara Gordon takes Alec to Arkaham Asylum and shows what Batman was doing before he was infected and also the surviving people and villains of Gotham. The Rot attacks Arkham Asylum using an infected Giganta. Abby and Anton Arcane fight in Arcane’s castle.

Review

This was a great issue in the series and a massive improvement on the disappointment that was issue #15 (wasn’t bad just wasn’t up to this series usual quality) and this was a great way to finish off Swamp Things own story in Rotworld while also setting things up for the finale of the crossover. What was one of the things I was most excited for with this issue was Yanick Paquette back on art I don’t hate Marco Rudy I do like his art but there is the occasional fault with it and I prefer Paquette since I like his generally cleaner style and his Swamp Thing looks better. In terms of story the bit I was most looking forward to was Swamp Thing and Barbara Gordon and as they go into Arkham Asylum since that was the part that had the most potential for Snyder to play with and well it’s not what I expected but it isn’t bad at all.

Snyder begins this issue in the present with Alec finally arriving at Arcane’s castle and he then goes back in time to Gotham. This is done a lot in comics and sometimes it can become jumbled but not in this Snyder handles it brilliantly as he switches between the two time periods perfectly and the events lead nicely into each other. I have loved throughout this crossover seeing all the infected superheroes and I love seeing who Snyder chooses and how Yanick Paquette designs them as while they all are disgusting they all look differently and I love seeing Paquette’s interpretations of them. In this issue we see Superman and while he’s only seen for a few panels really setting it up for the fight next issue I love seeing it and how he has been altered.

We then return to Barbara Gordon and Alec. We get a bit of information as to how Barbara has not been infected by the Rot and we also find out a lot about what Batman was doing before he was infected. This is one of the slower parts of this issue but really it is all good and interesting and it is very interesting. But the big part of this issue is Arkham Asylum I really expected this to be full of mutated villains but it isn’t it is completely the opposite (minor spoiler) no one is infected in Arkham at all and it was a real surprise to me. I suppose I really should have expected more from Snyder he wasn’t going to go with the obvious option was he? This is a great part of the issue as was this whole scene with Barbara Gordon in. There are some villains in this issue but they are all locked up and they are not infected by the Rot but the choice for the villains make sense I mean you have the Floronic man and the reason he is alive is his connection to the green and Mr Freeze because he is basically half dead and he would just die without his suit. The choice of villains make sense but for people who were hoping for Two Face and the Riddler as they were probably infected by the Rot. In the end the Rot attacks and so does Commisoner Gordon! Yes he has been infected by the Rot you only see him for one panel but it is kind of sad to see that Barbara’s father has been infected.

There is also a scene with Abby and Anton Arcane after the shocking turn of events last issue I was interested to see what happens in this issue and it doesn’t disappoint it really is very shocking in every way you will not see it coming the ending and I love seeing the two of them fight.

I utterly loved the ending of the issue (or the two pages before the final page) some many great things happen in these pages so quickly and it was nice to see Swamp Thing restored to his Antler and wings look but it looks even better and he looks really powerful. This is the first time things actually look to be getting better for Alec in this crossover and then we get the next page and it all goes downhill again and it is very depressing. Thank you Scott Snyder for being a real Meany you finally are nice to Alec and give him the upper hand and then do this?! I’m not saying it is poorly written or anything like that it is just so depressing to see this after something good finally happens in this story arc.

The art once again is by Yanick Paquette and he really made this book and Swamp Thing for the New 52 while I will miss Scott Snyder on this series a lot I will miss Paquette more he made this book and he made it one of the best looking books in the New 52 and well he gave this book a real look I mean Francis Manupl does some great page layouts in the Flash but it doesn’t have the leafy borders around it really makes this book look distinct. He excels in this issue and I love the amount of detail he puts into it as some of the pages are very complex with a lot of emotion and they all have a lot of energy to them and the backgrounds are amazing.

Verdict

This was a brilliant issue in this series and it was a great conclusion to this 4 issue story and this story arc has become one of my favourites of the year and I hope that the finale is just as good I highly recommend this whole story and series in general it is one of the best of the New 52.

5 stars