Swamp Thing, Anton Arcane, Scott Snyder and Francesco Francavilla. Swamp Thing fans are in for an extra treat this month.
The Good
For some reason, when DC revealed the return of Swamp Thing during BRIGHTEST DAY and it was announced he'd have his own ongoing AND when Abby showed up, I just never really thought about Anton Arcane making his return. Anton is bad news, plain and simple. The fact that he's related to Abby makes it worse. We just got over the first arc and while there might have been the notion that perhaps Alec and Abby could get a moment to catch their breath, Scott Snyder will make sure that won't happen.
And then there's Francesco Francavilla's art. How many times have I gushed over what he can do with a pencil and colors. He adds a different feeling to the his work and even though I've enjoyed the art in the previous issues, I wouldn't want to imagine this one without Francavilla.
As for the issue itself, we do get a little background. For those who have no idea who Anton is or even if they don't know a lot of the past history, Snyder makes it all accessible. There is a bit of the calm before the storm but you know it's going to be a brutal one. As beautiful as Francavilla's art is, it also has that feeling of foreboding discomfort in that you know something bad is about to happen.
The Bad
This issue might have been a tad light on the action but that is completely acceptable because of everything we get in the story and art to make up for it.
The Verdict
Each issue of SWAMP THING gets me more and more excited. You can see how much thought Scott Snyder is putting into the character development. With what he's done with Alec Holland, the Parliament of Trees, Abby and so on, you know he gets the characters. You get a sense that he gives it all deep thought before beginning each script. Swamp Thing is in safe hands with Snyder. Yanick Paquette and Marco Rudy have been doing a great job with the art on the series but seeing Franecsco Francavilla's art is a treat. He adds a different level to the story telling and you almost get creeped out despite how great everything looks. I was a pretty big fan of Swamp Thing before but this series continues to make me a bigger one each month.