The Swamp Thing #10 – Ram V, Writer; Mike Perkins, Artist; Mike Spicer, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: It’s the end of the road—at least for now—as the new Swamp Thing’s story comes to an explosive close. Much of these ten issues have been defined by Levi and Jacob’s Cain-and-Abel story, which has now concluded with the two of them each empowered and seeking to destroy each other. The opening segment, showing them in children back in India, packs a serious emotional punch—which makes it all the more painful to see where they are now. As corrupt industrialist Harper Pilgrim plans to wipe the slate clean and eliminate both of them, the two empowered agents of ancient forces nearly rip each other apart. Yet, when they’re both facing death, Levi’s thoughts only go towards one thing—protecting his brother. That scene, amid the chaos of a chemical attack, is one of the best examples I’ve seen of how images can perfectly tell a story even without dialogue.
It’s a shattering conclusion to this storyarc—but as expected, it’s not the end of the story. Thanks to the audience response, we’re getting six more issues of this excellent series. That allows Ram V and Mike Perkins to end this run on an ambiguous note, with Levi coming a little closer to understanding what he’s become and an old enemy of Alec Holland’s re-entering the fray to cause some trouble. With Jacob, Pilgrim, and this new player in the mix, it’s clear there’s a lot of story left to be told in this title. But it’s not the ambition of the story that sells it. It’s the way it never loses sight that this is a tragedy of fathers and sons, of brothers turned enemies, and of a world that’s lost touch with the plants that give us life. Jeff Lemire and Doug Mahnke are doing their own Swamp Thing series shortly, and it’s always rare to get two A-tier interpretations of a character at the same time—especially one as unique as Swamp Thing.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
