‘Swamp Thing’ #5 ended with a battle between William and his decaying army of Rot creatures and Alec Holland with his link to the plant powers of The Green. Alec managed to save Abby Arcane from her demonic younger brother but he knows that his victory is only temporary.
As this issue opens, Alec is realizing that something is wrong with the powers within The Green. Instead of crying out to him to join them as the Swamp Thing as they usually do, the Parliament of Trees is screaming out in fear. It seems as if whatever machinations The Rot put into play in Brazil was killing them. When William and the Rot attack Abby again, it’s up to Alec to save her but, without The Green fueling him, he is helpless against Williams power. As the issue comes to a close, Alec makes a fateful decision that will alter his future forever… but is it too late?
Scott Snyder knocks it out of the park again with this issue. The threads of The Rot’s attack on Earth are starting to come together and the result is truly terrifying. There are at least four twists with the pages of ‘Swamp Thing’ #6 that had me aghast, and the final page is a real jaw-dropper. It’s going to be interesting to see how Snyder pulls off Alec’s inevitable transformation back into the Swamp Thing.
Marco Rudy picks up penciling duties from Yanick Paquette this issue. While Rudy’s lines aren’t as clean as Paquette’s the stylized page layouts remain the same and Rudy’s more-gritty art does play well with the beings of The Rot.
‘Swamp Thing’ (and its counterpart ‘Animal Man’) are consistently some of the best titles in DC’s New 52 and remain two of the best horror comics on the comic shelves today.
Verdict: Buy
SWAMP THING #6
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Art by MARCO RUDY
Cover by YANICK PAQUETTE
