Review – Swamp Thing #27 (DC Comics)

Posted on January 9, 2014 in Reviews

Swamp-Thing-27 Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Jesus Saiz
Release Date: 8th January 2014

I’ve made no secret of my love for DC’s current Swamp Thing run, going all the way back to the beginnings of the New 52, and it has undoubtedly been one of my consistently highest-rated titles over the last two years. And, with Charles Soule and Jesus Saiz continuing to knock it out of the park with every single issue that passes, that trend seems unlikely to change any time soon.

The current ‘Seeder’ arc has seen Soule take a deeper look into the green and their avatar selection process, as well as their deeper motivations and characteristics. And seeing Alec Holland battling here to free himself from the green and the almost sinister clutches of the parliament of trees (who are absolutely fantastic when viewed from the “other side”) perfectly depicts the deep-rooted humanity of the man who isn’t, well, human anymore.

Saiz’ artwork is terrific here as always, managing to bring a high level of detail and emotion to the Swamp Thing character, some terrific creative flourishes along the way, and displaying an impressive gift for capturing the kinetic frenzy of the action scenes. Credit must also be given to colourist Matthew Wilson, whose skillful use of different shades of greens and yellows throughout give the book its utterly distinctive look.

If there was one thing that disappointed me slightly, it was the relatively easy way that Jason Woodrue was eventually dispatched, which almost seemed slightly anticlimactic given the impressive build that the character had received during the preceding issues. That said, the final pages of this issue – depicting the almost ruthless nature of Holland and the lengths he is willing to go to in order to free himself from the green, not to mention the world-altering effects (literally!) of his actions – are absolutely jaw-dropping stuff, and are going to make things extremely interesting as the story moves forward.

Alongside Snyder’s Batman, Swamp Thing has easily been the best title to come out of the New 52, and with Soule and Saiz working in perfect harmony here, this is a book that everybody owes it to themselves to have in their pull list.