SWAMP THING VOL. 3: ROTWORLD- THE GREEN KINGDOM by Scott Snyder, Yanick Paquette, and Jeff Lemire
Collects Swamp Thing 12-18 & Animal Man 12, 17 Price: $16.99
When you're writing a review of anything it's important to examine the material objectively and without bias. It's a trait not many people can display. I may not be of fan of Swamp Thing or care for stories like Rotworld, but I am going to give it a review that I feel it deserves. What do I mean when I say I don't like stories like Rotworld? Let me first tell you the premise of this ambitious arc. The Rot is basically a force of nature that Anton Arcane uses to warp our world and essentially turn it into a Cannibal Corpse album cover. It's up to Swamp Thing and Animal Man to find a way to restore the world to its former glory. The reason I don't like stories like this is because they contain these huge world altering events that you know are going to be undone at the end and everything goes back to normal as if it never happened. There might be one thing to come out of something like this that affects the character whose book it's told in, but it has absolutely no impact on the DC Universe as a whole. That said, if you didn't read Swamp Thing or Animal Man, you would never know this happened. A fairly recent example of a story of this kind would be Superman: Camelot Falls. If you have read that, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
This collection actually opens with Animal Man #12, which serves as the prelude. It does pretty respectable job of setting up the story, but the uninitiated may feel a bit lost. The only previous Swamp Thing tale from The New 52 that I have read was Vol. 1: Raise Them Bones. I really believe that volume should be read at the very least to familiarize yourself with many of the characters and concepts before proceeding any further. Using myself as an example, I was able to comprehend the story just fine.
Despite the fact that so many artists worked on this book, the artwork remains consistent from start to finish. Each illustrator does a very good job and the inks and colors maintain a congruity throughout. If I had to pick a standout artist, I'm going with the obvious choice of Yanick Paquette. While the book's layouts are pretty creative, you will either like them or you won't. They have that J.H. Williams III quality to them.
I did like how Scott Snyder paired Swamp Thing with Poison Ivy for a portion of the story. Having these two interact seems like a no-brainer, but it unfortunately doesn't last very long. The bulk of the story follows Swampy as he ventures cross country to Anton Arcane's stronghold in search of his best gal, Abigail. It happens in such a way that Power Station's song "We Fight For Love," made famous by the Arnold Schwarzenegger classic Commando, played in my head throughout my reading experience. This quest is intercut with events from a year prior that chronicle Abigail's journey. To be quite honest, I found Abigail's parts to be much more enjoyable.
The final chapter, originally published as Swamp Thing #18, had to be my favorite. Much of it was predictable, as I said stories of this nature are at the start of this review. Though it treads familiar ground, it was a Deus ex Machina that was well executed. There is something that affects Swamp Thing's status quo in a major way that is quite heartbreaking and bittersweet. This detail I will not spoil and made the conclusion worthwhile for me. Supplemental material includes some cover art as well as conceptual sketches.
I started this review by saying I'm going to judge this book for the work it is. To do anything else would be a disservice to it. It's not a bad story; it's just not for me. If you have enjoyed Scott Snyder's Swamp Thing run up to this point, like Swamp Thing in general, or want a companion to your Animal Man: Rotworld trade or collection, then I think you really should give this book a try. Remember: just because it's not for me doesn't mean it's not for you.
Score: 7/10.