An incoming arboreal devastation in Swamp Thing #5

Alec Holland was an idealistic scientist who was synthesizing a top-secret chemical in his hidden lab in the marshlands. However, after a bomb in his office explodes, the young scientist is murdered… Or so it seems. Because rising in his place is the Swamp Thing, a creature made of vegetation that’s absorbed Alec Holland’s memories, personality, and grief.

The monstrous Swamp Thing can control every iota of plant life on this planet, from the fungus on stale bread to forests of towering oaks. Superhumanly magnificent and grotesque, he can grow himself a full array of large bodies from even the tiniest sprout of green. A living embodiment of the power and terror our environment possesses, the Swamp Thing protects both humanity and the environment, usually from each other.

In this issue, Alec Holland journeys to Nanda Parbat to seek a way to fix the chaos he unleashed by wishing for his humanity back. However, will it be too little, too late? This upcoming issue will feature a guest appearance by Deadman.

Deadman can possess any living person on the planet, inhabiting their bodies and inheriting all their skills. With a newfound perspective on his past, Deadman is increasingly compelled to help the living, forever leaping from body to body and showing others how to appreciate life in all the ways he failed to. Selfish and single-minded while alive, Boston Brand never learned to live until he died, moving through the lives of others, inhabiting their bodies, fixing their problems, and hopefully, atoning for his sins in the process.

Len Wein takes on writing while Kelley Jones is on art middles that we are in for classic and bizarre comic book goodness. These fellows have been around the industry for quite some time, and we are definitely in the right hands. Crackle this open and you are certained that from script to art you are getting something unprecedented.

This story is grand in so many ways which ramp up the rods, but also makes for a story that feels like a documentary. So often comic books hold back or only describe a scantier story to keep the character close to status quo, but this one turns it up to eleven as we see Swamp Thing (Matt Cable has control of the green now) get his vines on the Eiffel tower and the Pentagon. He means business and so does this script as it slams you right off the bat with some major destruction. Meanwhile, Alec Holland is going on a spirit quest as he tries to comprehend how to get the Swamp Thing skills back. Not only does he get absorbed into the Earth for a Parliament of Trees meeting, but meets some DC Comics supernatural heavy hitters.

Len Wein continues to expose gradually more of Darcy Fox, the new sheriff in town who just so happens to be related to Lucius Fox. You will like this character: she is punky, unafraid and willing to risk her life to hinder the bad fellows.

Anyone wondering how Swamp Thing could have all of the humanity at his mercy just needs to know Len Wein addresses it with a solid scene from A.R.G.U.S. It allows him to check in on the Metal Men and the Suicide Squad too.

Kelly Jones once again infuses every panel with ghastliness, even when Swamp Thing is not on the same page; this comic book is illustrated in an elegant manner. Alec’s journey takes him to some mysterious places and even when a scene is not surely supernatural, Jones casts Alec’s face in odd obscuration. it creates a weirdness that almost blends reality and imbues a scene with an uneasiness that is a treat to uncover. The supernatural heroes that featured on this issue are phenomenal as well, and much of the pages in this issue make you wish for a Justice League Dark movie already.

The Swamp Thing is ultimate, the greatest masterpiece when it comes to wicked visuals, even thus this issue may leave the reader rather tasteless and often doubtful as the storyline could rather be more rooted other than a common piece of thin plots fused altogether.