Future State: Swamp Thing #1

Future State: Swamp Thing

by Ram V, Mike Perkins (Cover Art), June Chung (Cover Art)

From the ashes of a terrible war, life blooms anew in Swamp Thing’s image. The remnants of humanity lie in hiding, forever in the shadow of the green god who now rules the planet. When the new avatar of the Green uncovers a stray human, a rebellion is revealed! But this Swamp Thing is no stranger to violent ends, and neither are his creations. If it’s war humanity wants, it will be at their doorstep-and Swamp Thing will never be the same!

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Horror

25 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 5, 2021

About the author

Ram V (Ramnarayan Venkatesan) is an author and comic book writer from Mumbai, India. His comics career began in 2012 with the award-nominated Indian comic series, Aghori. A graduate of the City University of London’s Creative Writing MA, he has since created the critically acclaimed Black Mumba and the fantasy adventure series, Brigands.

Reviews

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark, moody, a bit violent...what you want from a swamp thing series. Great to see Swamp Thing with a family now, but when he finds man once more, what dark horrors await him and his people in the future?

A 4 out of 5.

[Logan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really my cup of tea.

[Roman Colombo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ram V and Mike Perkins channel the hell out of the Alan Moore era, going for a dark and broody supernatural mystery. It might read a little slow, but that's the kind of atmospheric feeling you can expect from Swamp Thing.

[RG · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid entry into this pretty violent story

[Jordan Funk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ram V is making a strong climb up my list of favorite creatives in the medium right now. A perfect entry into this Future State where Green Father searches for humanity lost. Can’t wait to see how this unfolds!

[Phoenix · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Nice start but was a bit slow in its pacing.

[Amber]

Keeping it unrated. I read this after reading, like, 5o other comics and my attention was slipping. I feel like this concept is really cool, but I wasn't there for it. Too much plot and shit.

[Jacob Helberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly not super keen on this one yet. I'm a fan of swamp thing and the dark tone but I just couldn't get into this story at all. I hope the next issue picks up. The ending makes it seem like it will.

[Amy Walker - Trans-Scribe Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the comics in the Future State series have been really dark in tone (and in the way they look too), and for me at least, the event has felt somewhat depressing. That being said, Future State: Swamp Thing is probably one of the most dark and depressing books yet, but is also one of my favourite.

This first issue transports readers to a future that's more distant than any of the other Future State titles, one where humanity seems to have died out and now plants have been left to rule the Earth in the ruins of our civilisation. Ruling over this group of humanoid plants as something of an ancient father/god figure is Swamp Thing, who is trying to find any signs of survivors of the human race.

The book follows Sampy and his children as they journey through the wreckage of New York, and then travel further north into the snowy wilderness, trying to see if there's any human life left on the planet. This is something that drives Swamp Thing, but seems to cause some divisions amongst this children, particularly the outspoken Indigo. 

These children make for a fascinating group, not only for their complex relationships with each other and Swamp Thing, but because of the small cutaways that take place throughout the narrative where we get these really cool anatomical illustrations of humanoid plants and Swamp Thing telling the reader the journey he went on to create these sentient plant people. 




These sections shed some light onto the complex journey that Swamp Thing has been through, and how difficult it has been for him to create these beings that inhabit the pages here here. It might be me projecting a little here, but these sections make me feel a little uneasy as they remind me a lot of Michael Fassbender's character of David in Alien: Covenant, and the strange experiments he was undertaking. 

This sense of unease and horror were there for me throughout the book, and as usual, Swamp Thing proves to be one of the best DC characters to tell a horror tale with. Where other Future State books felt weaker because of their darker tone this book felt all the stronger for it, and the incredibly distant future setting really helped with this. 

The book ends on a really strong note too, as Swampy discovers an actual surviving human, and learns about some really horrific stuff going on in what could be the last human colony. How this is all going to play out is yet to be revealed, but it makes for an exciting cliffhanger, and it turns Future State: Swamp Thing into the book I'm most excited to see an issue two of.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good "possible" ending for the Swamp Thing mythos. Swamp Thing has had one of the strongest pedigrees of creators (especially for a D-List character) and I'm sure Ram V and Perkins are carrying the story along with good hands.

[Sezer Turgay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably best issue in Dc's future state era.Art and writing is completely amazing

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loooooved it. I wish there was more to this series, but I pretty much always want more Swamp Thing.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid start. I look forward to seeing where this story goes.

[Cody Billings · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series takes place after DC's Death Metal event, something I know nothing about. Just glad to have more Swamp Thing and strongly hope for a good arc in coming issues.

[Rockito · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know what the hell "Future State" is but I'm incapacitated until my vertigo subsides so I'll check a few of these new DC books. This one was pretty interesting.

[Omni Theus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not Sure Yet
OVERALL RATING: 3 stars
Art: 4 stars
Prose: 3.5 stars
Plot: 3 stars
Pacing: 2.5 stars
Character Development: 2.5 stars
World Building: 3 stars

[Octavi · Rating 4 out of 5]

No me esperaba esto. Me ha gustado pero no he visto a dónde iba hasta la última página... A ver si entro mejor en el siguiente y último número.

[Craig Schorling · Rating 4 out of 5]

First time reading a Swamp Thing book (I know, I know). I liked this a lot. It was edgy, dark, and unique. I liked seeing the family of Swamp Things. I am very excited to see where this goes.

[Samuele Martinelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork is amazing, and the story got me hooked and curious to read more. We'll see how the second issue unravels!

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt kinda lost at certain points. The imagery is cool though.

[Tina]

a bit slow and confusing....

[Orestes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loving it. Can't wait to see what's going to happen next.

[Nate Billy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really, really, REALLY love Ram V.’s writing. I especially loved his recently ended Swamp Thing run. With that said…Future State Swamp Thing just isn’t that great. There’s some interesting ideas, but the execution is severely lacking. The story just meanders, especially since this version of Swamp Thing ruminates on his past when we the readers have absolutely no knowledge of his history. The little background that is given simply isn’t enough, and therefore the ending falls flat.