What do you think?
Rate this book
Future State: Swamp Thing
Future State: Swamp Thing #2
Humanity strikes back! The shadow of Swamp Thing Supreme stretches across the globe as it has for centuries. The world is at peace, until a rebellious faction of humanity ignites their terrible plan, fueled by Woodrue Wilson’s appetite for power. But Swamp Thing, too, harbors a secret-one he must reveal in order to restore peace to the planet once again. But it will cost him everything he has.
25 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 2, 2021
3 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Ram V
485 books350 followersRam 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 4, 2021
Stronger than the initial issue. Solid story. One of the best Swamp Thing stories I've read since the New 52 run.. -and there haven't been many. Hope to see more Swamp Thing comics in the future.
February 5, 2021
The first issue of Future State: Swamp Thing was one of my favourites of the entire Future State event, being one of the darkest books that really seemed to embrace the horror at the core of its character, and being really bold in the future story it was trying to tell, bolder than most of the others in the event. The first issue set up an exciting new world order where humanity has long since died out, and plant beings living in the ruins, with Swamp Thing as their leader. However, when a lone human arrives in their camp they learn that more people have survived, and a threat is waiting for them all in the frozen north.
Whilst the previous issue focused primarily on Swamp Thing and his people, especially on how Swamp Thing went about constructing their plant bodies, this issue delves more into the story, and spends more time with the human characters hold-up inside S.T.A.R. Fortress than it does Swamp Thing and his children.
We learn that Jason Woodrue is living withing the fortress, and has used the remains of the hero Obsidian to create a device that he intends to use to block out the sun; one last ditch attack against The Green, taking away the sunlight that the plants need to survive.
Despite this issue seeing the return of Swamp Thing's most iconic villain, and seeing the two characters doing battle one last time, it's not really a story about that. It's not a super powered showdown. Instead, this is a story about Alec Holland, about the pain that he carries inside of him, and his willingness to sacrifice everything to do the right thing.

We learn that he was the one responsible for the the state the world is in, for the destruction of humanity. It's a weight he carries on his soul, something that haunts him; and it's the motivation for his years of searching for survivors of humanity. Not because he wants to finish whatever it was that caused him to turn on people all those years before, but because he wanted to atone for his sins. We also discover that despite the interludes where he's explaining how he went about creating his plant children the one thing that he couldn't recreate was the spark of life, the essence that makes them living beings.
It's at this point that we discover we've been lied to, and that these people aren't his children, but fractured parts of himself. They represent his innocence, doubt, and ambition. They're part of himself, never really alive, because it takes the soul of humanity to really live, even for a creature such as him. This shows us that this is a Swamp Thing that has come to see humanity and The Green very differently over the years, and has learned that humans are important, and chooses to ultimately give his life to save them.
Future State: Swamp Thing turns into a story about redemption, about one man trying to erase the stain on his soul. The fact that Ram V was able to write a compelling, emotional, and rich story that is easily one of the better Swamp Thing stories in decades in just two issues is simply astounding. The story never felt rushed, it never felt light on content. It wasn't stripped down of content to fit into just two issues, it simply told the story it wanted to tell with heart and emotion and became one of the best stories DC has produced in years.
Part of the goal of Future State was to tease things to come, to give glimpses of possible futures, new characters, and to tease what some writers will be bringing to the new titles in March. If this is any indication of what readers will have waiting for them when Ram V takes over Swamp Thing it's a series that people definitely need to keep an eye on.
Whilst the previous issue focused primarily on Swamp Thing and his people, especially on how Swamp Thing went about constructing their plant bodies, this issue delves more into the story, and spends more time with the human characters hold-up inside S.T.A.R. Fortress than it does Swamp Thing and his children.
We learn that Jason Woodrue is living withing the fortress, and has used the remains of the hero Obsidian to create a device that he intends to use to block out the sun; one last ditch attack against The Green, taking away the sunlight that the plants need to survive.
Despite this issue seeing the return of Swamp Thing's most iconic villain, and seeing the two characters doing battle one last time, it's not really a story about that. It's not a super powered showdown. Instead, this is a story about Alec Holland, about the pain that he carries inside of him, and his willingness to sacrifice everything to do the right thing.

We learn that he was the one responsible for the the state the world is in, for the destruction of humanity. It's a weight he carries on his soul, something that haunts him; and it's the motivation for his years of searching for survivors of humanity. Not because he wants to finish whatever it was that caused him to turn on people all those years before, but because he wanted to atone for his sins. We also discover that despite the interludes where he's explaining how he went about creating his plant children the one thing that he couldn't recreate was the spark of life, the essence that makes them living beings.
It's at this point that we discover we've been lied to, and that these people aren't his children, but fractured parts of himself. They represent his innocence, doubt, and ambition. They're part of himself, never really alive, because it takes the soul of humanity to really live, even for a creature such as him. This shows us that this is a Swamp Thing that has come to see humanity and The Green very differently over the years, and has learned that humans are important, and chooses to ultimately give his life to save them.
Future State: Swamp Thing turns into a story about redemption, about one man trying to erase the stain on his soul. The fact that Ram V was able to write a compelling, emotional, and rich story that is easily one of the better Swamp Thing stories in decades in just two issues is simply astounding. The story never felt rushed, it never felt light on content. It wasn't stripped down of content to fit into just two issues, it simply told the story it wanted to tell with heart and emotion and became one of the best stories DC has produced in years.
Part of the goal of Future State was to tease things to come, to give glimpses of possible futures, new characters, and to tease what some writers will be bringing to the new titles in March. If this is any indication of what readers will have waiting for them when Ram V takes over Swamp Thing it's a series that people definitely need to keep an eye on.
March 2, 2021
Another great conclusion in Future State!
February 23, 2021
Well—that escalated quickly. I loved this short run of Swamp Thing. It made me think and challenged me a little too. The villain Woodrue was a little problematic as a liminal figure. He had a bit of that cringe-inducing “Tragic Mulatto” type of narrative to him, a being that feels they belong in neither world. But I forgive this a bit, because I understand his tragic liminality was getting more at how you should honour both halves of your self. You can’t live always rejecting a whole half of yourself. In a strange way Ram V’s treatment of Swamp Thing is very Wiccan.
I appreciated the themes of how a soul is tied to hope and how the world can’t be all light or all darkness. How we need to be nuanced in our communication with one another.
I feel like DC would be very ignorant not to build another run off of this strong foundation. But hey, they cancelled the Si Spurrier Constantine run (still salty, btw), so I won’t hold my breath.
I appreciated the themes of how a soul is tied to hope and how the world can’t be all light or all darkness. How we need to be nuanced in our communication with one another.
I feel like DC would be very ignorant not to build another run off of this strong foundation. But hey, they cancelled the Si Spurrier Constantine run (still salty, btw), so I won’t hold my breath.
February 12, 2022
I really liked this ending. It was a mixture of saddness and hope which I always like when it is pulled of correctly. I truly felt at the end of this issue. This is probably the best contructed series in the Future State line up in terms of story progression. Solid work. Now I want to read more Swamp Thing stories.
February 2, 2021
Es una de las mejores historias de Future State; el mensaje, la esperanza, fue muy bien logrado.
May 13, 2021
No me convence.
May 18, 2022
It was a really fine story, I don’t know if I would’ve enjoyed more if I would’ve read the Dark Knights run, but I still liked it. A solid story and a beautiful ending.
April 23, 2024
It was fine I guess.
Read
June 10, 2025Ultimately, this wasn't for me. I had heard praise and compliments for this, but I just wasn't invested.
March 1, 2021
Positive Ending
OVERALL RATING: 4 stars
Art: 4 stars
Prose: 4 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Pacing: 4 stars
Character Development: 4 stars
World Building: 4 stars
These two installments felt rushed. Would have been nice if a trade with 6 issues was released instead to flesh the characters out more. Ram V did well with the limited space he had to work with as did the artists.
OVERALL RATING: 4 stars
Art: 4 stars
Prose: 4 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Pacing: 4 stars
Character Development: 4 stars
World Building: 4 stars
These two installments felt rushed. Would have been nice if a trade with 6 issues was released instead to flesh the characters out more. Ram V did well with the limited space he had to work with as did the artists.
August 27, 2021
Usually don't log comics on here, but this 2 part 'series' was too good not to share! Seriously, Swamp Thing just has such a pure heart! Beautiful art and great story telling for sure!
June 9, 2022
Una de las pocas historias del Future State que me han encantado, sobre todo el final.🌱
February 1, 2023
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.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews