La Cosa del Pantano: Devenir

The Swamp Thing (2021)

by Ram V

Olvida todo lo que sabes de la Cosa del Pantano, porque Alec Holland ha pasado a la historia. Ahora, el elemental del Verde se llama Levi Kamei... y no es capaz de controlar del todo sus nuevas habilidades. No obstante, cuando afronte el misterio de unos asesinatos horribles, Levi tendrá que emprender un viaje en que se descubrirá a sí mismo para convertirse en el campeón que la Tierra necesita.

Llegan las nuevas aventuras de la Cosa del Pantano con la primera entrega de Devenir, una etapa ambientada en Frontera infinita que escribe Ram V, el responsables de las andanzas de la Liga de la Justicia Oscura, y dibuja Mike Perkins (Lois Lane) con la colaboración de John McCrea (Demon).

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fiction, Superheroes, Fantasy

200 pages, Hardcover

First published November 23, 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

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

Levi Kamei, an Indian-American, is the new Swamp Thing for no reason - why is he turning into Swamp Thing, how did he get chosen? Don’t ask this book, ‘cos it don’t know! Get ready for the most imaginative storyline ever: Swamp Thing Levi’s gotta fight a monster in a desert. Wow. And then, in the ever-dismal Future State line, there’s a two-parter where Swamp Thing and other swampies gotta fight a generic evil government agency in a generic post-apocalyptic setting. Let’s get ready to slumber with Swamp Thing, Volume 1: Becoming Really Tired of Terrible Swamp Thing Comics!

Ram V must have the best PR ever because all I hear about this writer is how amazing he is, but, having read his Catwoman and now Swamp Thing, he most certainly is not amazing - he’s not even a half-decent writer. This might be the worst Swamp Thing comic I’ve ever read.

It’s just so boring. Levi’s not an interesting character, he’s your average everyman protagonist, I didn’t care about his arbitrary selection as the new Swamp Thing (I’m sure it has nothing do with corporate diversity policies), and nothing he does - whether fighting a stupid monster or learning about the Green from Poison Ivy and Alec Holland, who I guess has “died” at some point in the recent past - was remotely compelling.

I don’t know what Future State is about (some kind of Elseworlds-type drivel?) so I don’t know why the world has fallen apart in the two-part story here but it doesn’t really matter because the storyline is two factions butting heads while Ram V weaves in a tedious Anatomy Lesson-esque sequence in between ‘splosions.

Oh and there’s a villain with a name that’s a seemingly-pointless play on former US President Woodrow Wilson’s name, Woodrue Wilson, who’s doing a Palpatine impression. It’s all so unimpressively derivative. I didn’t think anything could be as dull as the preceding main storyline until I read this Future State pap.

No clue who would find this most dreary of comics appealing so I’ll just suggest that everyone ignore the totally unjustified hype around Ram V and definitely avoid Swamp Thing, Volume 1: Becoming Sleepy.

[A.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could you imagine falling asleep one night completely human, before waking up as a supernatural horror the next morning? Well, that’s what happens to Levi Kamei, as he slowly pieces together that the nightmares he’s having of his horrid transformation into a monstrous plant monster aren’t nightmares at all, but very real in fact, and he doesn’t even know how or why any of this is happening.

Ram V and Mike Perkins team up for an incredible start to one of DC’s best ongoings at the moment, as they do an incredible job of not only continuing the legacy of this character but also the Green in these amazing 4 issues. Swamp Thing has always been the prime story for writers to explore themes of memory and identity, and this one does it nearly perfectly.

Ram V is my favorite Swamp Thing writer since Alan Moore, which is saying a lot since there have been great runs by writers like Grant Morrison, Rick Veitch, Brian K. Vaughan, Mark Millar, Scott Snyder, and Nancy Collins. He doesn’t tell you everything right off the bat, letting a mystery build throughout these 4 issues and the many that proceed it, with the reason for how Levi is even a Swamp Thing not even being revealed until Volume 2 (issue #8).

Mike Perkins' art is also the perfect compliment to Ram V’s story, with Mike Spicer’s colors helping Perkins’ lines pop even more than they already would have. This is some of the strongest coloring work I’ve seen in a superhero comic in recent memory, and the pencils and inks are already incredible so it helps tie the whole reading experience together. Comics are a team effort and this book is a perfect example of that. Perkins also does some really interesting work with the panels on certain pages that were just incredible to stare at, but I won’t spoil any of what exactly that is here, as it’s better experienced firsthand.

Also included here are the two issues of Ram V’s Future State Swamp Thing storyline, which I personally found to be one of the better Future State titles, so it was nice to see it collected here. They are completely different stories at the end of the day, but it’s not like this being here brings down this collection.

There’s a reason DC extended this series by another 6 issues, as it is one of the best stories you can read nowadays. Ram V and Mike Perkins have struck gold with this title, and I’m glad it’s getting a third volume. This is an incredible start to an amazing ongoing that continues to get stronger as it goes on. Check this one out if you can for sure.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reminds me a lot of the old Vertigo comics. The story moves very slowly and there's lots of descriptive language that doesn't say a whole lot. There's a new Swamp Thing now, Levi Kamei, who is of Indian descent. It happened while he was home trying to get his family to sell his ancestral land to the company he works for. That's about as far as we've gotten in these 4 issues.

DC has decided to collect only the first 4 issues plus the Future State issues which are completely unrelated. I'm presuming they did this so they could milk 3 trades instead of 2 out of this. Mike Perkins and Mike Spicer create a very moody, creepy setting. The book looks fantastic.

Future State
Far in the future most of mankind is gone. Swamp Thing has made his own plant people to search out the last of mankind. The Floronic Man is still kicking around, causing problems. I don't see how we'll ever get to this Future State setting unlike most of the other Future State stories.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Changing the main character for a superhero mantle is always a tough sell, and Swamp Thing's the latest in the line. With Alec Holland shuffled off after the events of Justice League Dark, the Green selects newcomer Levi Kamei to take his place. But Levi's role as protector of the Green isn't entirely evident - he might not even be the Swamp Thing at all. But something's happening. Something's changing inside him, and it's terrifying.

These first four issues introduce us to Levi and his world, bringing him into contact with the Green and the supernatural side of the DCU while also setting up some foes and familial drama along the way. There's a lot of ground covered, and it's done with the same grungy, bordering on melodramatic but exactly the kind of melodramatic that I like monologuing. Levi's plight is different enough to hook us, but familiar enough not to distance longtime readers.

Also collected, for some bizarre reason, are the two Future State issues of Swamp Thing. These are a totally different, if just as compelling story. I'm not sure why this is here at all, and it bugs me that DC shoved them in so they could get two trades out of this series instead of one 10 issue one.

On art for both stories is Mike Perkins, who is a master of moody, shadowy art. His work here reminds me of his run on Carnage over at Marvel, all darkness and inky blacks. The brighter sequences in India are beautifully coloured as well.

Loses a point for being nonsensically collected, but gains it right back because it's just so damn good regardless.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm probably going about getting into Swamp Thing back-assward seeing as how I haven't read Alan Moore's stuff.

That being said, this was...fine. Cool art, creepy entities, corporate skulduggery, etc. I'll read the next volume at some point but it's not a priority.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid start though it didn't blow me away.

I think Ram V is a great up and coming writer, and I love Swamp Thing, but this didn't blow me away.

Giving us a new host is smart. Some fresh blood to give new perspective to Swamp Thing lore is always welcome. We even have some old faces show up, both good and bad, which help decide the fate of this new user. On top of that we have some excellent art, with both beautiful looking scenes and horrifying, a nice mix.

But this is just the start and although issue 4 gives us a hint of what is to come, I am settling this at a 3 out of 5 for now.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't have a history with Swamp Thing outside of Justice League Dark, so I was pleased to see that Becoming offered a new origin for the superhero/monster. That said, the "origin" was entirely unclear. A guy goes to India, his brother does a bad thing, guy gets transformed? Sure, whatever. Becoming does a slightly better job of introducing "The Green," which I guess is like an interconnected world of plants and history. It's neat.

Not much happens beyond these introductions in Becoming, so I guess I'll have to check out future volumes for more, uh, plot? There are two Future State issues here which offer a world where Swamp Thing did a bad thing and now has to make amends to humanity. Intriguing, but almost certainly forgettable in the grand scheme of DC affairs. All-around great art though!

[Fraser Simons · Rating 2 out of 5]

By far the weakest Ram V effort I’ve read, but where it fails is it’s onboarding of a new hero. To say it teases out what makes the character interesting is an understatement; the information design is simply lacklustre and poor. After the entire volume there’s maybe three tiny snippets of why he was chosen to be the next avatar, or his past at all. And what is there is too similar to the previous run, when it needed a whole completely new reboot imo. The previous character had some incredible runs. A new character should have been what it needed.

What did cross over well was the panelling and art, which remains more engaging by far and away than most super hero books. But that’s not enough to get me to pick up the next volume. I just never connected with any of the characters, with twinges of interest quickly flaming out when it got bogged down in things already seen, but better.

[Davide Saladino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stupendo.
Il nuovo lancio di Swamp Thing che ripercorre i ricordi dei suoi predecessori.
Testi stupendi, filosofici.
Disegni spettacolari.
Straconsigliato!

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esqueça tudo que você sabe sobre o Monstro do Pântano e conheça ele de novo. Da mesma forma que o mote que Alan Moore usou para estabelecer sua fase no Monstro do Pântano, agora Ram V também desenvolve uma nova origem para a criatura das charnecas uma nova base de tramas. Desta vez o Monstro do Pântano ganha um novo hospedeiro. Um homem indiano que possui uma conexão um tanto diferente com a floresta onde foi criado, na Índia. As primeira histórias não são tão boas, mas à medida que nos aproximamos do final do encadernado, tudo vai ganhando maior corpo e significado. Temos um encontro deste novo Mosntro com John Constantine, em uma história especialmente desenhada por John McCrea, uma das melhores partes do encadernado. Depois, seguimos para um crossover entre o Monstro do Pântano com o Esquadrão Suicida de Amanda Waller, liderado pelo Pacificador, com impactos importantes tanto para a equipe de supervilões como para este novo Monstro do Pântano em formação. Quando chegamos no final deste encadernado ficamos com vontade de ler mais, mais e mais!

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

V. introduces a new Swamp Thing, and it has the potential to be the new spark that the title needed. Besides the fact that Alec Holland's story got horrifically mangled by both the finale of the v2 run and the New 52 disaster, and never entirely recovered, his story was largely told.

So here we get a new central character, a new cast, and new discovery of the Green. And then there's also a Future's End story that goes full post-apocalyptic and full "The End" in a way that most of the issues of the crossover didn't. Beyond that, we get a nice focus on horror which has been too often missing from Swamp Thing.

Unfortunately, V.'s writing is also very muddy. It's abstract and philosophical and dwells on things like how to construct a plant body, and so it's not very compelling.

I have hopes for this series, especially as it delves into better-known spaces, but it needs much sharper writing to excel.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had already read the Future State single issues, so I skipped those in reading and rating this time. I love the main story and the art is excellent and fitting. I hope the next trade comes out soon.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being perfectly honest, I have no idea what happened in this volume but I found it very soothing to read? A bit sad that it is apparently not about the Swamp Thing that I have grown fond of via JLD, but I think I just like Swamp Thing.

[Alek Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contains 3 different stories exploring Swamp Things humanity. 1 origin story, 1 lore exploration story, and 1 Future State story. The problem all three of these stories had was that they were each only 2 issues long. They are very short unexplored stories.

[Alex Sarll]

Swamp Thing, much like Daredevil, is a character who probably doesn't justify as many series as he gets, but who has become almost a rite of passage on account of one revolutionary run just as comics were experiencing their own becoming. As such, it's a good start to have Indian scientist Levi Kamei take Alec Holland's place as the plant elemental, because Holland probably ran out of plausible epiphanies an apotheosis or two back. And certainly Perkins' art suits the project, mixing proper horror comic ick with nicely done callbacks to iconic images from previous runs. But compared to Ram V's writing elsewhere, here he seems to feel obliged to spell out every subtext, and too quickly gets mired in the cosmic big picture - where Holland had John Constantine teasing out details of his place in the scheme of things, Kamei heads straight to the Green for a full explanation from various other DC vegetable folk, of whom Poison Ivy has now been split in two for some fucking reason. Which is the likely problem here, of course: Ram is now operating within a desperately flailing shared universe, where everything now needs to be ever bigger and more tangled, and the early glimpses of a solid, contained rural horror series here just aren't enough to keep editorial's attention. Resulting in a frustrating book that feels like it's missing something even before the last two issues here jump a few decades as part of the abortive Future State event and give us a post-apocalyptic possible future just like all the other ones, except that here one of the warring factions are supposedly plants even if they seem to act exactly like humans anyway.

[David Palazzolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moody, atmospheric with science tinged horror, Ram V and Mike Perkins may have given us the best iteration of the Swamp Thing since Alan Moore, Steve Bissette and John Totelben re-energized him nearly 40 years ago. The first part of the collection gave us a glimpse at the ultimate end of the story then the next part sends us firmly on our way. V does an excellent job in explaining the Green and Swamp Thing’s role within it, reintroducing old characters and also manages to reinstall the pre-New52 continuity back into canon. Perkins’ art is full of shadow and menace and while occasionally traces of Bissette and Totelben can be discerned, it stands on its own, creating a world as distinct as theirs. The last page will set up Swampy’s first full run in with the mainstream DCU and it promises to be a doozy (hint: he ain’t meeting Batman this time…). Can’t wait to read the rest of the series!

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately, no Swamp Thing book will ever match the perfection of the Moore, Bissette & Totleben run that casts a shadow over every subsequent take. But Ram V. and Mike Perkins do a great job here. Solid writing and wonderful art.

[Nicolas Chinnapen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A welcome reboot where Ram V recreates the Swamp Thing from scratch and gives us a philosophical horror story tainted with super hero awesomeness and world building while conjuring The Swamp lore to awesome effect.. An awesome beginning which features two compelling arcs (Beginning and Future state ) and promises great things for the franchise ..At last, a comic books that revives my fire for the medium that was a bit in a poor state with no real interesting stories ..Now need to find the other books in the series and restart my search for awesome comics..

[Juju · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars) New swamp team, new swamp thing. If you take a swamp thing out of the swamp, are they still a swamp thing? This and many other questions are not answered at all in this volume, but the main story in #1-4 is off to an intriguing start. Ram V leans in on the creepy desert horror, teases some promising thorny origins, and introduces new leads instead of Alex and Abby. Mike Perkins does great work on the art, with some intricate layouts reminiscent of Bissette & Totleben.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a bit vague in some areas and is a lot about Levi Kamei finding himself with the history of Swamp Thing. Maybe its because its the first volume but there are a lot of unanswered questions and not as much fighting in the plot as I expected. Its still written well and interesting enough to consider reading the second volume :)

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, I'm not really sure what was going on here. Author Ram V introduces readers to a new avatar to the Green, Levi. The book was just overly vague and didn't really do anything new. Mike Perkins art was very solid. Overall, a beautifully drawn but muddled story.

[The Spooky Jedi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Art was great and story was very captivating.
Highly recommended for swamp thing fans but not a jumping on point for new fans

[Carolina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is fantastic and the story managed to keep up.

[Bones · Rating 4 out of 5]

another twist on The Swamp Thing saga that works very well.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
Levi Kamei has been selected by The Green to be the new Swamp Thing. Taking on a creepy "tall tale" of a creature known as "The Pale Wanderer", Jason Woodrue, and Poison Ivy, as well as getting guidance from Alec Holland, the previous Swamp Thing, these issues set up the beginning of a new tale, which will hopefully last a long time.
We also get the two issues of "Future State" that Swamp Thing was a part of, showing again that The Green can never really be put down.
Looking forward to finding out more about Levi's past, as well his upcoming tangle with Suicide Squad.
Recommend.

[Jamie Revell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This contains two entirely unconnected stories, albeit by the same pairing of writer and artist, and it's mainly for this reason that I can't rate it more highly.

The main story shows the new Swamp Thing learning what he is turning into and facing a few supernatural threats along the way. It's a good introduction to the concept of Swamp Thing, with some great scenes set in the Green and reflections on what Levi is going through as he tries to make sense of what is happening. The art is also good, suitable for this sort of grimy supernatural setting. But it suffers from being too short - just four issues that don't take us very far into the story. It doesn't help that the beginning of the story is in some other collection, although we do get enough flashbacks to piece together the outline of what happened.

The reason it's short is, presumably, in order to fit the other, two-issue story in. And why is that even here? Yes, it has Swamp Thing in it, although probably not the same one, but, while it's well written, it feels needlessly tagged on to push up the page count. Not does it add anything to the main story, being set in the Future State setting so that it distracts rather than complements. One really good story that's rudely truncated, and one perfectly decent one that belongs somewhere else... one can't blame Ram V, but I don't know what DC's editors were thinking. And that gets it a big mark-down from me, I'm afraid.

[Arnel Cayabyab · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot to look forward to. Ram V had a great run on Justice League Dark, so Swamp Thing felt like a great direction. Perkins' art is great and definitely feels like an homage to all the great artists in the past, but still obtaining his own style of horror.

Unfortunately, the story is lacking. This first "season" has short story arcs that are easy enough to follow. But I find the main ensemble of characters forgettable. Even Levi feels forgettable if not rushed. Looking into the second collection to complete the 1st season, it never quite finds it's footing in establishing good characters.

[Peter Derk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Swamp Thing in comics is a little like Batman in movies: Do we need ANOTHER origin?

I think there's meant to be something new or unique about this Swamp Thing because he's Indian(?), but other than having roots (plant pun #1) in India, there's nothing about this guy that's...there's nothing about this guy.

Levi has zero character other than being confused about whether or not he's Swamp Thing. How he became Swamp Thing seems to also be 100% unknown. None of this seems to really make sense, and if we're going to spend time with the Bruce Banner side of things, that's cool, but that should affect the person, the Swamp Thing, or both. Ideally, it'd be both.

And the book, like a lot of Swamp Thing books, has the Ghostbusters Afterlife problem: How, after the Statue of Liberty came to live from magic goo, did everyone sort of forget that ghosts are real? That would be far and away the most significant discovery of human existence, that there is some form of afterlife, and yet it took about 20 years for everyone to be like, "Wait...that happened?"

How has everyone forgotten that Swamp Thing took over the entire city of Gotham? I mean, maybe comics get more of a pass than Ghostbusters movies because in comics, shit like this happens all the time, who can keep track?

Wouldn't it be pretty easy for science-y people to be like, "Okay, I don't know the mechanism at play here, but clearly you're Swamp Thing."

But the real friction comes between the reader and the book: The reader has selected a book called Swamp Thing. This is a character we're familiar with. And we spend a few issues watching a guy bumble through the discovery of what the fuck Swamp Thing is, whether he's real, and meanwhile, we know THE WHOLE TIME.

It's like a vampire movie where it's called Vampires Aplenty, and a guy gets turned into a vampire, and we spend 45 minutes with the guy being confused about just what he's turning into.

It's reasonable for a real-life person to be confused, deeply, by turning into a Swamp Thing. But there needs to be balance, because the existence of Swamp Thing is not something that's a question mark for readers. It breaks the reality of the book a little, but I do think it's worthwhile to speed up the discovery process, because if the discovery process is most of what the writer's got in mind, I'm SO BORED.

And we have a storyline with some weird other elemental kind of dude haunting the desert, and again, I'm like, "Is this really all that crazy? In a world with a literal Superman, would it be totally outrageous that there's some weird guy who has some form of superpowers?

I'm going to expose a personal sensitivity: Sometimes this feels like a thing from comics writers who come from big cities: They seem to have this assumption that people from rural areas would not have any experience with superheroes, therefore would immediately assume something like a desert monster man was probably not real and couldn't possibly exist.

At its worst, this sometimes feels to me like the worst of big city mentality, that city folks feel people who live in rural areas are not just less cultured, but that they are completely unaware of what is going on in the world at-large.

I will admit, I feel like I'm probably less cultured than someone in a big city, but it's not like I've never heard of the Puerto Rican Day Parade, you know? I'm aware of things that exist in big cities. I've HEARD of Hamilton, even if I never saw it on Broadway. I'm aware of the Guggenheim. I've heard the same coastal rappers you have.

I think, if there was a Justice League, I'd be aware of it, even if I'd never seen any of the members in person.

It feels like a way to have a monsterman or introduce a new character: If he's in the sticks, supervillains can still be new!

Barf.

I guess I feel like a lot of people misunderstand what makes Alan Moore's Swamp Thing work, and they're like, "An origin, that's the ticket! The Green! Bad guys, we're set!"

What makes Moore's books work is that they have a push/pull between Alec Holland and Swamp Thing, and we spend time with Holland coming to realize that he's not Alec Holland anymore, and perhaps he's in no way human. And in some ways that's good (he has powers and abilities way beyond any human), and in others, it's bad (he begins to lose touch with humanity). Or, maybe it's not bad because losing touch with humanity is neither good nor bad, it's just change.

Can a being travel through infinite space and return unchanged? Probably not.
Can a being replicate a physical experience with a human by growing a hallucinogenic tuber and feeding it to a human? Maybe?
Does "doing good" mean anything remotely like the same thing it meant to a human?
Do human concerns mean anything to an elemental force?

Moore left some things mysterious while also putting enough of the puzzle together to write coherent stories. And while a lot of it was floaty and too psychedelic for me, I could respect what he was doing, and I think he did a damn good job making a character that was often a Creature from the Black Lagoon ripoff into something more interesting.

But this version of Swamp Thing is now doing the same thing previous ones were: being a copy of something that came before without adding much of interest.

THEN we get into a story in a post-apocalyptic future that I have to assume is part of some DC crossover bullshit, and I'm like, "Guys, you need to stop putting your crossovers smack in the middle of your collected trade paperback editions of shit." I'm like 4 issues into this origin, then we fast-forward to an alternate future like a billion years, there are only the dregs of humanity left alive because...because?

What's weird is I LIKED the future story better than the other stuff. I didn't totally know what happened, but it was cool because SOMETHING happened.

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reprints The Swamp Thing #1-4 and Future State: Swamp Thing #1-2 (March 2021-August 2021). Levi Kamei finds his life suddenly in flux. He is the next Avatar of the Green…he is the Swamp Thing. As Levi tries to figure out what the title means, he learns that there is a sickness growing in the Green…and he might be the cause! Plus in a future world, the Swamp Thing leads a group of his creations to find the last survivors of humanity…but quickly learns the sins of his past might come back to haunt him.

Written by Ram V, The Swamp Thing Volume 1: Becoming is a DC Comics superhero collection. The series collects the storylines of “Becoming”, “My Green Amaranthine”, and the two issue spin off series Future State: Swamp Thing (March 2021-April 2021) which actually was a prequel to the series. Issues in this collection were also collected in Future State: Suicide Squad.

Swamp Thing is a fun character to play with. Alan Moore showed his potential but writers since him have shown his versatility and range…Ram V is the next in that line, but it also feels like the roots of Swamp Thing have been tapped one too many times.

The biggest switch up in this volume is that the Swamp Thing is Levi Kamei. Kamei is the new Avatar of the Green and learning to be the new Avatar. It is a path followed in Moore and in a world of climate change, it is worth reinvestigating. While I like the Tom Holland Swamp Thing (who does appear here), it is nice to get a different world perspective on the character since Swamp Thing is a world (or even otherworldy) character…what happens to Earth affects everyone. It seems short sighted that Swamp Thing has to be American (I even would argue it would have been nice if the story had been based outside of the U.S.).

The problem is that the trips into the Green, mysterious men in the desert, and confrontations with old Avatars, Poison Ivy, and Jason Woodrue feel a bit stale. There is a ton the character can do, but it feels like we’ve done this before. That is part of the idea…the Avatar is always changing and being reborn, but if you are a long time reader of Swamp Thing, you’ve seen it happen before.

The second problem with this collection is the Future State tie-in issues. It feels like The Swamp Thing is starting to get going, but then you have the two Future State: Swamp Thing issues tacked on to the end. Like most event series, it is world building, but the world is built and then the world ends. The world created in Future State has potential, but you know it isn’t permanent and the story is limited to two (unsatisfying) issues.

The Swamp Thing Volume 1: Becoming isn’t a bad collection and it is better than a lot of stuff out there…but I still want a little more from it. The ideas and approach to the character is right, but I feel like a better blend between the Green storylines and the DC Universe can be reworked better. I do look forward to where it might go and what the plan is. The series was originally scheduled for ten issues but was extended during the run. The Swamp Thing Volume 1: Becoming is followed by The Swamp Thing Volume 2: Conduit.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I sometimes forget about Dennis Villeneuve, these days, is why I love him. I see him immersed in Dune, and I wish he blossomed in the same way as Christopher Nolan. But he isn’t Christopher Nolan, he’s Dennis Villeneuve, and he’s been doing, of course, exactly what he wants, and there’s no one who has ever done what Dennis Villeneuve does, and there are many films yet left in him.

And then there’s Swamp Thing, arguably the most protected character in the DC fold. From the ballyhooed heyday of Alan Moore (increasingly forgotten but perhaps the true heart of his best era and work) to Scott Snyder and Charles Soule in the New 52 (both forgotten and buried, alas), Swamp Thing never outstays his welcome, and always waits, patiently, for someone else to put up the vine.

And so we have Ram V. I confess to taking Ram V for granted far more than I’ve appreciated him, but, hopefully, we’re still at the start of a brilliant career, so there’s time yet. When Future State occurred, I found his Swamp Thing unabashedly one of its high points.

And as I revisit those few issues, here, they’re not even as good as what he did upon getting the regular assignment.

Like Villeneuve (who’s like Malick but always choosing at least the appearance of mainstream), Ram V is a poet and philosopher, and that is his approach to Swamp Thing. It’s similar to what has come before, but it is also its own thing. It’s like Matt Kindt’s Divinity, except grounded in something more familiar. If Kindt gave us a Dr. Manhattan who never quite got lost in the tangle of humanity, Ram gives us a vision of how the world sees humanity. And while it’s been fashionable in recent years to lean into pessimism (which I believe was the direction Moore favored), Ram still holds out hope. It’s very apparent, in retrospect, in the Future State episode. And as Levi Kamei rediscovers the Swamp Thing.

Usually I don’t acknowledge the art too much. But this is Mike Perkins. I first fell in love with his work through Marvel’s adaptations of The Stand (it’s very appropriate for him to work on both these projects). And I loved seeing him in the Future State issues. But his work is so much better in the series. If you can’t appreciate Ram’s work, you must for Perkins’ sake.

And there are two volumes yet. What DC does, in defiance of sales, when the results are good enough, is keep a series going, for a while. That gave us Tom King, nearly a decade ago, from the pages of Omega Men. To be clear, to be very clear, that’s what happened here, too.