Swamp Thing #27

By Charles Soule & Jesús Saíz

Well, Seeder’s story is over (for now) and both Charles Soule and Jesús Saíz really swing for the fences. While the issue might not be the most action packed, it still wraps up the arc nicely while leaving questions for Soule to explore in the coming issues. For example, what will happen with the Parliament? Seems like it’s not a good time to be in charge—if you’ve been reading Animal Man, you’ll really see why—and what implications are they going to have on Swampy and his reign as avatar?

From the start of the Seeder arc, it really felt like Charles Soule had a clear path mapped out for him. A beginning-middle-end type of run but, even so, it almost feels like Swamp Thing got off easy and that’s not really the end of Seeder. It’s not that it was necessarily an “unsatisfying” ending, it just happened so fast and, without giving too much away, it might have been too fast. Take nothing away from Soule or this arc, because it was still fantastic especially coming off Snyder’s run with the character, because he undoubtedly has more in store for us. Hopefully next month will give more insight to why this ended the way it did.

Jesús Saíz really impressed with this issue and, quite possibly, produced his best one yet. All his characterizations, his style of Swamp Thing and just the intricate details he puts on each page really make the story pop. After Yanick Paquette, it really feels like Saíz was made to do Swamp Thing and, thankfully, we’ll get more of his work in two short months. It’s understandable that he can’t keep up this kind of art on a grueling month-to-month basis that DC’s schedule demands, but it sure would be great to get an artist of this calibre on Swamp Thing permanently.

At the end of the day, Soule solidified himself, as did Saíz, as a top of the line talent and someone who was perfectly suited to take over after the fantastic run that Snyder and Paquette had. Don’t let the star rating fool you either, because this was far from a bad issue. There was just so much more that just didn’t seem to happen, and what did happen seemed just a touch too fast and too easy. This is still one of the best books on the DC roster so pick up this series if you aren’t already and get ready for what will no doubt be another great arc.