To the surprise of some and to the understanding of others, horror comics have been going just as long as superhero comics, in fact, even longer. From the early 1900s to about the 1950s, horror comics were found on shelves for people of all ages to purchase These titles tended to not only feature dark plots, but also gory and bloody illustrations to accompany it. One company that published these incredibly adult horror comics was EC Comics, which tended to feature as much murder, blood and gore as something you’d witness in an abattoir. For over a decade, the company released these stories, but once the Comics Code Authority was founded, which regulated the comics and was almost a rule book which the publishers HAD to follow (or else), EC Comics was no more, and neither was horror comics, with companies such as DC Comics or Atlas (the predecessor to Marvel) focusing more on science fiction. The late 1960s and early 1970s was when horror comics begun to return from their grave, most notably, DC Comics titles House of Mystery and House of Secrets switched from strange sci-fi tales to grim horror stories. I believe the most well-known horror character from any of the main publishers was indeed Swamp Thing, who first debuted in a story in House of Secrets 92, written by Len Wein with art by Bernie Wrightson. Since then, this unique character has had his own title, many of them in fact. The character has been reimagined by great writers such as Alan Moore and Rich Veitch, but after that, the decades that followed changed the Swamp Thing into another DC Vertigo character, with every single issue being dark and just not fun to read. However, in 2016, the original writer, Len Wein, returned to the character with this six-issue miniseries, pencilled and inked by Kelley Jones, famous in comics for his horror art style that not only pays tribute to Bernie Wrightson, but also redefined characters such as Batman, Deadman and now Swamp Thing. The whole thing fittingly seemed to come full circle…
For this review, I will be covering the sixth Swamp Thing title, which was a six issue miniseries that was released in 2016, from March to August. As mentioned before, the miniseries was written by Len Wein, with the art by Kelley Jones. Lastly, I have read this miniseries in the Swamp Thing: The Dead Don’t Sleep trade paperback.
THE PLOT
In the Louisiana swamp, Swamp Thing fights with an alligator for a bit of fun. After the fight ends (with the scaly beast retreating after the swamp creature let him go, the Phantom Stranger appears to Swamp Thing. Once Swamp Thing tells him that he wants to spend one minute as a man rather than a million years as a plant, the Phantom Stranger tells him there could be consequences to wishing this. Suddenly, Swamp Thing hears a scream and the Phantom Stranger vanishes as usual. Not too far away, Swamp Thing finds a woman screaming about how her husband is caught in quicksand. After Swamp Thing rescues the man from the quicksand, the man and woman reveal that their names are Frank and Grace Wormwood and that they want Swamp Thing’s help. Later on, at a camp, Frank explains to Swamp Thing that his son, Lazlo, enrolled at a college class about the study of life after death. The tutor, named Professor Crisp, wanted to prove his theory that he could bring a man back from the dead. Lazlo volunteers for the experiment to die and then be brought back to life, but the experiment fails, and Lazlo dies without any hope of resurrection. Although Frank and Grace believed their son to be dead, his body disappeared, and Professor Crisp was killed violently. Therefore, the couple want Swamp Thing to locate their dead son, which he agrees to. Meanwhile, at the college, Lazlo attacks some of the students from his class, but he is stopped when Swamp Thing appears. Once, Swamp Thing notices how strong Lazlo is, he also notices that Lazlo is a decaying zombie. Although Swamp Thing tries to defeat the zombified Lazlo, he is torn in half by the zombie, seemingly dead.
After some time, Swamp Thing manages to connect the two parts of his body back to together and he continues his search for Lazlo. At the same time, police officer Darcy Fox (niece of Lucius Fox) finds another torn apart body by Lazlo. Meanwhile, Swamp Thing visits former supervillain, the Shade, who tells Swamp Thing about Lazlo Wormwood. Shade says that Lazlo volunteered for the experiment as he had terminal cancer and he thought that the experiment could cure him. In their guilt, the parents of Lazlo, Frank and Grace, took part in an occult ritual, which brought their son back, but as a zombie instead. Although Swamp Thing questions about how he can defeat Lazlo, the Shade reveals that the traditional method of pouring salt into a zombie’s mouth and stitching it shut might work. Swamp Thing is then given these items from the Shade and he leaves to defeat Lazlo. Some time later, Swamp Thing finds Lazlo attacking more of his former colleagues and a police officer, who is killed by the zombie. The fight between Swamp Thing and Lazlo ends as the swamp creature attends to the injuries of the policeman, but he dies. This results in Lazlo running to his mother and father, but just as Lazlo is seemingly about to kill them, Swamp Thing arrives, dunks the salt in Lazlo’s mouth, stitches it shut using his plant powers, causing Lazlo to finally die. Swamp Thing then confronts Frank and Grace Wormwood, leaving them with the advice of burying their son deeper this time. The police then arrive at the scene and demand that Frank and Grace come in for questioning. Elsewhere, Swamp Thing meets with the Phantom Stranger again, but he quickly vanishes like always. Meanwhile, on the edge of the swamp, a man named Matt Cable checks into a motel.
In the swamp, Swamp Thing fights with a tentacled creature, but suddenly, somebody fires a gun at the sea creature, and it dies. At first, Swamp Thing is angry about the creature’s death, but when the shooter reveals himself as Matt Cable, the two get on like long lost friends. Later on, at a campfire, Matt finds out that Swamp Thing is no longer friendly with Abby Arcane. Matt then explains to Swamp Thing that he has found a new purpose in life, which is to restore Swamp Thing and make him Alec Holland again. Matt continues with this and explains that he visited numerous magicians and sorcerers to find a cure for Swamp Thing, such as Mister E, Felix Faust and Enchantress, but he discovered nothing. However, Matt then says that he took a relic known as the Hand of Fatima from a temple, which has the power to reverse Swamp Thing’s condition. Swamp Thing agrees to Matt’s plan and decides that he wants to become Alec again. Meanwhile at the police station, Fox inspects the body of Lazlo while his parents are in police custody. Some time later, Swamp Thing and Matt visits magician and daughter of Zatara, Zatanna, who is intrigued with the Hand of Fatima. Although she agrees to help Swamp Thing, she warns that the ritual will be dangerous and that she must prepare for it. Later on, Zatanna asks Swamp Thing if he really wants to go through with the ritual, to which Swamp Thing replies saying that he has lost everyone he loves, meaning that if he become a human again, he will become happy. Shortly afterwards, Swamp Thing, Matt and Zatanna begin the ritual. While Zatanna performs it, each finger of the Hand of Fatima opens, resulting in Swamp Thing becoming Alec Holland again. However, to his shock, Alec finds that Matt has become the new Swamp Thing, who expected this to happen to begin with.
Although Matt explains to Alec that a Swamp Thing is always needed, Alec demands to Zatanna that it be reversed, but she says that the ritual cannot be reversed. Zatanna then tells Alec that only an act of god would be able to change him back. Once Alec is given some clothes, he and Matt walk together in the swamp. Even though Alec speaks of anger that Matt, a friend of his, has become Swamp Thing due to the horrors that it entails, Matt says that he wanted to help Alec by taking the burden and torture off of him. Alec then decides to teach the new Swamp Thing about his powers and abilities, which goes well at first, but when Matt finds a poacher in the swamp, he kills him (continues after image)
violently. Once Alec argues with Matt about what he has done, the argument becomes harsher, resulting in Matt claiming that he knows what he is doing and that he has known what he will be doing as Swamp Thing from the very start. Matt and Alec then walk into a town, but Matt loses his temper again and ties Alec to a tree using vines. Matt then goes crazy and builds a menacing plant throne for him to sit on while also killing civilians in the town. Officer Fox and the police arrive at the scene, but Matt covers them in vines as well. In anger, Matt then throws Alec underground using his vines, seemingly killing him.
While Matt is being recorded by news reporters, he speaks about how the humans have ruined the planet with their buildings, machinery and gases. Meanwhile, Alec isn’t actually dead, but instead, he appears in the Green, the realm of green nature and plant life. In the Green, the Parliament of Trees explain to Alec that they are angry with him as he hasn’t spoken with them a very long time and because he abandoned the role of Swamp Thing. The parliament then explain that the apocalypse is coming, and that Alec must do something about it. However, before he can respond to the parliament, Alec is sent back to the surface, where the Phantom Stranger meets him. Although he tells Alec that he cannot aid him, the Phantom Stranger teleports the two of them to Nanda Parbat, an old temple. Meanwhile, back in Louisiana, Fox tells Matt that the government may be considering firing a nuclear strike, causing Matt to use Fox as spokesperson of sorts for speaking with the government. Back to Alec, who is now on his own in the temple, he meets deceased former acrobat, Deadman, who tells Alec that the spell from the Hand of Fatima cannot be undone. However, Deadman shows Alec the relic, which Zatanna returned to the temple as it originally belonged there. Deadman tells Alec that he must find a way to make the relic usable again, but he doesn’t know how to. Back in Louisiana, Fox betrays Matt’s trust by telling the government to nuke the swamp and kill the evil Swamp Thing. A.R.G.U.S witnesses this and after discovering that no other superhuman teams are currently available, the organisation considers a nuclear strike. Meanwhile, the Phantom Stranger appears to Alec, who decides to head to Gotham City, where detective Jim Corrigan has become the Spectre to violently take out some criminals. After the fight, Alec shows Corrigan the Hand of Fatima, before telling him that he needs his help.
Some time later, Alec visits Matt’s evil Swamp Thing again, who explains that he made a deal with somebody after Matt retrieved the Hand of Fatima but was caught in an avalanche. Once Alec questions who he made the deal with, Matt explains that the deal was made with Swamp Thing’s arch foe, Anton Arcane, who is currently possessing Matt’s body. Arcane mentions how he took control of Matt’s body when he fell into a coma. However, Alec then explains that this time, he has come prepared as he has brought the Phantom Stranger, the Spectre and Zatanna to defeat Arcane. Alec
also shows Arcane that he has the Hand of Fatima, which thanks to the godly powers of the Spectre, is now usable once more. Meanwhile, A.R.G.U.S find that the President of the USA has made his decision on whether a nuclear strike should occur. Back in Louisiana, using Zatanna’s magic, the fingers of the Hand of Fatima all open, resulting in Alex becoming Swamp Thing again and Arcane reverts to his zombie and lifeless body. Although he pleads for mercy with the Spectre, he isn’t given any and Arcane is driven out of Matt’s body, which then appears where Arcane once stood. The Spectre then drags Arcane down to Hell, where he meets Etrigan the Demon, who will torture Arcane forever. Due to this, A.R.G.U.S cancel the nuclear strike and Louisiana is saved. However, Swamp Thing is driven out of the town by Officer Fox as the Phantom Stranger watches him walk into the depths of the swamp. In the end, Matt is put into a hospital as he is in a coma. However, Abby Arcane visits him, kisses him, and leaves, causing Matt to awaken from his coma.
MY THOUGHTS
Although a miniseries tends to just be one singular long story that is the focus, here there are really two of them. Starting with the first story (issues 1-2), which features a zombified Lazlo, I think that this story is excellent as it fits perfectly with something that would have featured in the original Swamp Thing series, especially by Len Wein with art by Bernie Wrightson or even Nestor Redondo (Swamp Thing (vol 1) 1-13). Like before, Wein delves into the supernatural and creepy elements of horror, which blends perfectly with Swamp Thing. Not only is there a great sense of mystery and surprise with it, but it feels like a traditional Swamp Thing story. The character of Lazlo is pretty frightening and threatening, while also having a degree of sadness. This makes the villain, Lazlo a bit more three-dimensional than a regular zombie character as pretty early on, we are told about his background. This not only works well because it is interesting, but when we find out a bit more information from the Shade (good appearance, if it is a bit of a strange character to appear here), Lazlo’s character becomes even more interesting and darker, something that fits right at home for Swamp Thing. The revelation that Lazlo had terminal cancer is certainly a dark turn, but it comes across as realistic and it really adds more to what some may think is a mindless zombie. This is an instance of Wein’s great character writing. In addition to this, the parents of Lazlo are sort of villains here, which is certainly a shock, as at first, you would have thought that the professor behind Lazlo’s death may have resurrected him as a zombie for a villainous purpose, but when you discover that the professor is dead, more questions are raised and you constantly want to know the bigger picture here. This is also backed up by the conclusion to this that Wein
supplies, which really works well, and it makes the suspense worthwhile. Apart from that, I thought that the appearance of characters like Shade and Phantom Stranger were very welcome as it adds a more diverse and larger cast to this story. Moving onto the second story (issues 3-6), I thought that this story also worked well, and it featured loads of memorable moments. The story itself already begins with a shock when we discover that Matt Cable has returned to see Swamp Thing. To me, Matt Cable seemed to vanish for a long period of time after the Veitch run and although I haven’t read much past that point, it still comes across as a bit of a surprise to see Matt return. This is when we see the start of Arcane’s cunning plan, which starts off so excellently and masterfully. Wein writes an incredibly realistic and human relationship between Alec/Swamp Thing and Matt. You really get the impression that they are good friends due to the suitable dialogue both characters are given. More importantly than that however is Matt basically ending his human life to become Swamp Thing so Alec can live his life like he should have done. Although Arcane is in control of Matt’s body and mind, we do see that Matt was in control when he obtained the Hand of Fatima, suggesting that he was planning to help Alec in the first place. To me, this just shows the great friendship between the two characters as they speak to each other so familiarly. In fact, the huge twist of the story acts out as if somebody has stabbed you and they are slowly pulling the knife out. Pardon the Shakespearian b*llsh*t there, but what I mean by that is that you get a huge shock from Matt using the powers of Swamp Thing for evil and afterwards, there are numerous hints, suggestions and nods to Alec and us, the reader, that Matt is being controlled. However, because of his actions and because Matt was a character that didn’t seem to appear for a long period of time, you start to believe that Matt is actually in control of what he is doing and that he has just become evil. However, things start to really make more sense when you discover that Arcane is the real villain, but more on that later. While the Phantom Stranger appears numerous times throughout the story, there are also other additions, such as Zatanna, Deadman and the Spectre, all of whom I think are great and suitable characters for Swamp Thing. Although some certainly add more to the story than others, I think it is great to see them all here, especially with the art by Kelley Jones, but more on that later. Alec’s contact with the Green sort of wakes him up and makes him determined to stop the evil Swamp Thing. The incorporation of the Green and the Parliament of Trees is certainly logical here as Swamp Thing mentions in the story that he has kind of separated himself from them. Although the Parliament doesn’t really feature much at all in the story, it is good to see them appear in the story in some form. However, moving onto the big twist, I think that the return of Arcane was desperately needed. Whilst I don’t find his return a shock as writers always try to get Arcane back in some shape or form. I think he was needed here. Without Arcane, Swamp Thing lacks any original recurring villains. Sure, you get villains like the Floronic Man turning up every once and a while, but he wasn’t originally a Swamp Thing villain. Due to that, Arcane works perfectly here as we get to see him fight Swamp Thing like in the 1970s. The conclusion of the story is pretty satisfying, and it makes sense. Arcane goes to Hell (nice cameo by Jack Kirby’s Demon) and Swamp Thing is pretty much banished out of town, both of which I think are great traditional ideas, particularly in horror. Apart from Swamp Thing, the ending with Matt waking up from his coma thanks to Abby us a good ending that I think works well. It certainly ends the story on a light note.
Like I mentioned before, this miniseries can almost be spilt into two and while I think both stories work well, I think that something was desperately needed to link the two indefinitely. Yes, we briefly see the aftermath of the Lazlo story, but not the full extent of which I thought it should have been. Due to this, the series really feels like part of an ongoing series due to the two different plots. To me, the first story is almost flawless. That said, there are bits that I just find a bit too unrealistic, such as the parents of Lazlo performing a ritual just from reading one demonic tome, which surely isn’t enough to cause somebody to come back from the dead. Also, although I guess he’s a link between he stories, I felt that the Phantom Stranger didn’t really add much to this story and speaking of him, I find his character written quite strangely (no pun intended) (continues after image)
throughout the miniseries as a whole. His dialogue feels way too causal to me and he doesn’t sound mysterious like he normally does. His use of language is just off and unfitting. The second story is a bit weaker to me. I’m not really a huge fan of the Hand of Fatima concept, but I can entertain it in terms of this story. In fact, the big problem with the story is Arcane. His intentions are never really clear, and you are constantly wondering what he is trying to accomplish, but we never find out. Also, due to the large amount of characters here, some of them barely have a role in the story and a few don’t even really add anything. I mean, I love Deadman’s character, but he doesn’t add anything here. The same goes for the Spectre, who just allows the Hand of Fatima to be usable again. I think that these characters were wasted here, and I think that something good could have been done with them. In terms of both stories, am I the only one who thinks that Swamp Thing’s character is a bit off here? I mean, he isn’t terrible or dramatically different, but there is something about his dialogue and things that he does which don’t really fit with his character. For instance, he gets into fights with animals and swears about them. Sure, its funny, but Swamp Thing’s character has been shown to be quite calm and peaceful. This doesn’t reflect that. Lastly, I felt that the police officer related to Lucius Fox was pointless. It just could have been any old police officer and like some of the other characters, I think more could have been done with her.
Some readers may remember what I thought of the art of Kelley Jones from my review of Detective Comics 1000 some months ago and like before, I think the art is beautiful here. Not only is the sense of storytelling incredibly interesting and bold, but the finishes and art are perfect for this story. Whether it be the fantastic use of darkness and shadowing, the intense action scenes, the eerie dialogue scenes, the unique and stunning colouring by Michelle Madsen, or the excellently detailed characters, this is art that Bernie Wrightson himself would approve. Jones has always been a favourite artist of mine. I think his Deadman stories are great. I think his run of Batman is superb and I think his Elseworlds tales are brilliant. Its no wonder DC has recently hired him to draw one of their new horror titles…
VERDICT
Overall, the Swamp Thing: The Dead Don’t Sleep miniseries is very good. While I found that some characters didn’t add that much to the plot and that some characters felt off, I thought that Wein wrote some incredible horror tales here, both with engaging plots with fantastic and creepy villains. The miniseries is full of memorable and stunning moments that feature characters that feel so real and human. This is certainly helped by the terrifically horrific and fitting art by Kelley Jones, making this miniseries feel even more retro and classic. This could have been an ongoing title and I would have loved it to have been one. In fact, Wein and Jones had planned to do a second miniseries, but that of course won’t be happening due to the unfortunate passing of Len Wein, who was a diverse writer in comics, one who could tell fantastic superhero stories and excellent horror tales. To me, his runs of Swamp Thing (House of Secrets 92, Swamp Thing 1-13) and Deadman (Adventure Comics 459-466) remain some of my favourite comics of all time…
Story: 8/10
Art: 10/10
Highlighted Character: Swamp Thing (Alec Holland)
Next Review: Green Arrow: Old Tricks (Green Arrow (vol 2) 73-80). Written by Mike Grell with art by Shea Anton Pensa, Rick Hoberg, John Nyberg and Bill Marimon. Expected to be published by 25/08/2019.
Comments