Publisher: DC
Writer: Len Wein
Artist: Kelley Jones
Colourist: Michelle Madsen
Editor: Rebecca Taylor
Release Date: OUT NOW!
Price: $2.99

In Swamp Thing #3 the creature’s retirement has not gone as planned and Swamp Thing gets visited by people he doesn’t want to see. Now it’s former FBI agent Matt Cable, who was there at Swamp Thing’s beginning. Cable stole the Hand of Fatima, a mystic artefact which he hopes will cure Swampy, the one thing Alec desperately wants.

So it’s off to see the wizard Zatanna who agrees to work the spell. For Swamp Thing it’s damn the torpedoes—“There are always consequences…It’s called life,” Swamp Thing tells the concerned lady sorcerer. But Alec begins to feel differently at the story’s resolution when he learns the spell’s true effect.

Kelley Jones art is so good you don’t necessarily have to read the words to enjoy it. Jones seems to love playing with shadows and the effects keep the art from ever becoming trite or boring. It’s appreciated that Kelley Jones doesn’t obviously exploit Zatanna’s sex appeal as is usually the case with lesser artists.

Swamp Thing creator Len Wein, and longtime comic book writer does not labour any points or themes. Wein seems to understand a story evolves without being prissy or dogmatic, he trusts his reader without the need to patronise or treat with intellectual contempt. Len Wein understands the nature of comic books, few writers ever make it into that league.

So, with well written and gorgeous artwork, Swamp Thing #3 is another good chapter in a very entertaining series. It’s not overly complicated but still manages to ground the character and Swamp Thing strong feelings, proving again DC doesn’t need Batman to tell a good story. Or Alan Moore to write it. Or an Alan Moore clone (of which there are many). We may be through that particular looking glass here.

And in Len Wein’s hands, there is proof in Swamp Thing #3 that there is no school like the old school; especially if that school progresses like it does here.

 

Reviewer: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker