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A review by helpfulsnowman
Saga of the Swamp Thing, Book 3 by Alan Moore
3.0
There are some good reasons that I keep persisting with this series.
Basically, there are a lot of good ideas in here, stuff that I think was played out in a much bigger way as comics history has worn on. Even the history of other mediums.
Most interesting is the idea of Swamp Thing transitioning from being a man who is swamp-y to the living embodiment of something else entirely. How he's losing touch with humanity, but that's not a bad thing necessarily.
They do this sort of thing a lot with Superman, but they handle it the opposite way. I feel like he's always trying to tether himself to human life, to understand humans better. But really, he's not human, he'll never be human. So why can't he embrace what he is and figure out what that means for his future?
In this volume, we see Swamp Thing starting to change in that way. Accepting that he's not human and never will be, and instead of fighting that fact he's figuring out that maybe it's not so bad. Just different.
It's an idea that is played out in a big way with Alan Moore's Watchmen in the character of Dr. Manhattan. That's probably the biggest example. More recently, I think that Mark Waid's Irredeemable had a really similar idea as well, someone who gives up on pretending to be human.
This comic also deviates from the typical formula. Swamp Thing doesn't punch a lot of people in the face. Which can be good. But...I don't know if it works. Because honestly, the times when he DOES finally punch a bad guy in the face are the most satisfying moments.
Basically, there are a lot of good ideas in here, stuff that I think was played out in a much bigger way as comics history has worn on. Even the history of other mediums.
Most interesting is the idea of Swamp Thing transitioning from being a man who is swamp-y to the living embodiment of something else entirely. How he's losing touch with humanity, but that's not a bad thing necessarily.
They do this sort of thing a lot with Superman, but they handle it the opposite way. I feel like he's always trying to tether himself to human life, to understand humans better. But really, he's not human, he'll never be human. So why can't he embrace what he is and figure out what that means for his future?
In this volume, we see Swamp Thing starting to change in that way. Accepting that he's not human and never will be, and instead of fighting that fact he's figuring out that maybe it's not so bad. Just different.
It's an idea that is played out in a big way with Alan Moore's Watchmen in the character of Dr. Manhattan. That's probably the biggest example. More recently, I think that Mark Waid's Irredeemable had a really similar idea as well, someone who gives up on pretending to be human.
This comic also deviates from the typical formula. Swamp Thing doesn't punch a lot of people in the face. Which can be good. But...I don't know if it works. Because honestly, the times when he DOES finally punch a bad guy in the face are the most satisfying moments.