This was another book that I originally did not plan on picking up, but I am a fan of Scott and Yanick so I decided to give it a shot.

Weird, creepy, and scary are words I would use to describe this first issue of Swamp Thing. I am not familiar with the past Swamp Thing stories, but I’ve heard they are quite good. I assume that the adjectives I used to describe the book fit the tone of Swamp Thing. As a first timer to the Swamp Thing world I was intrigued.

Snyder introduces us to Dr. Alec Holland the former Swamp Thing who is now working construction to forget his past as a botanist and as Swamp Thing. Well as much as he wants to forget it appears the plants still need him, as do some other heroes. Honestly it’s hard to talk much more about Alec and Swamp Thing because I just don’t have the past information others may have. I really don’t know what type of character he was before this issue or what exactly the Swamp Thing stories were about.

So I’ll just look at this issue from a new fan’s point of view. Snyder does a good job of giving the very basics about Alec and all the info a new reader would want to know. We know who he was/is. We know what he does. We know what motivates him to do what he does. Snyder lays a solid foundation on which to expand from. I did find interesting the explanation about the violent nature of plant life. I had never looked at vegetation that way before, but it makes sense once you think about. Plants on their own can be just as destructive as humans or animals.

Now for the fun creepy stuff! At one point in the comic something frankly unexplainable happens at an archaeologist dig site. I’ve looked at the page numerous times and the best way I can describe it is some weird tornado that somehow brought to life something that should not be able to live. Obviously it’s some crazy supernatural mojo going on. Like something out of a horror movie this thing did some sort possession on some scientists that was pretty grim. I can tell this book is going to be dark and perhaps very violent.

Yanick Paquette is a good fit for this book. In the past I’ve seen his work on Batman Inc. and Wolverine. The story arcs he did for those 2 books are very different, which is probably why he works so well on Swamp Thing. He can draw quieter moments and also do the eerie stuff just as good if not better. He really captures the bizarre scenes well. His Swamp Thing looks very cool and I think he can really go wild with this book. Snyder and Paquette will make an excellent team. I can see Snyder writing up some awesome scenes and Paquette knocking them out of the park.