Review: Swamp Thing Vol. 6- The Sureen

Quick Summary

Pros: The story is exciting and builds upon Swamp Thing as a character. Newly introduced concepts are creative and compelling. The artwork looks beautiful and does a great job in enhancing the story.

Cons: The volume’s conclusion is very sudden and somewhat out of place.

Overall: This volume is another victory for the Swamp Thing series and a fantastic comic book overall. It depicts Swamp Thing’s fight against several enemies that present a serious, and exciting, threat. His approach to dealing with each one is creative and is enhanced by new concepts that make the series even more interesting. In addition, the volume looks great from beginning to end. Anyone who enjoys Swamp Thing as a character should not miss this book.

Story

For the past few volumes, Charles Soule has been doing a fantastic job in making sure each story told is more interesting and exciting than the last. Swamp Thing Vol. 6: The Sureen is no different, as this volume is perhaps the best story in the series thus far. It is tremendously exciting, has a huge impact on Swamp Thing’s life, and introduces a number of incredibly interesting concepts. The only place it stumbles is at the conclusion, however the overwhelming number of positives make it easy to look over this one mistake. Overall, this is another worthwhile volume in a series that constantly seems to outdo itself.

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Throughout The Sureen, Charles Soule continues to tell stories that expand upon the adventure Swamp Thing has been on for the past several volumes. Here, readers see Swamp Thing face off against enemies who have stolen his body, a conscious piece of the Green itself, and even people he once considered mentors. Each one of these battles affects Alec Holland as a person and push him further into his role as Avatar of the Green.

Not only are these stories epic in terms of their significance, they are also incredibly exciting. Each enemy Swamp Thing fights, in this volume, presents a very real and very substantial threat. Right off the bat, putting Swamp Thing in a human body made him more vulnerable than he has been in a long, long time. In addition, there were moments where I thought that the Wolf and the Lady of Weeds had a chance of winning, where I was seriously concerned that the hero would lose. Not many comics are able to make defeat seem like a possibility, so this is an impressive feat. The presence of real danger makes this an exciting read, one that readers are sure to appreciate.

In The Sureen, Charles Soule also continues to expand upon the mythos of Swamp Thing. He introduces the ability for the Avatar to leave his body, introduces the Grey, and has Alec Holland temporarily live in a body comprised of fungus. He also digs into what the Green is like without a Parliament of Trees, which ends up being one of the volume’s most interesting features. Each of these concepts would make a fantastic story all on its own and present tons of potential for more thorough explorations in the future. They also help make the world of Swamp Thing seem more layered and build further interest in the series as a whole.

The only place where the volume falters is at the very end. The Wolf and the Lady of Weeds have Swamp Thing in a precarious position when the Wolf realizes how terrible their actions have been and suddenly gives up. There were hints that the Wolf was enjoying humanity but not nearly enough to justify this dramatic change in personality. It happens too suddenly and makes the ending feel more hollow than it should be. This flaw does not ruin the volume but is an unfortunate black mark on an otherwise impressive performance.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Once again, the artwork of Jesús Saíz and Javier Piña brings a wonderful level of beauty and creativity to the Swamp Thing series. The concepts and characters throughout The Sureen are incredibly compelling and require an equally compelling art style to reflect this. Lush landscapes, well-designed characters, and increasingly creative depictions of Swamp Thing’s powers ensure that this quality level is not only met, but exceeded. This is a good looking book that does a great job in making the reader feel as if they are really seeing the turmoil of the Green come to life. Overall, the Swamp Thing series continues to impress when it comes to artwork.

Continuity

Swamp Thing Vol. 6: The Sureen continues the story from Swamp Thing Vol. 5: The Killing Field (Review).

The story here continues in Swamp Thing Vol. 7: Season’s End (Review).

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• This volume contains a brief crossover with the Aquaman series. Specifically, it takes place concurrent with Aquaman Vol. 5: Sea of Storms (Review).
• In addition, during the Aquaman crossover, the character Ywara makes an appearance. She was introduced back in Aquaman Vol. 2: The Others (Review).