Swamp Thing #11 Spoilers/Discussion

[sifighter]

Oh man am I glad to see this book again, Ram V did an excellent Job on the first 10 issues and I'm so glad to see that it got more and what ideas and characters they are bringing into this.

So Recap: Last we left off our protagonist seemingly died while fighting his brother who gained evil levels of nature powers. It's the quick and dirty version of things but that is what happened because the villain Prescott Ceo Mr. Pilgim dropped them both in the cold where they couldn't grow.

So picking up from that Levi's friend Jennifer is looking to make sure he survived or to bring him back, and to do this she reaches out to Tefe Holland, daughter of the Swamp Thing. Look this is some vertigo level stuff but if you don't know who she is she was a spirit created by the Parliament of Trees meant to replace Swamp Thing (thought dead) when it combined with the soul of a human, but it failed. Not wanting to kill the spirit Swamp Thing used John Constantine's body and conceived a child with Abigail Arcane that housed the spirit, creating a human child with the connection to the green. And now she's here in continuity, pretty neat right. Anyway Tefe refuses to help Jennifer and tells her she should probably get out of this madness while she still can.

The next part is very strange. See Pilgrim is having the Swamp Thing villain Dr. Woodrue perform surgery. The Surgery involves taking bits of the oil monster from the first two issues of Ram V's run and grafting them onto Mr. Pilgrim. In essence merging an Avatar like being with that of a normal man. And it freaking works, but more on that later I want to get back to the main characters.

Because Levi looks to be alive in the Green, guarding a rose, because the anger and hatred that his brother held is poisoning the green. He's lost slumbering. And Jennifer is going to wake him up, with the help of Tefe who comes around and takes her into the Green. But it's a very violent place and Tefe must fight while Jennifer runs to hopefully wake up Levi trapped within the Green.

Now back to Pilgrim because as I said, his surgery was a success. At first he looks normal but then he turns into a monster, one that's very existence is felt throughout the universe, we even see apparently the green lanterns feel it. But we meet a familiar face who also is aware and I assume also has a part to play in this, Jack Hawksmoor!....if you don't know who that is that's a Wildstorm character and former member of the Authority. He can talk to cities and gets power from how big the city is. That's right Ram V is bringing Wildstorm stuff into this book that is already mixing Vertigo with DC. Now we wait and see where this goes.

As always the visuals in this book are stunning, because when Mike Perkins is on the page he dials the fantastical and creepy nature of things up. Even things that supposedly should look normal like the surgery scene go great. I'm just really glad to have this book back.

[golgi]

Does 11 start an all new story?

[sifighter]

Does 11 start an all new story?

It’s more a continuation, like it has been promoted it’s kind of like the start of season 2 where you left off season 1 characters.

[Johnrevenge]

I liked it. It was a good start after the end of "season one". And as OP has commented Ram has been able to bring a Vertigo character and a Wildstorm character into a DC book in a very great way. Now if he brought a Milestone character like Xombi (I think he could fit in a story like this), then we could be screaming: "OHHHHH BABY!!!! IT'S A TRIPLE!!!!!!"

[HsssH]

Now back to Pilgrim because as I said, his surgery was a success. At first he looks normal but then he turns into a monster, one that's very existence is felt throughout the universe, we even see apparently the green lanterns feel it.

I found that part a bit weird, Levi "killed" the old avatar in second issue I think? So it was gone for what, only couple of months? Yet those pages make it look like something new has been born. But maybe the idea here is that this new monster is totally different to the old one due to surgery? I guess we will see in next couple of issues!

[The Frog Bros]

Yeah, so glad this book is back (this and Action are my two current faves in DC’s stable right now). The writing coupled with the art and the color work is incredible. Freakin’ love this book.

Two incredible splash pages: the surgery scene (horrific and awesome), and the one with Tefe reconnecting to the Green. In fact, I feel like there’s been at least one gem of a splash page in almost every issue.

I had seen an unlettered image of the panel with the Green Lantern so I was curious how it would fit in the story. I dig it; the “slumbering idea” awakens, so much so that its ripples are felt everywhere across the universe(s).

I hadn’t read Hawksmoor before, but I am really curious (and excited) to see how the City and Green environs clash moving forward.

[sifighter]

Yeah, so glad this book is back (this and Action are my two current faves in DC’s stable right now). The writing coupled with the art and the color work is incredible. Freakin’ love this book.

Two incredible splash pages: the surgery scene (horrific and awesome), and the one with Tefe reconnecting to the Green. In fact, I feel like there’s been at least one gem of a splash page in almost every issue.

I had seen an unlettered image of the panel with the Green Lantern so I was curious how it would fit in the story. I dig it; the “slumbering idea” awakens, so much so that its ripples are felt everywhere across the universe(s).

I hadn’t read Hawksmoor before, but I am really curious (and excited) to see how the City and Green environs clash moving forward.

Yeah Hawksmoor is interesting because he’s not technically the same as Swamp Thing, last I checked he’s not an Avatar for a parliament like Levi.

He was experimented on with futuristic technology, to the point he’s almost non-human, that allowed him control over and communication with cities, though I can’t remember if New 52 changed that or not. But who knows what Ram V has planned for a character that hasn’t been seen since New 52’s Stormwatch ended.