Swamp Thing #31 Preview

[HellsRider]

Its the finale of The Gift Of The Sureen arc and a new player emerges. Javier Pina and Jesus Saiz tag team this issue on art duties. Next issue will be a bit of a small crossover with the Aquaman main title where Swamp Thing will be fighting Aquaman and it'll begin in Aquaman #31 this month and next month's Swamp Thing #32 will cover Swampy's side of the battle so we'll see if those of us that just pick up Swamp Thing will have to pick up Aquaman or if Swampy will be good standalone.

“The Gift of the Sureen” reaches its finale as a major new player is revealed to the Swamp Thing’s world! In order to survive the Sureen’s “gift,” Alec Holland must become an entirely different being!

Preview

Been really liking this arc as it expands the mythos and also making Swampy's cast have time and develop well. Can't wait to pick it up.

[Geralt of Rivia]

Next issue will be a bit of a small crossover with the Aquaman main title where Swamp Thing will be fighting Aquaman and it'll begin in Aquaman #31 this month and next month's Swamp Thing #32 will cover Swampy's side of the battle so we'll see if those of us that just pick up Swamp Thing will have to pick up Aquaman or if Swampy will be good standalone.

Am I the only one that finds it very annoying that Soule's DC books are crossing over? Most of the time I have no intention of picking up Supergirl or Aquaman and now both are involved in storylines for Red Lanterns and Swamp Thing.

When it was announced I figured Supergirl getting a Red ring would be handled separately but of course they are already continuing the latest arc in her book making it unskippable. DC just wouldn't allow readers to enjoy their books without some double dipping right?

I do hope that Swampy #32 will be standalone.

[Billy Batson]

DC just wouldn't allow readers to

Or to bring in new readers. Swampy's sales aren't really high.

[FishboneX]

Or to bring in new readers. Swampy's sales aren't really high.

This. God forbid they try to bump up the sales on these books. If you dont ever, never ever, want to buy a cross over book, just dont. Simple as that. There is no rule saying you have to, no law saying you cant google the details of the issue online to read the spoiler as to what happened in the issue you didnt want to buy. Nobody is going to really stop you at an LCS of flipping through the pages to get the idea of what went down. Me? Ill spend the $3 minus LCS discount to try a new book out most of the time, if a fave of mine crosses over into a book i dont normally read. Especially one written by Soule.

[HellsRider]

Am I the only one that finds it very annoying that Soule's DC books are crossing over? Most of the time I have no intention of picking up Supergirl or Aquaman and now both are involved in storylines for Red Lanterns and Swamp Thing.

When it was announced I figured Supergirl getting a Red ring would be handled separately but of course they are already continuing the latest arc in her book making it unskippable. DC just wouldn't allow readers to enjoy their books without some double dipping right?

I do hope that Swampy #32 will be standalone.

Well it depends. With the Supergirl situation I figured it was only a matter time that that book and Red Lanterns would crossover. They did a good job so far of keeping them separate, but at some point with her having the red ring that it would crossover so it was inevitable.

With Swampy, I think we could be looking at a Frankenstein/OMAC situation. Both books will be detailing the same fight just from their respective character's pov so you don't necessarily have to get both if you don't want to, but if you do you get the full scope of the conflict. In that sense its not bad at all, plus Swampy interacting with Aquaman would be a good thing as Aquaman has been a pretty consistent high seller (almost 34,000 as of March) compared to Swampy's declining numbers (18,837 as of March) so if this can have some boost that can sustain in the long run then that's only a good thing. We'll see how this issue ends and see if Aquaman will be necessary and if so I'm particularly not too bothered by that since its a one-off.

[FishboneX]

Well it depends. With the Supergirl situation I figured it was only a matter time that that book and Red Lanterns would crossover. They did a good job so far of keeping them separate, but at some point with her having the red ring that it would crossover so it was inevitable.

With Swampy, I think we could be looking at a Frankenstein/OMAC situation. Both books will be detailing the same fight just from their respective character's pov so you don't necessarily have to get both if you don't want to, but if you do you get the full scope of the conflict. In that sense its not bad at all, plus Swampy interacting with Aquaman would be a good thing as Aquaman has been a pretty consistent high seller (almost 34,000 as of March) compared to Swampy's declining numbers (18,837 as of March) so if this can have some boost that can sustain in the long run then that's only a good thing. We'll see how this issue ends and see if Aquaman will be necessary and if so I'm particularly not too bothered by that since its a one-off.

And the story was planned ahead, as soon as Alec flooded the ocean with algae as a sign of strength, you just had to expect Aquaman to be like WTF.

[Bruce Wayne]

The Aquaman-Swamp Thing thing is due mostly to the two books sharing the same editor, Will Conroy. It seems to be a voluntary one seeing how the WW ongoing hasn't been roped in since that is another book that Conroy is editing.

[Geralt of Rivia]

Well it depends. With the Supergirl situation I figured it was only a matter time that that book and Red Lanterns would crossover. They did a good job so far of keeping them separate, but at some point with her having the red ring that it would crossover so it was inevitable.

With Swampy, I think we could be looking at a Frankenstein/OMAC situation. Both books will be detailing the same fight just from their respective character's pov so you don't necessarily have to get both if you don't want to, but if you do you get the full scope of the conflict. In that sense its not bad at all, plus Swampy interacting with Aquaman would be a good thing as Aquaman has been a pretty consistent high seller (almost 34,000 as of March) compared to Swampy's declining numbers (18,837 as of March) so if this can have some boost that can sustain in the long run then that's only a good thing. We'll see how this issue ends and see if Aquaman will be necessary and if so I'm particularly not too bothered by that since its a one-off.

Look, Im all for lower selling books getting more exposure, specially if they are handled like the Frankenstein/OMAC brush was back then; what pisses me off is the "continued in Supergirl #31" type of stunt. Was it inevitable? Not really, see the same example.

Im just saying that I really hope the 'same story, different point of view' approach will be the case for Swampy/Aquaman.

This. God forbid they try to bump up the sales on these books. If you dont ever, never ever, want to buy a cross over book, just dont. Simple as that. There is no rule saying you have to, no law saying you cant google the details of the issue online to read the spoiler as to what happened in the issue you didnt want to buy. Nobody is going to really stop you at an LCS of flipping through the pages to get the idea of what went down. Me? Ill spend the $3 minus LCS discount to try a new book out most of the time, if a fave of mine crosses over into a book i dont normally read. Especially one written by Soule.

Well, of course no one is making me buy comics at gunpoint. Perhaps its my version of OCD but I just really dislike owning incomplete arcs, particularly the ones that are 'continued on', and no amount of flipping or googling can fix that for me.

And its great for you about the discounts, dare I say I envy you; geography makes such things unavailable for me and I have to pay full cover price on all the comics I buy.

[Jody Garland]

Huh, so they brought in the Grey from BKV's run? I haven't been reading Swampy, but I've been hoping they'd bring in that idea.

[Nix Uotan]

I thought the New 52 would simply stick with the three faceted approach of Green, Red and Rot. But it seems to be expanding things. Looking forward to where this goes and the reintroduction of the Grey. I wonder if they will be another spectrum or simply a dark side to the Green. But this is certainly adding to the mythos and giving Swampy some competition to face and ones that could threaten him. I mean, the Parliament of Trees are gone, the Red's wounded and presumably also in a period of recovery and I am assuming the Rot's also in a healing stage after the damage that Arcane did. So, not many high Swampy level foes to fight now.

Still, I am hoping the Un-Men get introduced again as a viable threat... something separate from Arcane. And also, get some Jack Hawksmoor crossover for Swamp Thing... I mean, Jack's pretty much the Avatar of Cities so he would be such a suitable fit for a small arc with Swamp Thing!

[Jody Garland]

If you go that route, I'd like to see Brother Power, the Geek re-introduced as the Avatar of Effigies. He was one in the Vertigo one-shot Totems. It'd be a cool way to re-introduce him.

[FHIZ]

Huh, I thought stuff like fungus would have fallen under the Rot. Interesting.

And in regards to the Aquaman crossover... it probably won't help the book long term. Might get a few new readers, but only for that month, unfortunately. That said, we live in a world where Batwing is still somehow going on, so I feel like Swamp Thing is safe for a good while.