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alibi_shopSwamp Thing #130-139 (1993-94)
Written by Nancy A. Collins, except #139 by Dick Foreman
Art: Scot Eaton/Kim DeMulder, except #136-137 by Russell Braun/DeMulder, #139 by Rebecca Guay/DeMulder
"They ruined it" is a thing you hear now and then from fans who hate how a new creative team has handled their favorite thing, but it's not a feeling I really understood before. Back when I was following some Marvel and DC comics on a regular basis, if I really liked a writer or artist, I'd be more likely to just stop reading if they left, and not even give the new one a chance—plus I guess I wasn't reading all that many series compared to some people, so maybe I was just lucky. Anyway, what I'm getting at is that I'm starting to get that angry fan feeling right about now.
I still think Collins could've done interesting things with this; her earlier issues had some good bits, burdened by clunky art and an obvious uncertainty about working in a serialized format. But things went downhill fast and it seems like everyone involved is now in "oh well, whatever" mode. Characterization is out the window; people do whatever's convenient for the plot, and the dialogue is so arbitrary in style and content that you could randomly replace one character's word balloons with another and it wouldn't make much less sense. There's no point in listing all the particular stuff that I disliked*. It's just not good.
In terms of what actually happens: this is all a roundabout way of getting Swampy to lose everything and everyone and leave him alone in the swamp, and that's where we get to in the end. Abby leaves him (and Tefé!) because he deceived her with his clone trick; she moves to New Orleans and starts dating a random rich dude who's a friend of Constantine. Swampy pointlessly fights the clone, until Lady Jane points out that it's part of him and he can just reabsorb it (specifically, it's the part of him that loves his family—that's why he left it at home and why it was so much nicer to Abby than he is, which is a decent idea). Swampy and Lady Jane have a lot of astral sex. Tefé creates a monster that eats people; then she gets rid of it. The David Duke character is randomly killed. Dr. Polygon resurrects old man Sunderland, except it's really Arcane (AGAIN), who mutilates Abby's face and forces Tefé to give him a big buff body; but then Tefé destroys Arcane, fixes Abby's face, and also mostly undoes Swampy's terrible new character design (except for the long hair). Tefé starts to look slightly inhuman, so Abby disowns her. Abby runs off with the random rich dude. Constance Sunderland runs off with Dr. Polygon (who's been turned into a monster), even though she hated him, but now she loves him. Lady Jane, belatedly realizing that sleeping with her sort-of-boss is a problem, leaves for Brazil, taking Tefé with her for more education. Swampy sits with a heap of their discarded bodies (a nice touch) and is sad.
Collins's last issue is dedicated "to all of those who ever cared", which makes me feel bad because I did care earlier and now I don't. But I do want to see what comes next. I think.
Inventories
Non-human animals: Swamp Thing accidentally kills a nice dog. Collins really knows how to push pet owners' buttons.
Backstory recaps: Quite a few slideshows of scenes from past storylines. Also, for some reason #135 starts with a text page of "The story thus far", and it gives away a surprise (Sunderland is really Arcane) that hasn't happened yet.
Grossest things: A guy eats a random mushroom because he's sure it's not a harmful one, but it really, really is.
Next: Millar surprises me by being pretty good (also: "Dear God!")
Written by Nancy A. Collins, except #139 by Dick Foreman
Art: Scot Eaton/Kim DeMulder, except #136-137 by Russell Braun/DeMulder, #139 by Rebecca Guay/DeMulder
"They ruined it" is a thing you hear now and then from fans who hate how a new creative team has handled their favorite thing, but it's not a feeling I really understood before. Back when I was following some Marvel and DC comics on a regular basis, if I really liked a writer or artist, I'd be more likely to just stop reading if they left, and not even give the new one a chance—plus I guess I wasn't reading all that many series compared to some people, so maybe I was just lucky. Anyway, what I'm getting at is that I'm starting to get that angry fan feeling right about now.
I still think Collins could've done interesting things with this; her earlier issues had some good bits, burdened by clunky art and an obvious uncertainty about working in a serialized format. But things went downhill fast and it seems like everyone involved is now in "oh well, whatever" mode. Characterization is out the window; people do whatever's convenient for the plot, and the dialogue is so arbitrary in style and content that you could randomly replace one character's word balloons with another and it wouldn't make much less sense. There's no point in listing all the particular stuff that I disliked*. It's just not good.
In terms of what actually happens: this is all a roundabout way of getting Swampy to lose everything and everyone and leave him alone in the swamp, and that's where we get to in the end. Abby leaves him (and Tefé!) because he deceived her with his clone trick; she moves to New Orleans and starts dating a random rich dude who's a friend of Constantine. Swampy pointlessly fights the clone, until Lady Jane points out that it's part of him and he can just reabsorb it (specifically, it's the part of him that loves his family—that's why he left it at home and why it was so much nicer to Abby than he is, which is a decent idea). Swampy and Lady Jane have a lot of astral sex. Tefé creates a monster that eats people; then she gets rid of it. The David Duke character is randomly killed. Dr. Polygon resurrects old man Sunderland, except it's really Arcane (AGAIN), who mutilates Abby's face and forces Tefé to give him a big buff body; but then Tefé destroys Arcane, fixes Abby's face, and also mostly undoes Swampy's terrible new character design (except for the long hair). Tefé starts to look slightly inhuman, so Abby disowns her. Abby runs off with the random rich dude. Constance Sunderland runs off with Dr. Polygon (who's been turned into a monster), even though she hated him, but now she loves him. Lady Jane, belatedly realizing that sleeping with her sort-of-boss is a problem, leaves for Brazil, taking Tefé with her for more education. Swampy sits with a heap of their discarded bodies (a nice touch) and is sad.
Collins's last issue is dedicated "to all of those who ever cared", which makes me feel bad because I did care earlier and now I don't. But I do want to see what comes next. I think.
Inventories
Non-human animals: Swamp Thing accidentally kills a nice dog. Collins really knows how to push pet owners' buttons.
Backstory recaps: Quite a few slideshows of scenes from past storylines. Also, for some reason #135 starts with a text page of "The story thus far", and it gives away a surprise (Sunderland is really Arcane) that hasn't happened yet.
Grossest things: A guy eats a random mushroom because he's sure it's not a harmful one, but it really, really is.
Next: Millar surprises me by being pretty good (also: "Dear God!")
