Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing #2

By: Jonathan Vankin (writer), Renato Arlem (artist), Barb Ciardo (colorist)

The Story: Just the what the heck kind of fertilizer are they using around here?

The Review: DC has its reasons for the existence Vertigo, and keeping it largely separate from popular continuity.  It’s not just that in a Vertigo comic, you can cuss up a storm and show people doing the nasty in real-time.  Vertigo comics aspire for more conceptual, complex storylines, and most of the tension comes from subtext than anything overt.  This kind of thing tends not to mesh well with the splashy, direct style of mainstream DC.

Not to say the two schools can’t come together, just that their goals are frequently so different that you usually wind up with an awkward, confused mash-up, which perfectly describes how this title is coming along so far.  The presence of Superman and Batman in John Constantine’s quest seems not only out-of-place, but also unnecessary and silly.  It’s hard to explain, but they make things way too easy for Constantine, yet grossly overcomplicated at the same time.

For one, they undermine Constantine’s independence and competence.  You have to assume a bloke with his background can and would prefer to handle things himself without capes getting involved.  His sudden need for Batman to direct him in a case of magic, something Bats doesn’t “know a lot about,” and Superman to do the heavy lifting in a spar with a magical entity, which goes against Supe’s strengths, seems counterproductive and illogical.

I really hate to use this word in describing anything, but none better describes the sequence of events and character thinking in this issue than “stupid.”  The end of Brightest Day saw John begin his search for Swamp Thing in the Star City forest, and since that’s where he eventually runs into S. Thing or, at least, the shape of S. Thing, why did we have all that pointless world-hopping in between?  And can we really call it a search if apparently what John’s been looking for has been following him this entire time?

And gah!  That voice!  I confess I’m not familiar enough with whatever area of the UK John comes from to gauge his accent’s accuracy, but whether it is or not, it has definitely gotten to a nerve-grating point now.  “What I really need is a ciggie!”  “Give us a nip, luv!”  “Strewth!  Bleedin’ thing’s following me.”  “This is not the way I anticipated I’d pop me clogs.”  Vankin focuses so much on selling J.C.’s vernacular that the actual story seems ignored by comparison.

Superman: The Last Family of New Krypton #1 – Review

By: Cary Bates (writer), Renato Arlem (artist), Allen Passalaqua (colorist), Rachel Gluckstern (assistant editor), Mike Carlin (editor)

The Story: What would have happened if Jor-El, Lara and Kal-El all escaped the destruction of Krypton?

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: Right off, I really enjoyed Arlem’s art. He puts rich texture and detail onto the page. Even with a computer, Arlem must have spent hours and hours and hours to stipple (put down little dots to denote texture and/or shadow) on the bedspread, wallpaper and chair on the last page (to say nothing of the people). Or, check out the panel where Lara tells Jor-El she wants to be alone. The Quitely-like level of detail is worth the price of admission. Arlem’s expressions evoke emotion and the action, and even the environments, are dynamic. Arlem is hereby invited to draw any book I buy.

On the writing, I want to split the technical, tactical telling of the story (the dialogue, the panel-by-panel unfolding, the character choices) from the strategic, editorial choice (the premise and the DC’s decision to tell this story over some other one).

On Bates’ telling of the story, I’m mostly pleased, with one significant exception. Bates delivers crisp dialogue and a well-paced story; although the jury is still out for me on whether to buy the motivations he’s selling for the characters, especially the all-important choice to foster Kal-El to the Kents. There’s obviously conflict there, between Lara and Jor-El, but also within Jor-El, but Bates takes the easy way out (for the writer) by dismissing the characters’ doubts without showing us why they would do that. To me, it seemed patently obvious that the decisions deserved more explanation. Still, if I forgive his tactical short-cut, I’m left to enjoy the execution of the story.