This is Swamp Thing: Green Hell. It is Written by Jeff Lemire and Illustrated by Doug Mahnke, with additional art by Shawn Moll. The Coloring is done by David Baron and the Lettering is done by Steve Wands. The cover used above is Illustrated by Doug Mahnke and Colored by David Baron. Warning, this book is meant for mature audiences only, particularly ages seventeen and up. Trigger Warning: This book contains elements that some might find disturbing such as intense gore, body horror sequences, and ritualistic sacrifices. Readers discretion is advised. This story follows an apocalyptic Earth. The effects of global warming has caused the sea to fully consume most land on Earth. Due to these events, The Parliaments have joined forces to destroy the human race once and for all. It is up to Alec Holland, the second Swamp Thing, and a group of survivors to push the Parliaments back. Will they succeed or is the human race doomed to fail?
Honestly, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this book. Some aspects of the story are really good but other just don’t stick the landing at all. One thing I really love in this book are the Parliaments. The Parliaments are a group of mystical beings that represent different natural aspects of life. There are a multitude of different ones but only three are relevant to this story. The Parliament of Trees, The Parliament of Limbs, and The Parliament of Decay are the main antagonists of the book and they are awesome. There are multiple sequences where the Parliaments communicate with each other through their respective aspects of nature. It is a very interesting way of communication. I also appreciate The Parliament’s motive within this story. With the problem of global warming being exacerbated by humans every single day, there is always that lingering question of if nature will fight back. And seeing that question answered within the context of this book is fun.
I’ve mentioned how I appreciate when stories do this in other reviews, but it’s awesome to see magic really represented within the DC Universe. Along with the lore of Swamp Thing being in this book, there is also mystical characters represented such as John Constantine and Deadman. John Constantine is his usual self even though he is an old man. Deadman isn’t in this story a lot, but he has good chemistry with Constantine so I’m fine with it.
Now to my problems with this book, one of which being the group of survivors. There is nothing inherently wrong with them. It’s just that they are not interesting at all. They have very simplistic characterizations and are kind of boring. This wouldn’t be much of a problem if they weren’t the main focus of the book. But they are. It gets pretty annoying that the more interesting aspects of this book take a back seat to them. Alec Holland takes a more supporting role which I’m not the biggest fan of. The only other big criticism I have is that I wish the book was longer. I felt that some plot points moved way too quickly and would have liked some expansion on other elements of the story.
Spoiler Alert: There aren’t that many aspects in this book that I would consider spoilers. Maxine Baker, AKA Animal Woman, shows up for the climax. She is pretty cool and it’s nice to see references to Lemire’s previous work. One of the main survivor characters, George, dies in battle. I didn’t really care. John Constantine sacrifices himself to help Swamp Thing defeat the Parliament. It is a well made scene and I do think it is a fitting end to Constantine as a character. Other than that, there isn’t much else I would consider spoilers.
My favorite part of this book is Doug Mahnke’s art. It is nothing short of dark, gory, beautiful fun. There are so many amazing panels of horror-filled violence filled to the brim with blood. There are also many sequences of body horror that really raises the tension with in the story. There is a panel that shows an army of fungal beast coming out of the ocean and it is awesome. I also have to give major approval towards David Baron for his amazing coloring. It creates major contrast of the shadows and colors which looks beautiful. Overall, the art is nothing short of a masterpiece.
Overall, this book is fine but I am disappointed with it. Swamp Things is a character who doesn’t get that many stories so I love when he does. Jeff Lemire is a master writer who has been in the industry for a very long time. I can also say the same for Doug Mahnke. I just expect much more from these masters of the industry.