One of the best titles of the DC New 52, Swamp Thing’s second issue is even better than the first as Snyder really gets his teeth into the story. There is a lot of exposition in this issue, but it is very well written and beautifully illustrated, so there’s little to complain about. Paquette does a terrific job with the layouts here, so that each double page spread flows smoothly and is easy to follow even with a higher than usual number of word balloons. In the hands of a lesser artist, this might have been a difficult read. Thanks to Paquette’s extraordinary storytelling, though, each page becomes a collage of images to savour, allowing the eye to linger on the gorgeously detailed linework. This is a fine example of a writer and artist working so seamlessly together that the whole far outweighs the sum of it’s parts- a perfect synthesis of words and pictures. My only real problem with this book is that now I have to wait a month until the next chapter. Hopefully DC will give this series a plush hardcover treatment a few issues down the line, because I think this is a story that will read really well in one long sitting, and will deserve a place on the bookshelf next to my treasured Alan Moore Swamp Thing volumes. I can’t think of any higher praise than that.