You can really tell that Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette are trying so hard with this series. Can you blame them though? A Swamp Thing title is a really hard sell and I applaud both men (and Marco Rudy!) for really giving it their all on this title. However, hard work does not always mean a perfect issue, or in this site’s case a 5-star review. One thing that still bugs me about this title stared at me right in the face for all the wrong reasons.

I refer to the layouts of Mr. Paquette and how they are slowly driving me insane. Look, I know these layouts are beautiful and I am not denying how great they are. It must be a pain in the ass to think of these layouts and design them to fit the mood of each sequence. They are beautiful and they fit the book just fine. But Mr. Paquette you are not J.H. Williams III and you are making things way too difficult to read here. Three time I counted that I lost track of the story or just got plain lost on where to read. There’s two page spreads and then there’s these layouts he’s doing where there is no natural flow to them. I can’t tell where I’m suppose to read next and I know this is not a reader mistake. It’s happened many times before and considering I am not the only one to mention this it can’t be a coincidence I bring it up today. It’s a shame I am downgrading the issue because the designs and the images in this issue are striking. Anything coming from ‘The Rot’ are disturbing but so god damn beautiful to look at. Plus the little hints we’re getting at the new Swamp Thing by the end of the issue makes me realize we are in for a treat on how Paquette will draw action sequences. But these layouts, these layouts!!

Again, Snyder is writing the hell out of this series. In Batman it feels like he is such a natural at writing the story because he’s been writing the characters for a while now. Here, it’s like he has gotten himself a field of beautiful flowers and he’s picking at exactly what he wants for this character. You don’t have to read the Alan Moore books to understand what is going on, but Snyder writes this in a way where you feel good for reading that classic run. I feel for Alec Holland when he makes the choice of turning back into Swampy and I certainly feel the dread throughout the issue. Hell, this might be the most violent comic I’ve read in a while and considering this is from a Scott Snyder title that is saying something. (Hint: He likes to write violent and/or fucked up things) I admit that in the beginning I was wavering on the title a bit because Snyder had no choice but to recap the life of this character. But with that out of the way he is certainly writing some of his best material in this series by far. Maybe it’s not on the level of Batman but damn it, this title is certainly getting closer to that.

So yeah I really enjoyed this issue for the most part. I could have made it my pick of the week as well. But unfortunately the layouts of the majority of this issue is what hurt it in the end. Scott Snyder wrote a wonderful story in this issue and for the most part Yanick Paquette drew the hell out of this. But if the layouts were only better….then it would be perfect. Alas, it’s getting up there as one of DC’s best titles but it still needs just a tiny bit more fixing before I can fully state it so. Maybe next time guys.